Two years ago I tracked down Blake James (the canoeist) He is retired and living in Canada. I phoned him and introduced myself as a long-time fan of this film. He is one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of talking to. Blake told me many interesting stories about the filming of this story and the rather interesting ways the producer arranged the amusing shots, going to a real glacier, having a guy throw shovelfulls of snow in his face, dropping the canoe from a helicopter, etc.

I remember this from the 5th or 6th grade. Great film and a priceless message! I still remember the lessons of this film, 45 years later. This should be required viewing for anyone in elected office in any Great Lakes state or province.

I watched this film 3or4 times while growing up in Canada, Seems it was played for us school kids at least once per grade 4-7. 1974 -77. I often thought of it over the years, today I used google to help me. I put this "Canadian film where the guy is in a canoe in polluted great lakes" In the search box, it was the first thing to come up. Well done google. I'll be watching this film this evening with my wife and will try to explain what exact it's going on. 46 years since I first saw this film. Awesome film.

I basically transcribed this whole video to help a friend who was having difficulty understanding the accent, so I'm gonna also post it here to hopefully help other people who struggle in the future! Anything I'm unsure of is marked with [], and I'm very welcome to corrections. " Now listen to me, people. I'll tell ya' what I've found. I've found the changes - oh, those changes, keep the world going round. " "Yesterday, today, and when you wake up next mornin'. long before the inland waters were being travelled by man, the great lakes were being created, by the glaciers on the land" -------- "And the lakes still are forming, all changing one by one" "And they ask us, with their beauty - yes - what things are to come? " "If you travel to the great lakes, 5 jewels [beneath] the sun, you'll learn about those changes, to satisfy anyone " " in case you must be told again, the great lakes haven't always been. So look about 'cha carefully, and realize [o] what'cha see, will not remain " "Will always change" "And if you could just leave today, and travel back to yesterday, would what'cha see still be the same?" "Would what'cha see still be the same?" " 10,000 years ago today, the glaciers were going away, [but] the lakes did remain. " "The lakes which always change! But if you could leave yesterday, travel back another day, would what'cha see still be the same?" " now ain't that nice? You're up on ice! A mile thick, and movin' slow. " ------ " now take your partner by the hair, hold her hand and form a square! I'll tell a story as we go, [but] don't forget to dosie do - don't let go! " " 'long time ago, in olden days, [the great lakes?] In the splays. They started quiet, started slow, but watch and see the great lakes grow! " " [allaman left??][all up and left?]" ( it shows the process of the rivers that will be the great lakes getting approached by the glacier) " then, one day, the ice age came. Lots of snow, not much rain. The weight of the ice made the land go down, scraped out a hole in the middle of the ground. " " [allaman right?]" "The rock did scrape, the ice did move, pretty soon - to tell you the truth. And everyone was beatin' [time], to the old square dance in 2-4 time - dosie do." "Then one day, an eventful day, the sun came out and decided to play. And after a while, decided to stay, and up and melted the ice away. Easy now! Hold your partner. " " when the sun came out that day, the [mighty] glacier moved away. the [consequences] did they make, the first genuine great lake. " " now this story happened again and again, the last time it happened was way back when - ten thousand years ago today, the very last glacier went away. Bye bye!" " Now the water comin' in has to go somehow, and those days weren't the same as now! The water, then, was draining north - and nowadays it all goes south - how come? " " now swing you partner round and round, [ballet?][bow at?] Your partner, it's all over now! " ------- " when the glacier's weight moved away, the land did spring back up again. And cut off the flow of the water north - and made it go, instead, to the south. " ------- " when you travel, [ on the?] [Under?] water, and you think it's going fine, just remember you are bouncin' like a tennis ball through time" " when you travel the great lake waters, you can see far and wide." "The traces of that glacier, on its prehistoric ride. " " when you travel on the water, which the ancient [???] swam, just remember there are changes which are also made by man. " " and the water shimmers golden, in the ever golden sun - and i hope that there is beauty in the changes that will come" ------- " you are born, by the water. Do you swim in the water? You will die by the water. Do you drink the good water? " " the rivers [roll on] like a [settler's song?]. Now, is this a beginning, or an end? " " now listen to me, people! I'll tell ya what I've found. I've found that changes - oh, those changes, keep the world goin' round. Yesterday, today, and when you wake up next mornin'. "

Blake James was one of the funniest men I have ever met and this film proves it. Rest in piece that era of Canadian film making. He went from the NFB to working with my grandfather in Ottawa at Crawley Films. He was a visionary.

