Robert Verrall, 97, on Jan. 17. Born in Toronto in 1928, Verrall was one of the early Canadian film pioneers at the National Film Board (NFB), where he worked for more than 40 years, from 1945-87. He began his career at NFB as a summer student and joined the staff of the animation department the following year, when he was hired by Norman McLaren. He apprenticed with McLaren and formed a close association with Colin Low and Wolf Koenig, with whom he made The Romance of Transportation in Canada, winner of the Best Animated Short Film award at Cannes and the first NFB film nominated in an animation category at the Academy Awards. Verrall distinguished himself as a producer and as head of the NFB’s Animation Department from 1967-72. In 1972, he became Director of English Production, a post he held until 1976. During his term he was responsible for extending NFB production activities to Toronto and Winnipeg while helping to establish Studio D, the NFB’s legendary women’s filmmaking unit, and Studio B, responsible for drama, both based in Montreal. In 1977, he was appointed Executive Producer of Special Projects, which included the Canada Vignettes program and Paul Cowan’s Oscar-nominated Commonwealth Games film, Going the Distance. In 1980, he was named head of Studio B. His legacy includes over 50 films on which he acted as either director or producer, before retiring in the summer of 1986 to live on his farm in the Eastern Townships. His son David followed in his footsteps as a producer and executive producer of animation, joining the NFB in 1977 and going on to head its English Animation Studio in Montreal.