John Hubley Movies
The most influential animator of the postwar era, John Hubley was born May 21, 1914, in Marinette, WI. After graduating from the Los Angeles Art Center, he first made his mark while at Walt Disney Studios, working on films like 1940's Fantasia (for which he served as art director) and 1942's Bambi. However, Hubley quickly grew disenchanted with the hallmarks of the Disney style -- the naturalism, the anthropomorphic character design, the detailed artwork, and the gag comedy -- and in 1941 he left the studio to explore a more contemporary approach in line with the work of abstract illustrators like Saul Steinberg.After signing on as chief director with the upstart First Motion Picture Unit, which soon changed its name to United Productions of America (UPA), Hubley instituted a series of sweeping changes that encouraged his animation team to push the boundaries of the form, establishing a house aesthetic which favored modern art techniques, unusual angles and textures, and distinctive color combinations. In comparison to the graceful movement of the Disney studios and the vivid 3-D backgrounds of the Fleischer brothers' productions, the UPA style was something entirely new: Color gave way to light and shadow, backdrops were reduced to floating shapes, and abstract lines assumed the place of detailed drawings.
Not only did the world of animation feel the effects of Hubley's vision, even live-action films took notice; the famed graphic designer Saul Bass admittedly absorbed the UPA influence into his stunning title sequences. In addition, Hubley's methods were efficient; cartoons like 1951's Gerald McBoing Boing and the following year's Rooty Toot Toot perfected an economic style which, far removed from the painstaking animation previously in vogue, saved both time and money. Among his other achievements was the creation of the hopelessly near-sighted Mr. Magoo, a popular character inspired by Hubley's own uncle. At the peak of UPA's influence, however, Hubley was forced to resign his position as a result of McCarthyism. Teaming with his wife, Faith, he founded Storyboard Productions in 1955. In 1959, the couple won an Oscar for their animated short film Moonbirds; another Oscar was garnered by The Hole three years later. 1961's Of Stars and Men was the Hubleys' feature-length debut, followed in 1965 by Year of the Horse. After overseeing such other notable shorts as 1967's The Windy Day and 1974's Academy Award-nominated Voyage to Next, John Hubley died on February 21, 1977. He was 62 years old. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Animation veteran Faith Hubley worked solo for the first time since her husband's death in 1977 to oversee the feature-length cartoon The Cosmic Eye. The film concentrates on nothing less than the evolution of the earth, as seen through the eyes of three ultracool jazz musicians. Newly filmed material is blended with earlier Hubley projects to come up with an immensely satisfying unified whole. The animation is brilliantly complemented by the voicework (and musical contributions) of Dizzy Gillespie as the head musician, and by the soothing tones of Jean Stapleton as the humanized Earth. The film's overall message of peace, tolerance and conservation is never offered in the sledgehammer fashion of say, TV's Captain Planet. Completed in 1985, The Cosmic Eye was distributed on a limited basis the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
While Columbia Pictures had its own cartoon unit, Screen Gems, throughout the 1930s and 1940s, none of those animated efforts (which included such series as "Scrappy", "Krazy Kat", and "Li'l Abner") appear in this compilation. Instead, these cartoons are culled from the shorts produced by United Productions of America (UPA) and released by Columbia from 1947-1959. The subjects include The Tell-Tale Heart, Gerald McBoing-Boing, A Unicorn in the Garden, and the first "Mr. Magoo" cartoon, Ragtime Bear. One of the "older" Columbia properties, the Fox and the Crow, is represented by the 1948 UPA cartoon Robin Hoodlum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Legendary animators John Hubley and Faith Hubley directed this film based on the writings of psychoanalytic theorist Erik Erikson. The film uses a ride on a carousel as a metaphor for the challenges and transformations that each person faces as they travel through life. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This short cartoon with an environmental message, created for the Institute for World Order, is drawn in a style that suggests a melding of African and Native American influences. It opens with Mother Earth drinking water from a river in which square shapes float by; when she exhales, the water she has been drinking forms clouds. Father Time, walking on a strange sun-like treadmill nearby, notices small figures on the squares floating by and asks what they are. They turn out to be primitive humans, sitting around a campfire and sharing their food and resources equitably. Father Time asks what they do if someone gets greedy and tries to take more than his share. Mother Earth explains that it's not in their best interests to do that, but that each day is a choice. Time passes, and humanity becomes less cooperative and more isolated. Mother Earth and Father Time worry that humanity is evolving a system that will ultimately work to their detriment. Mother Earth remains cautiously optimistic that they will make the right choices, but acknowledges that a great deal depends on whether they make those choices in time. Voyage to Next features the talents of Maureen Stapleton and Dizzy Gillespie as Mother Earth and Father Time, with jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater joining instrumentalists Gillespie and Benny Carter to provide the evocative background score. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- 1966
