Norman Rockwell's World... An American Dream (1972)

Norman and Molly Rockwell are now well into their seventies, but they still lead quite an active life as they cycle around their New England hometown where they know and are known affectionately. Their philosophy on life is simple and as they visit a retired admiral who has recently posed for one of his drawings,  that serves to introduce us to a pleasant myriad of archive of film and of his colourful artistry across generations from Eisenhower through to the modern day. It’s the detail of his drawings that is striking, and their variety. His characterisations over-scale to exaggerate and under-scale to empathises some of the charm of his subjects that range from political commentaries to happy family observations, and it’s that skill at observing and augmenting that is effectively displayed for half an hour here. The library of his drawings, paintings and sketches included here are engaging and his occasional narration adds a bit of insight into what drove and continues to drive this man to keep going. It also serves as a general social history of aspects of American life with an amiable degree of parody and satiric scenarios explored too - and I enjoyed it.