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CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
When moose took over Toronto: Artists reflect on city art project, 25 years later
As people around the world welcomed a new millennium, Torontonians in the year 2000 were welcoming something even bigger – a herd of hundreds of life-size moose statues. Twenty-five years ago, Toronto launched its Moose in the City campaign, a project featuring 326 colourful moose statues decorated by artists and placed all over the city in an effort to usher in the new year with a boost for local tourism and art sectors. The project came at no cost to the city, according to council minutes from April 2000, and the statues were sponsored by various companies. The public could stumble upon the hoofed, herbivore masterpieces at locations including the CN Tower, Pearson Airport and city hall. Some of the artists involved say the project was emblematic of the city's culture and shows how municipalities can step up to support the art scene — even as some of the famed sculpted creatures have disappeared in the years since. Moose in the City was a 'great collaboration with the city' for artists, said Kelly Borgers, who was commissioned to do three of the statues. There was even a launch party for the project, with music and a sculpture parade. 'All the moose were all together. We pushed them on wheels down the street like a stampede,' she recalled. Borgers said she produced three statues: Park Moose, Driving Moose Daisy and Florence Moosingale. She's not sure what happened to the first two – decorated with nature scenes and granny glasses, respectively – but Florence lives in the city's midtown outside the headquarters of a home care agency. Lee Grunberg, the president and CEO of Integracare, said Florence used to get Valentine's Day cards addressed from another moose that's perched on the roof of a house in nearby Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. 'The people that bought these moose, they love the camaraderie of owning these moose,' Grunberg said. Borgers likes to drive by and see Florence once in a while, she said, and knowing her art is still out there 25 years later brings her joy. 'She's always dressed up in all different costumes, for Valentine's Day, for Easter, for Christmas, for Canada Day,' Borgers said with a laugh. 'It's awesome. I'm proud of my moose. She has a better wardrobe than I have.' Borgers said the project was symbolic of the fun to be had in the city, and it 'lightened things up.' 'I just think it had a good sense of humour, that was nice,' she said. 'Nobody saw moose and frowned.' Lindsay Davies, who is based in Aurora, Ont., said the project gave her and other artists a chance to 'show their thing.' Davies was commissioned by Belinda Stronach, daughter of billionaire businessman Frank Stronach, to paint a moose statue to look like former Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph. The statue was complete with a jersey, hockey socks and a detailed goalie mask covering the moose's snout. It was placed in front of the Hockey Hall of Fame. 'I just felt totally honoured and absolutely thrilled where it ended up downtown on Front Street,' said Davies. Despite reports at the time of moose vandalism — including alleged antler thefts — Davies said she'd love to see the city do a similar project again, especially given the participants' diverse art styles. 'It's just wonderful, and it's very inspirational,' said Davies. 'I think the public in general really benefits from something like that.' Davies said her moose was auctioned for $25,000 that went to charity shortly after the project. Though she said she doesn't know where Curtis Joseph Moose is today, she theorizes he's somewhere in Little Britain, Ont., after a local bakery took ownership years ago. Toronto-based artist Teri Donovan said George Cohon, the founder of McDonald's Canada, brought up the public art idea with then-mayor Mel Lastman, who became very interested in the project and stood behind it. Donovan said she got involved after a friend sent her a brochure about the campaign and she ended up creating two sculptures: the Bay Street Moose and the Strawberry Moose with Whipped Cream. 'It was really an interesting thing to do. It had its challenges, of course, but in the end, it was a lot of fun,' she said. She isn't sure about the fate of her two moose, although she discovered through online research that the Bay Street sculpture was missing. There were controversies surrounding the project, she recalled. The quality of some sculptures was not very good, she said, and critics complained that the statues were not actually art. 'But it wasn't supposed to be high art, it was supposed to be a fun project for the city,' she said. Donovan remembers her neighbours and their kids routinely checking on the progress of one of her moose creations as she painted it in her driveway. 'I live in a quiet neighbourhood in the east end of Toronto and there isn't a lot of that kind of thing that happens here,' she said. Donovan said Moose in the City was a draw for tourists and it also helped raise money for charities as some of the moose were auctioned off. Laurel Brooks still has the moose her family purchased at auction and moved to their Muskoka cottage, where it stayed until 2012. She said her daughter and ex-husband initially wanted to get Tourist Moose, with a hat and a camera around her neck, but the bidding for that one was 'pretty competitive.' They ended up getting a moose built by Toronto District School Board students, she said. After separating from her ex-husband, Brooks brought the moose back to Toronto where it now sits on an elevated platform in her backyard. The sculpture, too big to fit through the garage or the side of the house, had to be hoisted and moved with ropes, she said. It's made of paper-mache, with layers coming off over the years, and has been repainted with red flowers that look like poppies. 'I just really liked it,' Brooks said with a laugh when asked if the hustle of moving the moose back and forth was worth it. 'It's just a cool thing to have.' With files from Fatima Raza. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025. Sharif Hassan and Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press
CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
‘It's pretty wild:' How Toronto's Maggie Kang created global smash ‘KPop Demon Hunters'
Members of the fictional K-pop group Huntr/x, from left to right, Mira, Rumi and Zoey, are seen eating ramyeon noodles in a still image handout from the film "KPop Demon Hunters." THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Netflix, (Mandatory Credit) Growing up as a Korean immigrant in 1990s Toronto, Maggie Kang kept her love of K-pop to herself. 'I remember hiding my K-pop albums from my white friends because they thought it was weird and silly,' recalls Kang, who moved from Seoul to Canada at age five and was raised in the North York area. 'But I was like, 'No, this is great.'' In a neighbourhood with few other Koreans, she rarely saw her culture reflected around her. Now, she's helping amplify it worldwide. Her debut animated film 'KPop Demon Hunters' — produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Netflix — has become a global smash, pulling in massive streaming numbers while its songs top Billboard charts. Last week, Netflix said the musical fantasy — which follows a K-pop girl group that moonlights as demon slayers — was the first of its original movies to hit a new viewership peak in its fifth week. Its soundtrack also became the highest-charting of the year, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in mid-July. 'It's pretty wild. You don't ever know what the reaction is going to be, really, when you're making these things,' Kang says in a video call from Los Angeles. 'We were very hopeful it would find its audience. It feels like it has and they really latched onto it. Now it's spreading to other areas that we didn't think it was going to get to…. We're very happy and excited and overwhelmed.' Written and co-directed by Kang, 'KPop Demon Hunters' centres on K-pop trio Huntr/x — pronounced 'Huntrix' — who fight demons by night and dominate charts by day. When band members Mira, Zoey and Rumi face off against demon boy band the Saja Boys, Rumi is forced to confront her true identity. 'I think the themes of hiding parts of yourself and being afraid to show your true self to people, these days they're more relevant than ever,' Kang reflects. 'We tend to hide behind our online personas as well, and so I think even young kids can resonate with that.' Kang studied animation at Sheridan College and was recruited to DreamWorks in her third year, working as a story artist on films including 2011's 'Puss in Boots' and 2016's 'Kung Fu Panda 3.' When the opportunity came to direct her own film for Sony, she knew she wanted to tap into her roots. She considered exploring Korean mythology and demonology, but also had another concept involving K-pop. 'My husband was like, 'Why don't you just put those together?'' she says. 'Oddly, it really fit — the idea of using music to fight demons naturally tied into Korean shamanism.' The animation production was largely handled by Sony Pictures Imageworks studios in Vancouver and Montreal, which played a key role in crafting the vibrant, high-octane visuals. Kang says she and co-director Chris Appelhans didn't just want the music by their fictional groups to be part of the soundtrack — it had to be deeply integrated into the story. It also had to slap. 'We knew the music had to stand on its own and be able to compete with all the pop songs out there, because K-pop is so good,' she says. They enlisted a powerhouse team of producers, including The Black Label co-founder Teddy Park, known for shaping the sounds of Blackpink and Taeyang; BTS collaborators Lindgren, Stephen Kirk, and Jenna Andrews; and Ian Eisendrath, who worked on Broadway hit 'Come from Away.' 'Our songs had to be bops, but they also had to tell a story,' says Kang. 'That added another layer of challenges to the songwriting.' Their work hit all the right notes. This month, Huntr/x's 'Golden' became the first track by a fictional act to top the Billboard Global 200 — edging out summer hits such as Alex Warren's 'Ordinary' and Justin Bieber's 'Daisies.' Meanwhile, Saja Boys' 'Your Idol' hit No. 1 on the U.S. Spotify chart, surpassing BTS as the highest-charting male K-pop act in the platform's history. 'We needed the music to be chart-topping … but now to see it happen is like, 'Whoa, what is happening?'' Kang says. 'I don't think I ever really thought that it was going to happen.' Kang says she'd 'definitely' consider expanding the 'KPop Demon Hunters' universe. 'There's a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of undeveloped ideas in the movie that we had to omit because of length. I know fans really want the fuller backstories of Mira and Zoey, and we did put those in at one point, but ultimately, this movie was a story about Rumi, so we had to take it out,' says Kang. 'We have a lot to show still.' But for now, she's taking a moment to soak it all in: the love, the milestones and the cultural shift she once didn't think she'd ever see. 'I feel very proud, just seeing Korean culture being in the spotlight. I never thought this would happen,' she says. 'As somebody who grew up when Korea wasn't that cool, to see it come this far is really amazing.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025. Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press
Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Boomers, millennials, Gen Beta: Why do we name generations?
What's in a name? For the past century, people have clamoured to categorize people by their age and the life events they've gone through – but how and why did we get so preoccupied with generations? The Globe's Generations Reporter Ann Hui joins the show to break down where the names came from and how they play out online and in popular culture. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@
