Besides maple syrup, hockey and William Shatner, Canada has exported a wealth of  animated material for the world's edification. And after that stereotype-packed introduction, let's get on with the show.

O Canada was an anthology series aired on the Cartoon Network, consisting of various animated shorts from the archives of that country's National Film Board. The title of the anthology was cleverly chosen because it is also the title of Canada's national anthem.

The cartoons were quality pieces, fun and well-made. They included shorts like "The Cat Came Back," about a man who tries to get rid of a cat only to see the pesky feline return to him over and over; "The Big Snit," a poignant story about a Scrabble-playing couple whose domestic squabble eclipses the nuclear holocaust occurring outside; and "Bob's Birthday," about an overwhelmed dentist's 40th birthday (which won an Academy Award).

O Canada fare was a little darker, a little more layered than American youngsters were used to and the show didn't acquire a big audience. It was a valiant effort by the Cartoon Network to introduce a different kind of animation to young audiences and those who did actually watch the series surely came out of that Canadian blitz better for it.