On December 23, 2004, at 5:30 PM, Télé-Québec will broadcast the new Christmas tale produced by the Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures company: La tradition de la bûche de Noël (The tradition of the Christmas log) from a script by Roger Harvey and Louise Leblanc.

The voice-over cast includes many talented actors, featuring Mario Saint-Amand as Lotor, Antoine Durand as Laflèche, and Nicolas Bacon, Aline Pinsonneault, Elisabeth Lenormand, Philippe Martin, and Vincent Potel as Chef Bakewell, who sings one of the songs in the film. Katee Julien lends her magnificent voice for the opening song, and Mario Saint-Amand sings L’amitié c’est sacré, accompanied by Martin Fontaine.

The story of this 30-minute 3D animated film takes place during the first-ever Christmas Eve celebrations at Château Frontenac. At the very moment when the chef discovers that the little sister of his young assistant, Antoine, is secretly staying in the kitchen, the centrepiece of the inaugural Christmas Eve dinner is ruined. Thanks to his young assistant’s ingenuity, the great chef is able present to his distinguished guests a majestic cake worthy of starting a tradition.

Like the previous films, La légende du sapin de Noël (The legend of the Christmas tree) and Histoire du bas de Noël (The Christmas stocking tale), the architecture, sets, props, and costumes are inspired directly by Quebec’s heritage. “The artists have created an extremely rich variety of textures,” comments director Nancy Savard. “Only human talent can produce an effect like that.”

“The animation for this new film is the most refined yet,” admits Jean-François Lessard de 6ixdegrés. “The teams are proud of this 3D animated film made entirely in the Quebec City region.” “And they have reason to be happy with the result,” adds Savard, producer-director for 10e Ave. “With the addition of Olivier Auriol’s music and the sound design by Jérôme Boiteau’s team, I believe that we finally have the know-how to take on the challenge of feature-length 3D animated films. La tradition de la bûche de Noël will, we hope, convince our partners and investors of the maturity of our creative teams.”

10th Ave’s objective is still to provide TV viewers with a made in Quebec Christmas film every day during the holiday season. Thus, Télé-Québec will broadcast La légende du sapin de Noël on 22 December, La tradition de la bûche de Noël on 23 December, and Histoire du bas de Noël on 24 December at 5:30 PM. For Quebec City’s 400th anniversary,10th Ave plans to offer a gift box of its tales made in Quebec.

10th Ave continues to create La collection des contes classiques de Noël (The collection of classic Christmas tales); it will soon be starting production on its fourth tale, Le baiser sous le gui (The kiss under the mistletoe), a script by Andrée Lambert.

10th Ave Productions is a production company located in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, outside of Quebec City. It specializes in 3D animation and television production.