Janet Perlman
Janet Laurie Perlman is a Canadian animator and children's book author and illustrator whose work includes the short film The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 54th Academy Awards and received a Parents' Choice Award. Her 13 short films have received 60 awards to date. She was married to the late animation producer Derek Lamb.
Also recorded as Janet Laurie Perlman
Janet Perlman

Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Janet Perlman
- Birth Name
- Janet Laurie Perlman
- Birthplace
- Canada
- Occupation
- Animator, author
- Born
- 1954 · Montreal.
- Nationality
- Canada · United States
- Fields
- animated film · children's and young adult literature · illustration
- Education
- École des arts graphiques · Concordia University · Vanier College · Wagar High School
- Languages
- English · French
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Documentary summary
Janet Laurie Perlman is a Canadian animator and children's book author and illustrator whose work includes the short film The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 54th Academy Awards and received a Parents' Choice Award. Her 13 short films have received 60 awards to date. She was married to the late animation producer Derek Lamb.
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Note VALÉORINE
Janet Perlman (born 1954) is an animation director, animator and film director, among other activities, of Canadian and American nationality. The animation director was born in Montreal.
Janet Perlman was educated at Concordia University, École des arts graphiques and Vanier College, among others. The animation director worked for Concordia University, Harvard University and National Film Board of Canada, among others and is a member of International Animated Film Association. Janet Perlman worked in Canada and lived in Cambridge and Montreal. Activity centred on animated film, children's and young adult literature and illustration. Languages used include English and French.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q2506671 · wikipedia · Janet Perlman
In this article
Biography
Biography
After working with Lamb at the National Film Board of Canada in the 1980s, they formed their own production company, Lamb-Perlman Productions. She is currently a partner in Hulascope Studio, based in Montreal. Perlman has produced animation segments for Sesame Street and NOVA. Working with Lamb, she produced title sequences for the PBS series Mystery!, based on the artwork of Edward Gorey, and was one of the animators for R. Blechman's adaptation of The Soldier's Tale for PBS's Great Performances. She has also taught animation at Harvard University, the Rhode Island School of Design and Concordia University. She and Lamb were divorced but remained creative and business partners until his death in 2005.
Janet Perlman studied at École des arts graphiques, Concordia University and Vanier College. The recorded working language is English and French. The field of work recorded is animated film, children's and young adult literature and illustration. Places of work recorded in the authority are Canada. Residence is recorded at Montreal and Cambridge. Employment is recorded with Harvard University, Concordia University and National Film Board of Canada.

Judith Gruber-Stitzer und Janet Perlman bei der Eröffnung des Tricky Women Festivals im Gartenbaukino 2012
© Evelyn Rois, commissioned by Tricky Women International Animation Filmfestival · Tricky Women International Animation Filmfestival
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Janet Perlman • Birth Name — Janet Laurie Perlman • Birthplace — Canada • Occupation — Animator, author
ShowPeace Series
ShowPeace Series
While at the NFB, Perlman developed the ShowPeace animation series conflict resolution, including her short film Bully Dance, which received thirteen awards, including the Award for Best Animated Short Film from the Children's Jury and the Grand Prix de Montréal for Best Short Film at the Festival International du film pour enfants and First Prize in short film & video animation in recognition of outstanding achievement in children's media from the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. Another of Perlman's films for the series, Dinner for Two, received a dozen awards including a Grand Prix des Amériques at the Montreal World Film Festival and a UNICEF Jury Award for Best Short Film at the Berlin International Film Festival. Dinner for Two was later adapted by Perlman as the book The Delicious Bug.
Hulascope Studio
Hulascope Studio
With film composer and former NFB colleague Judith Gruber-Stitzer, Perlman formed Hulascope Studio to produce animated projects for television. Penguins Behind Bars, a parody of the women in prison films of the 1950s, was co-produced by Hulascope and the NFB for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, and co-written by Perlman with Derek Lamb.
Other works
Other works
Perlman's latest film, originally entitled Llama Cookin, which was entered into the Ottawa International Animation Festival before it even existed. With the film due at the festival in just two weeks, Perlman quickly assembled Llama Cookin with animation outtakes from her computer. Unhappy with the results, she tried to withdraw the film from the festival online but couldn't figure out how to do so. So she changed the title of the film to Sorry Film Not Ready in the online entry form, hoping festival organizers would get the message. But when the two-week deadline came, Perlman received a notification that they had yet to receive a film entitled Sorry Film Not Ready and were extending the deadline. So Perlman completed a one-minute film under the title Sorry Film Not Ready and it was accepted by the Ottawa festival. At the 1994 Ottawa International Animation Festival, Perlman's short My Favourite Things That I Love proved popular but confusing to the audience, and the jury awarded her a tongue-in-cheek "Best Bad Taste Award" for the film. The film then went on to receive a "Most Horrible Music Award" from the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Montreal and Cambridge
Residences
Montreal.
Birth place
National Film Board of Canada
In addition to The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin and Penguins Behind Bars, Perlman's NFB credits include the 1976 animated short Lady Fishbourne's Complete Guide to Better Table Manners, winner of first prize in the instructional films category at the Ottawa International Film Festival, and the 2005 short Invasion of the Space Lobsters, a co-production of the NFB with the Canadian Labour Congress, which is a "tongue-in-cheek look at doublespeak and bafflegab." She was an animator on The Hottest Show on Earth (1977) and co-directed Why Me? with Derek Lamb (1978), and the 2014 short film Monsieur Pug, and contributed animation work to Alison Snowden and David Fine's Oscar-winning NFB co-produced short Bob's Birthday.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Janet Perlman”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2506671: Janet Perlman
General reference · Wikidata
Penguin-related projects
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Lenburg, Jeff. Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators. Applause Books. 283–284. 1 June 2006. 978-1-55783-671-7.
- 2.Brownstein, Bill. Ready or not, this film is screening. Montreal Gazette. 21 January 2011.
- 3.Tribute to Derek Lamb. Animation World Network. 22 December 2005.
- 4.National Film Board of Canada. Penguins Behind Bars. Collection page.
- 5.National Film Board of Canada. Lady Fishbourne's Complete Guide to Better Table Manners. Collection page.
- 6.National Film Board of Canada. Perlman Janet. NFB Profiles.
- 7.National Film Board of Canada. Bully Dance/La danse des brutes. Collection page.
- 8.National Film Board of Canada. Dinner for Two. Collection page.
- 9.Deneroff, Harvey. Cartoons on the Bay 2004 Report. Animation World Network. 17 May 2004.
- 10.Sorry Film Not Ready" by Janet Perlman. Cartoon Brew.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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