Kumak, the Sleepy Hunter

Directed by Alma Duncan

Canada, 1953 (animation / children's, 13 minutes, colour, English)

Film Description:
"An Inuit legend about a hunter who is too sleepy to hunt, told with puppets. Despite all efforts to change him he remains sleepy until the day when, following a great adventure, he attains success as a hunter. But then he foolishly tells the secret of his success to his nagging wife."
-- National Film Board of Canada (source)

Film Description [in French] :
"Une légende esquimaude racontée par des marionnettes, au sujet d'un chasseur trop endormi pour chasser."
-- Jana Vosikovska (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Produced by:	Audrey McLaren, Alma Duncan
Narrator:	Moira Dunbar
Animation:	Alma Duncan
Music:	Frederick Karam
Production Company:	Dunclaren Productions

(sources)

Notes about Kumak, the Sleepy Hunter

Received a 'Special Mention' at the 1954 Canadian Film Awards.

(sources)

Quotes about Kumak, the Sleepy Hunter

"Audrey [McLaren] and Alma [Duncan] did every scrap of work themselves, from writing the script and making the puppets to doing the photography and finishing [...]. Aside from enough money to meet the costs of film and technical equipment and to keep the wolf from the door day to day, their main contribution was boundless enthusiasm and unflagging determination. They also contributed the technical 'know how' they had acquired as employees of the National Film Board prior to the day, over a year and a half ago, that they resigned their jobs and formed themselves into Dunclaren Productions of Ottawa, Canada."
-- Reginald Hardy (source)

"In [Kumak, the Sleepy Hunter], [Alma] Duncan used masks to animate her puppets. By creating papier mâché masks, Duncan was able to alter facial expressions simply by changing masks when necessary. Such a device created a fast and efficient way to alter the characters' moods."
-- Jaclyn Meloche (source)

Bibliography for Kumak, the Sleepy Hunter

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites

Hardy, Reginald. "Ottawa girls' puppet film wins acceptance by Edinburgh Festival." Ottawa Citizen, October 1, 1953.

Brief Sections of Dissertations

Meloche, Jaclyn. "Braiding the Boundaries: A Dialogical Study of Alma Duncan's Art from the 1940s and 1950s." M.A. diss., Carleton University, 2004. (pp. 64-67)