As a kid, I couldn't wait to see this in elementary school class each year during the early 1970s. I'm 50 now and felt the same way watching this You Tube today. This classic short film made education fun, and set the seed for my career as a documentary filmmaker. Thanks for the memories.

I probably saw this in 1975 during middle school. It has always stuck with me and have wanted to see it again to compare my memory. It was great then and still is. Back then Lake Erie was declared dead and it was thought it would take hundreds of years to recover. Goes to show you the planet will find a way. Thanks for showing this. I’ve wondered about it for over 45 years

I remember watching this as a grade schooler back in the 80s. It was a pleasant surprise to find it on KZfaq.

Anyone else get told to watch this because we’re in cuaranteen and your teachers told u to watch this

I watched this for the first time my freshman year of high school, and years later, I use it to teach Geology and Soil and Water Conversation merit badges

This is my favorite time-travel, folk singing documentary.

One of the most memorable of primary school films. Thinking back that its over 50 years ago and STILL the world isn't thinking straight. Thank you Bill Mason ... this was heartbreakingly simple and truly wonderful.

They showed this film during my elementary school days in the 1970s. Amusing film about a guy and his canoe experiencing drastic changes in the Great Lakes as he paddles through history.

This little documentary is a treasure of "how to do it". Saw this first in a highschool geography class learning about glaciation. For decades after, always thought it one of the best films I've seen. The task of teaching the history of the Great Lakes, make it clear and enjoyable, in 15 minutes is done magnificently. Love the songs and sense of humour, as done through the personal experience of one person in a time-travel trip. Some of the scenes are championship film-making and comedy. How they got that scene going with the canoe and camp bits rising up out of the deep water, I can't even guess. MORE! MORE!

My 7th grade science teacher showed this to my class and I still love it to this day.

Boards of Canada 🇨🇦 anyone ? great taste in music ?

I began showing this to my 5-6 grade students, but continued to show to my students in geography up to grade 9. It is a great Canadian short film explaining the evolution and formation of the Great Lakes. :D

Watching this I am eight years old again. The lakes are actually less filthy now than when this film was made. This is good.

Saw this in the late 60s in grade school. I was a small kid. Great memories of this. I think we saw this at school more than once.

I saw this video when in 6th grade in the early 90s. It's stuck with me for 30+ years now. NFB is such a gem of an org. We're very lucky to have it here.

I have been talking yo Blake James recently, the canoeist here, and he remembers this film fondly.

Even today the message this film promotes is still so powerful. Know every line. Thank you for making my childhood great.

Had seen this in grade school on a reel to reel projector. The class liked it so much we begged the teacher to play it again. She did and I’ve never forgotten it. This is a fun stroll down memory lane!

was anyone else brought here by geography hw?

One of my all-time favourite school movies, I watched this several times in the 70s and still love it.

Just watched this yesterday in geography. .. its awesome

Thanks to Ludington state park for showing this movie at the old nature center. One of my favorite memories

Saw this in my hydrogeology class years ago and loved it. I remember my professor showing to his colleagues in the state geological survey during their lunch hour, too.

This is AWESOME!!! I haven't seen this since I was in grade 3 or 4! Great memories for sure!

AHHHHHHHCHHH!!!! Grade 4 and 5 all over again!!!!! Thanks so much for posting this gem from Canada's NFB!!!!!

My teacher showed us this in socials class I loved this!

I recall seeing this in grade school in the 70s. The pollution scene is what stuck in my head.

Took me all the way back to the middle school classroom where I first saw this... Appreciate the funny, nostalgic trip.

Wow. I remember this from grade school maybe 1970-71. The sudden drop was pretty much all I recalled. A wonderful treat to revisit it all these years later. Funny, the random things you remember from your childhood.

Wow , what a classic...haven't seen this film since grade school ...thanks for posting it ....

