Death of a Legend was the first of three documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

s by Bill Mason

Bill Mason

Bill Mason was an award-winning Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker, and conservationist, noted primarily for his popular canoeing books, films, and art as well as his documentaries on wolves. Mason was also known for including passages from Christian sermons in his films...

 about wolves, helping to dispel the image of wolves as "evil" and demonstrating their role in maintaining the balance of nature. Released in 1971, Death of the Legend was the first documentary to feature footage of wolves being born in the wild, and their first year of life. The film was followed two years later by Mason's feature length theatrical documentary on wolves, Cry of the Wild

Cry of the Wild

Cry of the Wild is a 1972 feature-length documentary film by Bill Mason and his second of three films about wolves. The film is a personal account of the two years Mason spent shooting his first film on wolves, Death of a Legend, incorporating footage from the earlier film...

. Both films were produced by the National Film Board of Canada

National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...

. Mason completed his third and final film on wolves, Wolf Pack, in 1974.

Awards for the film included two Golden Sheaf Awards and an Etrog Award, now known as the Genie Awards, for Best Colour Cinematography.