The Art of the Animator (Part 3) is a wonderful addition to an instructor's library of resources. This video is a collection of seven animated films: Paradise (Ishu Patel), The Street (Caroline Leaf), Elephantrio (John Weldon), The Wanderer (George Ungar), Charles and Francois (Eo Hoedeman), A Sufi Tale (Gayle Thomas) and Nightangel (Jacques Drouin). They vary not only in their subject matter and length, but also in the techniques used by their film-makers. Parts 1 and 2 of this series discuss the making of these seven selections while providing excerpts from the films demonstrating the film-making process.

I have only used three of the films to date. Paradise was the favourite; however, each film was selected as a first choice by at least one of the students. Initially, I showed Paradise to my class and we discussed how the brilliant colours and music were used to enhance the story that was told with no words. Then each student wrote a brief summary. Ann Marie wrote, "This video was about a black bird. He didn't like his colour. He wanted to be like the other beautifully coloured birds." Arlene stated, "The little black bird wanted what he couldn't have. He wanted to be like the bird in the palace and would do anything to get there. But once he did get there he realized that his life was better after all." The following day we were joined by a class of 14 Japanese students. Together, we watched Paradise. After a lively discussion, led by the fundamental class, they divided into mixed groups and wrote haikus that were first written in English and later written in Japanese characters.

A Sufi Tale is based on a Persian parable. It has been used many times by staff at Malaspina College as a "springboard to writing." Evelyn writes that beginning level students are asked two questions: "What did you see?" and "What did you think about?" There is no dialogue in this film, so it lends itself to a variety of interpretations and interesting discussion. At the upper level, instructors have taken the opportunity to "discuss creation myths and the commonalities in all religions and philosophies." Reviewers have also talked about how sounds, not words, are used in this black and white film to portray different emotions, and then they have one group make sounds and another group put an emotion to it.

The Street, based on a short story by Mordecai Richler, was the other film I used with similar success. . The Art of the Animator (Part 3) uses a combination of sound, colour and animation to tell stories that provide a wealth of language study opportunities for the adult learner. I can't wait to use more of these films.