I remember watching this in Grade 6 in 1974 in Williams Lake, BC. The glacier drop made quite an impression on me. Still, I couldn't imagine the Great Lakes because they seemed as remote from the interior of British Columbia as Europe or Asia.

I've come back to watch this every month or so since I first seen it in 2011. Im obsessed.

I loved this movie in school and I still love it! Thank you for posting this.

Saw this back in about 1980 in 4th grade when the teacher showed it on PBS. I was looking for it for years and only found it again on youtube about a year ago!

Saw this at the amphitheater at Waskesiu Lake while camping back in the mid ‘70s...still love it!

From Calvin College geography/geology/environmental science department to East Valley Middle school. Best. Video. Ever. 10/10.

Saw this in our 5th grade Geography class in the very early 90s. Totally forgot about it, till one day one of the lines from one of the songs popped into my head, 'do you drink the good water?' I spent over 10 years tracking this song down, trying to get ahold of old teachers, students, my older sister and her friends to see if anyone remembered, all to no avail. Finally thought to contact the Long Lake Conservation Center in Minnesota where our class went after watching the movie, and asked if anyone there recognized that one line, and low-and-behold, one of the members that worked there when our class was there did and told me the name. Life goal accomplished, and I can finally finish the lyric of that dang song!! lol

classic classic classic..loved it since childhood..

this is so beautiful. why dont they make wildlife and nature movies like this now...

Growing up on the Great Lakes and seeing this in elementary school in the 1980s may be the reason I got into environmental science. I remember being so sad when they showed the pollution. Great film.

This is an early work by Canadian canoe guru Bill Mason. It's a little hokey, but you can see the beginnings of Bill's later film, "Waterwalker" in these scenes.

I, too, remember this from grade 6. It left an impression, that’s for sure. I still remembered the title 50 years later.

What a delightful look at the Great Lakes.

Anybody here because of Boards of Canada, the greatest band of all time?

First saw this in Grade 4 (1974-75) and STILL find it funny when the canoeist expectorates the polluted water!

Duluth, MN elementary school early 1980s. This movie and Paddle to the Sea: the little wood carving of a native guy in a canoe who floats to the ocean from Lake Superior.

Wow - haven't seen this since Grade 9 (or was it 10) geography class. I seem to recall is was a unit on geology, but regardless, so nice to see after all this time. Effing hilarious when the canoeist drops out of the sky!

