Short Films by Faith and John Hubley

Short Films by Faith and John Hubley

9 Episodes

A pair of Hollywood exiles—she was a former script clerk at Columbia, he was an ex–Disney cartoonist and union activist blacklisted for refusing to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee—Faith and John Hubley left behind the mainstream to forge a thrillingly experimental animation style all their own. Channeling the influences of jazz and abstract expressionism, the husband-and-wife duo created strikingly hand-drawn and -painted works that pulse with the improvisational spirit of bebop (DATE WITH DIZZY, a sly anticapitalist critique featuring Dizzy Gillespie) and childhood imagination (MOONBIRD, which sets a recording of their own children at play to free-flowing animation). Applying their effortlessly light touch to weighty themes like atomic-age anxiety (the Academy Award–wining THE HOLE) and the place of humankind in the universe (the wondrous animated documentary OF STARS AND MEN), the Hubleys helped usher in a new era of independent animation in which Disneyfied gloss gave way to gloriously unrestrained personal expression.

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Short Films by Faith and John Hubley

9 Episodes

  • Introducing John and Faith Hubley
    17:27
    Introducing John and Faith Hubley
    Episode 1

    Introducing John and Faith Hubley

    Episode 1

    This conversation between John and Faith Hubley’s children Mark, Emily, Georgia, and Ray and filmmaker Leah Shore was recorded in 2020.

  • The Hat
    18:32
    The Hat
    Episode 2

    The Hat

    Episode 2

    Directed by John Hubley • 1964 • United States
    Starring Dizzy Gillespie, Dudley Moore

    Two soldiers, voiced by Dizzy Gillespie and Dudley Moore, patrol the border between their countries. One of them drops his hat, and a dialogue (and an improvised jazz duet) about the possibility of peace throug...

  • Urbanissimo
    05:46
    Urbanissimo
    Episode 3

    Urbanissimo

    Episode 3

    Directed by John Hubley • 1966 • United States

    A renegade walking city pollutes everything in its path in this jazzy allegory set to the music of Benny Carter.

  • Windy Day
    09:36
    Windy Day
    Episode 4

    Windy Day

    Episode 4

    Directed by John Hubley and Faith Hubley • 1968 • United States
    Starring Emily Hubley, Georgia Hubley

    Two little girls explore their views on marriage, death, babies, and love in this gently poignant, Academy Award–nominated idyll suffused with the offhanded wisdom of childhood.

  • Zuckerkandl!
    15:37
    Zuckerkandl!
    Episode 5

    Zuckerkandl!

    Episode 5

    Directed by John Hubley • 1968 • United States
    Starring Robert Maynard Hutchins, Phil Leida

    Prominent educational philosopher Robert Maynard Hutchins wrote and narrated this dryly humorous parody of the theories of Sigmund Freud.

  • Eggs
    10:17
    Eggs
    Episode 6

    Eggs

    Episode 6

    Directed by John Hubley and Faith Hubley • 1970 • United States

    The spirits of life and death go for a drive in this darkly humorous fantasia featuring an original score by Quincy Jones.

  • Cockaboody
    08:52
    Cockaboody
    Episode 7

    Cockaboody

    Episode 7

    Directed by John Hubley and Faith Hubley • 1973 • United States
    Starring Emily Hubley, Georgia Hubley

    Faith and John Hubley visualize the spirit of childhood imagination in this slice-of-life short set to recordings of their daughters Emily and Georgia at play.

  • Tall Time Tales
    08:06
    Tall Time Tales
    Episode 8

    Tall Time Tales

    Episode 8

    Directed by Faith Hubley • 1992 • United States
    Starring Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, Max Rosenthal

    Faith Hubley explores the nature of time through a riot of colorfully surrealist visuals.

  • Witch Madness
    08:50
    Witch Madness
    Episode 9

    Witch Madness

    Episode 9

    Directed by Faith Hubley • 1999 • United States

    Faith Hubley’s abstract animation documents the persecution of women as witches throughout history.

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