Monday, June 30, 2014

Millennium 67 : IMAX - A New Kind of Movie

[This post is another in a series  profiling each of the 68 stamps issued by Canada Post Corporation on September 15, 1999 on the occasion of the new Millennium. ]



The IMAX system has its roots in EXPO '67 in Montreal. A small group of Canadian designed a new system using a single, powerful projector, rather than the cumbersome multiple projectors used at that  time. The result: the IMAX motion picture projection system, which would revolutionize giant-screen cinema. IMAX technology premiered at the Fuji Pavilion, EXPO '70 in Osaka, Japan.

The first permanent IMAX projection system was introduced in 1971 at the Ontario Place Cinesphere. The Ontario Place Cinesphere has been featured on Pictorial Post Cards.

1971





1972






IMAX Corporation Greeting Card Envelope 1999

IMAX Corporation produced an envelope with the Millennium series design for its 1999 Christmas card. The envelope and card were also released through the Philatelic Agency in January 2000.




Private Order envelope




Millennium Stamp Formats

1.  Millennium Collection Album

The 68 Millennium stamps were first issued in a hardbound book, Canada Post The Millennium Collection : Expressions of a People, on September 15, 1999. The stamps were printed perforated with two stamps per page. 



The Imax and Softimage stamps were printed on the same page.

 
2. Millennium Collection Souvenir Sheet

Canada Post Corporation re-issued the Millennium stamps in panes of 4 stamps (recognized by stamp catalogues) issued over a three month period from December 17, 1999 to March 17, 2000.  The souvenir sheet with the Imax stamp was released on December 17, 1999.