The funniest, best, and only film I remember from early grade school in the early 70's, I looked forward to seeing it each year, finally saw it again, such a treat of a film. Now I've become even more educated about the geological history of the Great Lakes, Canada, and the world, Earth itself. I've come to realize that Earth's irregularly cyclic, crustal displacement behaviour shapes the geology of Earth's surface and regulates life as the driving engine of evolution. Earth's last crustal displacement began 20,000 years ago, lasted 2000 to 5000 years or so, and caused the 2 mile thick, 3000 mile diameter ice cap on mid to northern North America and centred on northern Hudson Bay, the previous geographical North Pole location, to almost completely, slowly melt by 13,000 years ago, allowing worldwide, disrupted, ancient civilization to begin redeveloping around 6000 years ago with the levelling off of the rising world ocean. The melting icecap raised the world ocean level by 420 feet, and, as the remaining remnants of the ice cap fully melted, it rose another 10 feet in the last 7000 years, only slightly fluctuating in the last 1 to 2 thousand years, pretended as effects of "global warming" by power- and control-seeking, political types today who do no understand how crustal displacement and Earth's geology works. Daily-rotating Earth's oblate-shaped, always dynamically-imbalanced, thin, brittle crust rebalances itself every 20,000 years on average, going back 100's of millions of years and having done so 40 times in the last 800,000 years, as shown by Antarctic ice core and historical ocean level graphs and related geophysics, physics, and other science. The crust shifts as a full, spherical shell surface over the underlying bulk of Earth by 30 to 45 degrees, or 2000 to 3000 miles, each time, causing immense geological upheaval in the crust as it fissures, cracks, folds, rises and falls, slip faults and bends to accommodate itself over the oblate-shaped Earth beneath it. The result is thousands of years of constant, enduring earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanism, flooding, and other geological disasters 10,000 times more frequent than current levels. This combined with and the shifting of continental land masses into different climate zones threatens all plant and animal life on the planet. Species are forced to relocate, adapt, or die, driving the evolution of life. The moon's twice daily, gravitational, crust-flexing, tidal effect on the thin, brittle, solid rock crust of Earth slowly adds heat to the bottom of the crust over thousands of years, causing it to develop a symmetrical melt layer that allows the dynamically-imbalanced crust to rotate/displace equator-ward and pole-ward, depending on geographical location on Earth, to regain dynamic stability. Polar regions with their thick, land-based icecaps are displaced out of the atmospheric arctic zones into warmer temperature zones, causing the icecaps to slowly melt, with new icecaps forming on the new land masses that are shifted into polar regions. The world atmospheric climate zones do not change because the bulk of Earth remains tilted at a slightly fluctuating 23.4 degrees and rotating daily as it orbits the sun. Only the regional climates on Earth's surface change as the crustal surface shifts geologically through the unchanging, atmospheric climate zones, creating a new geographical arrangement of Earth's surface. A repeating set of 5 consecutive crustal displacements occurs every 100,000 years on average. During the period of 45,000 to 20,000 years ago, and each 100,000 years before that, the geographical north pole was located in northern Hudson Bay, allowing maximal Arctic ice to build on N. America each time. This ice cap melts in one continuous shot with the crustal displacement that began 20,000 years ago and each 100,000 years before that and slowly geographically shifts Hudson Bay and N. America southward 2000 miles farther away from the north polar zone/geological North Pole of bulk Earth. The 430 total foot rise in the world ocean, added to the 10,000 times increased earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanism, devastated ancient civilization and flooded the continental shelves, drowning in sea water up to 30% of Earth's vegetation. Naturally, this causes world atmospheric CO2 and methane to rise and fall in synch with the rising and falling ocean as ice variably builds and melts on N. America and other repeatedly displaced northern continents. A similar situation occurs in the southern polar region, of course. The vastly increased volcanism, especially along the fissuring, widening, mid ocean ridges and subduction zones along continent edges, during the displacements releases the built up heat in the lower crust, which allows the crust to cool, re-solidify, and reattach to the mantle and, thusly, end the crustal displacement. Additionally, the shift of the effective imbalance centre of Earth's dynamically-imbalanced crust equator-ward reduces equator-ward torque on the crust, preventing it from being able to shift. The process, then, repeats itself as the moon continues flexing the crust and, thusly, slowly adding heat to it over the following thousands of years. So, anything we do to the Great Lakes will be wiped out by the eventual coming of another 2 mile thick, 3000 mile diameter ice cap coming to N. America starting about 80,000 years from now. In the meantime, another crustal displacement is imminent, as revealed by Antarctic and Greenland ice core and historical ocean level data graphs. Because of its dramatic, geologically-destructive nature, it will completely wipe out modern civilization and put modern humanity into permanent extinction due to the technologically-frail and incorrect, profit-based, ghost chasing (religious/spiritual), Earth-ignorant way of life of modern civilization that modern humanity's life is completely dependent on. In 10,000 years or so, the world ocean will be over 300 feet lower and steadily going downwards towards it lowest level (430 to 460 feet lower than today, today's level being essentially the high point), exposing the world's continental shelves and draining most of Hudson Bay. Due to crustal deformations, the Strait of Gibraltar will rise up to hundreds of feet, land locking the Mediterranean Sea and leading to it almost completely drying out. Many other sill-guarded, continental shelf-located seas of the world will also dry out. The new geographical pole location will be a few hundred miles east south east of the southern tip of Greenland in the North Atlantic Ocean. Mile-thick icecaps will have built on eastern Canada and Western Europe. The Great Lakes will be on the edge of the newly geographically-located, northern polar zone and drain northwards towards it instead of geographically eastward as it does today. Its climate will be a mix of colder and similar to today because it will remain about the same distance from the new geographical north pole location as it is from the current geographical north pole location today, but it will have a thick icecap nearer to it, an icecap covering the Maritime provinces and the eastern half of Quebec. The five consecutive geographical North Pole locations are the Arctic Ocean pole (currently existing), the southern Greenland pole (imminently next), the Yukon-Alaska pole (25,000 years from now), the Scandinavian pole (just north of the top of Finland and 55,000 years from now), and the northern Hudson Bay pole (80,000 years from now), the times being reasonably accurate estimates based on ice core and other geological data.