In this children's drama, a seven-year-old Chinese boy makes friends with an old carriage driver. He becomes especially attached to the man's beloved horse. When the aged horse dies, the old one becomes deeply depressed and longs to join his old friend. The young boy convinces his family and friends to help him buy his friend a new horse. The film was shot in New York's Chinatown and in Central Park. The film contains some notable animated sequences. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Produced by the innovative animation team of Faith and John Hubley, The Hole spotlights a pair of construction workers, one white, one black. Working deep underground, our cartoon heroes begin discussing the possibility of nuclear annihilation. Suddenly, an errant rat accidentally triggers an air-raid alarm. At the same time, a crane drops a load of debris with a thundering crash. Fearing that "the bomb" has indeed dropped, the black worker climbs to the surface, peeks outside, and...well, this is a very short bit of animation, so we won't give everything away. Suffice to say that The Hole, while brilliantly conceived and executed, may be a bit too serious for the Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote crowd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Animators John and Faith Hubley serve up a feature-length cartoon vision of the Universe in Of Stars and Men. Man himself is the central character, endeavoring to explain his purpose in the greater scheme of things. The mysteries of creation, time, space and energy are explored in words of one syllable for those who'd otherwise tune out on a scientific lecture. The film is narrated by Dr. Harlow Shapley, who wrote the book upon which Of Stars and Men was based. Running a scant 53 minutes, the film had trouble securing top bookings, though it became a standard of night-school audio-visual departments in the 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Fantasia, Walt Disney's animated masterpiece of the 1940s, grew from a short-subject cartoon picturization of the Paul Dukas musical piece The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Mickey Mouse was starred in this eight-minute effort, while the orchestra was under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. Disney and Stokowski eventually decided that the notion of marrying classical music with animation was too good to confine to a mere short subject; thus the notion was expanded into a two-hour feature, incorporating seven musical selections and a bridging narration by music critic Deems Taylor. The first piece, Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor", was used to underscore a series of abstract images. The next selection, Tschiakovsky's "Nutcracker Suite", is performed by dancing wood-sprites, mushrooms, flowers, goldfish, thistles, milkweeds and frost fairies. The Mickey Mouse version of "Sorcerer's Apprentice" is next, followed by Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", which serves as leitmotif for the story of the creation of the world, replete with dinosaurs and volcanoes. After a brief jam session involving the live-action musicians comes Beethoven's "Pastorale Symphony", enacted against a Greek-mythology tapestry by centaurs, unicorns, cupids and a besotted Bacchus. Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" is performed by a Corps de Ballet consisting of hippos, ostriches and alligators. The program comes to a conclusion with a fearsome visualization of Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain", dominated by the black god Tchernobog (referred to in the pencil tests as "Yensid", which is guess-what spelled backwards); this study of the "sacred and profane" segues into a reverent rendition of Schubert's "Ave Maria". Originally, Debussy's "Clair de Lune" was part of the film, but was cut from the final release print; also cut, due to budgetary considerations, was Disney's intention of issuing an annual "update" of Fantasia with new musical highlights and animated sequences. A box-office disappointment upon its first release (due partly to Disney's notion of releasing the film in an early stereophonic-sound process which few theatres could accommodate), Fantasia eventually recouped its cost in its many reissues. For one of the return engagements, the film was retitled Fantasia Will Amaze-ya, while the 1963 reissue saw the film "squashed" to conform with the Cinemascope aspect ratio. Other re-releases pruned the picture from 120 to 88 minutes, and in 1983, Disney redistributed the film with newly orchestrated music and Tim Matheson replacing Deems Taylor as narrator. Once and for all, a restored Fantasia was made available to filmgoers in 1990. A sequel, Fantasia 2000, was released in theaters in 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When the gentle woodcarver Geppetto (Christian Rub) builds a marionette to be his substitute son, a benevolent fairy brings the toy to life. The puppet, named Pinocchio (Dick Jones), is not yet a human boy. He must earn the right to be real by proving that he is brave, truthful, and unselfish. But, even with the help of Jiminy (Cliff Edwards), a cricket who the fairy assigns to be Pinocchio's conscience, the marionette goes astray. He joins a puppet show instead of going to school, he lies instead of telling the truth, and he travels to Pleasure Island instead of going straight home. Yet, when Pinocchio discovers that a whale has swallowed Geppetto, the puppet single-mindedly journeys into the ocean and selflessly risks his life to save his father, thereby displaying that he deserves to be a real boy. Based on a series of stories by 19th century Italian author Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio came under fire for being a sugarcoated version of its original tale, but the film's moral did have a strong educational effect on children. Soon enough, a 16 mm excerpt from the picture, titled "Pinocchio: A Lesson in Honesty," was released for teachers to use in schools. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Jones, Cliff Edwards, (more)
