The Great
Land of Small
Where it doesn’t matter how big you are. Just how big you dream.
The Great Land of Small (1987)
Armed with a sack of gold dust and five magic spells, the kind-hearted Fritz (Twin Peaks’ Michael J. Anderson) leaves his mysterious homeland to test the intentions of humans. After the shady hunter Flannigan (The Vindicator’s Ken Roberts) steals his magical gold, Fritz forges a friendship with siblings David (Michael Blouin) and Jenny (Karen Elkin), eventually taking them to the alternate dimension he calls home: The Great Land of Small. As the authorities search for the missing children, David and Jenny are wowed by a fantastical world of acrobats and a gold-spitting creature known as Slimo. But when the King and Queen plot to make these kids their own, Fritz must risk everything to get them home – and stop Flannigan from wreaking magic havoc.
Described by Miloš Forman as “the spiritual father of the Czech New Wave,” director Vojtěch Jasný (The Cassandra Cat) somehow found his way to Quebec in the mid-’80s to direct this fifth instalment in producer Rock Demers’ Tales for All series. A low budget riff on The Wizard of Oz and The NeverEnding Story, The Great Land of Small is a surreal, logic-bending family phantasmagoria that proves to be an ideal showcase for the talents of Michael J. Anderson (who appears in a dual role), Cirque du Soleil, and the animation of Pascal Blais Productions. Originally distributed by New World Pictures in the United States, this oddball gem has remained largely unavailable for decades, but it is finally back to cast its spell on anyone with an appetite for the unusual.
Special features
• Scanned and restored from the 35mm original camera negative by Éléphant - mémoire du cinéma québécois
• Audio commentary featuring film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
• The New World Pictures Podcast episode on the film
• Small Actors, Big Roles (2023, 17 min.) – New interviews with stars Michael Blouin and Karen Elkin
• The Great Land of Effects (2023, 10 min.) – New interview with visual effects producer Pascal Blais
• Animating in the ’80s (2023, 9 min.) – Blais details the animation techniques used in the film
• Beyond Vaudeville (1991, 27 min.) – Episode of the classic public-access TV show featuring Michael J. Anderson
• Archival interview with Jasný from The Other Europe series (1988, 26 min.)
• Bohemian Rhapsody (1969, 16 min.) – Jasný’s celebrated short about his home country
• It’s Not Always Cloudy (1949, 68 min.) – Jasný’s feature-length student film co-directed by Karel Kachyňa
• Theatrical trailer
• Booklet featuring an essay by film programmer Marc Lamothe and a new interview with actor Rodrigue Tremblay
• Reversible cover artwork
• Alternate French language audio track
• English SDH subtitles
Canadian International Pictures
From arthouse to Canuxploitation, Canadian International Pictures (CIP) is devoted to resurrecting vital, distinctive, and overlooked triumphs of Canadian cinema. We are focused on the country’s original cinematic boom years – spanning the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s – occasionally venturing past that period (and the country’s borders) to highlight the films of Canada’s most inspired actors and filmmakers.