Educational with a touch of humour. Looks like a young Red Green.

Beautiful film. Shows how mankind just doesn't care and messes with what is natural. The beautiful lakes are dyeing and no one can fix it.

I remember seeing this in school back in the early 70's was about 9 years old.

The Discovery Channel aired an great hour's special called "Drain the Great Lakes" in August 2012 - worth seeing and great FX looking at the lake bottoms...

I wish i saw this when i was in school. I live in Ohio and never seen this. Although i graduated in 2002, the 90'we had TVs, vcr's and all, but not this film. Its awesome

Used to watch this as a kid when my family went camping in northern Michigan. At park near Watersmeet, Mi.

Bill Mason is my hero!

My favorite film from second grade....I remember one day our teacher played it in reverse for us as well. Great memories! I showed this to my children and they were every bit as delighted, entertained and educated as I was back in the 1970's. That's the true definition of a timeless film! Thank you so much for uploading this.

I remember watching this in grade 6 or 7 in 1970.

masterpiece

A nice tongue in cheek narrative that suggests that while the climate may change in either direction, for whatever reason, and Mother Earth will handle it without giving much pause to how it will affect us pesky humans. We'll just have to adapt, or go extinct.

Great movie from my past.....

I remember seeing a couple documentaries in a geology class in the early 1980s. This one and The City that Waits to Die (about the San Andreas fault and San Francisco).

Yay Behmann's class

Thanks for posting!! It brings me back years and years and years to my school days. I think only students from Michigan ever saw this film in school. (BTW - does film include history of the insignificant Lake St. Clair????) :) I've mentioned this film to non-Mitch-e-ganders (as I've heard it pronounced) and they respond with a puzzled look. This is a must see for students. Campy now, yeas, but very memorable and teaches along the way - never drink foamy water!! :) Cheers y'all

loved it

The year was MCMLXVIII or Googled: 1968.

Poor guy can't catch a break!

Trying to figure out where the mountains come from in the background

That's one beautiful canoe...

wait are you telling me you needed google to tell you MCMLXVIII is 1968? Seriously?

I remember this from Grade school, although there are no alligators or crocodiles in the Great Lakes!

What is the song that plays in the intro

THIS WASS MADE THE EXACT YEAR, MONTH, AND DATE OF MY BIRTHDAY! PLUS, THIS IS MY FAVOURITE VIDEO ON KZfaqR EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COINCIDENCE!

How interesting. Discovering first time at 39. Great Country Canada. From Russia with Love.

Now I know where Red Green got his costume idea!!!

i watched this one at my school,we watched the mother natures changes yesterday,and the we watched the 6 minutes of man made changes today.

That poor man!! So much torment.

What was that cream looking stuff at the end in the water?

did corb lund make this soundtrack?

wonder if Bill Mason took over the boat to make WaterWalker

I didn't know Red Green did documentaries.

still relevant today.... Blake James is sooo close to Red Green it's not funny (or is it?) i think i saw this at a provincial park amphitheatre show... waaay back when...

I grew up by the shores of Lake Superior. All that foam was an accurate representation of some days there. Pretty disgusting.

15:05 -- can't you just hear all the school kids screaming for the man not to drink the water!!!! Ugh!!!! The year is 1980--something!!!!!

I didnt expect that hahaha what a surprise

Still painfully relevant 51 years later.

beautiful! what year???

Mr Behmann

How in the world did they submerge the canoe?

How fun to see this film again. It used to be a special day when they'd take you out of class to the AV room to see a movie....even better if you could get a seat next to your fifth grade boyfriend. :)

This is most certainly we're red green was inspired from right?

Boards of Canada brought me to Boards of Canada.

I watched this when i was eight

Poor guy, going through all that sh*t.

Reminds me of the end of TNG

Interesting...but I did a Boards of Canada search instead...