CanLit Turned Animation: Roch Carrier’s Boyhood Memories

The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier

Numerous great works of Canadian literature have been animated by the National Film Board of Canada. This week, we are featuring a classic in Canadian children’s literature — “The Hockey Sweater,” a short story by Roch Carrier, which was animated by Sheldon Cohen in 1980 through the National Film Board of Canada.

The story focuses on Carrier’s recollection of a winter when he was a boy and idolized Maurice “Rocket” Richard. Although the story is about hockey, the narrative is much a reflection on childhood experience and the fond memories of youth.

Interesting to note is that Carrier himself is the narrator of the film. This adds an autobiographical feel to Cohen’s artistic representation of Carrier’s memories as a boy.