Canadians, always the conscientious, the humble and subservient (we get more riled over hockey results than cuts to social programs), have preserved the lives of many trees when it comes to documenting the Canadian animation landscape. Attempting to find pages on Canadian animation is akin to driving from Ontario to Alberta: long and tiring, with lots of empty space. This absence is not only surprising, given Canada’s reputation as one of the premiere producers of animation in the 20th century, but also disgraceful. With the release in 1998 of Gene Walz’s Cartoon Charlie and the recent Cartoon Capers: The History of Canadian Animators by Karen Mazurkewich however, it appears, much to the chagrin of tree huggers everywhere, that a few more trees are leaving the forest.

Written by journalist Karen Mazurkewich, Cartoon Capers covers the long and exceptionally diverse history of Canadian animation -- from the early work of Charlie Thorson, Raoul Barre and Bryant Fryer, through the National Film Board of Canada and Norman McLaren, to animators from virtually every region (e.g. British Columbia, Winnipeg, Quebec, Halifax), computer innovations, women pioneers, Canadians abroad, and the new industrial giants like Nelvana and hmm...Cinar.

Unfortunately, Mazurkewich, in typically Canadian style, gets it all wrong. Whenever we Canadians shed our suit of modesty for the finely tapered duds of pride, we invariably bust a seam. Now to be fair, capturing a cohesive portrait of the various exploits of Canadian animation, like defining Canada, is impossible. Mazurkewich does provide an adequate survey for general readers of a decidedly motley crew of animators. Virtually no Canadian voice of the past is left unheard and readers are presented with a decent overview of animation beyond the National Film Board of Canada. Sadly Mazurkewich’s knowledge of contemporary Canadian animation seems to be non-existent. Influential independent artists like Richard Reeves, Stephen Arthur, Helen Hill, along with the important contributions of the Quickdraw Animation Society and the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, are nowhere to be found in Canadian Capers. Even when dealing with history, Mazurkewich merely skims through the Canadian landscape like a toboggan on a snowy hill. Written in an almost anecdotal fashion, Mazurewich, in true journalist mode, fails to capture the complexity and context of Canadian animation production. Everything is taken for granted and rarely questioned or considered.

One of the most astonishing aspects of Canadian Capers is the decision to dedicate more time to generally non-Canadian pursuits than to those who have contributed to Canadian culture. In a chapter called "The Diaspora: Canadians Abroad," the exploits of Richard Williams, John Kricfalusi and a handful of guys, whose claim to greatness is the creation of a variety of villains and smart ass sidekicks for Disney films, are each given more paper than Norman McLaren, Frédérick Back, Rene Jodoin, Marv Newland, Caroline Leaf, Paul Driessen and a host of other people whose enrichment of Canadian culture considerably outweighs the exploits of Williams, Kricfalusi and amigos. As an equivalent, imagine overlooking the contributions of Atom Egoyan, Denys Arcand and other Canadian filmmakers in favour of James Cameron, Jim Carrey and Pamela Anderson who, while all Canadian, have contributed nothing to the Canadian cultural landscape except for a birth certificate.