John Hubley

John Kirkham Hubley (May 21, 1914 – February 21, 1977) was an American animation director, art director, producer and writer known for his work with the United Productions of America (UPA) and his own independent studio, Storyboard, Inc. (later renamed Hubley Studio). A pioneer and innovator in the American animation industry, Hubley pushed for more visually and emotionally complex films than those being produced by contemporaries like the Walt Disney Company and Warner Brothers Animation. He and his second wife, Faith Hubley (neé Chestman), with whom he directed alongside from 1959 onward, were nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three.

Hubley was born in Marinette, Wisconsin, in 1914 and developed an interest in art from a young age, as both his mother and maternal grandfather were professional painters. After high school, Hubley attended the ArtCenter College of Design to study painting. After three years of classes, he got a job at the Walt Disney Animation Studio at the age of 22. Although his talents were recognized by the studio and he was given a position as an animation director on ''Fantasia'', Hubley felt restricted by the studio's conservative animation style. Hubley left Disney in 1941 during the Disney animator's strike and joined the First Motion Pictures Unit, later following many of his fellow unit artists to the newly-formed Industrial Poster Service (later renamed the United Productions of America). Hubley served many roles at UPA and directed several Academy Award-nominated animated shorts. Most famously, he directed ''The Ragtime Bear'' (1949), the debut of Mr. Magoo, a character he co-created.

In 1952, Hubley was forced to leave UPA after refusing to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He soon opened his own independent studio to capitalize on commercial work for the new market of television advertising, directing the successful “I Want My Maypo!” spot. In 1954, he was commissioned by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum to make an animated short film, the first short ever funded by an art museum.

Hubley (alongside his wife Faith) is often considered the most important figure in the American independent animation and one of the most important figures in American animation. Their film ''Moonbird'' (1959) became the first independent film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short. Hubley collaborated with jazz musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, and Quincy Jones and often used unscripted, improvised dialogue in his films, creating an entirely new way of expressing emotion and feeling through the medium of animation. His films are considered important in the evolution of post-war modernism in film.

Biography

Early life

Hubley was born in Marinette, Wisconsin to John Raymond Hubley (1880–1959) and Verena K. Hubley (1891–1978), a painter. He moved to Los Angeles, California, to study painting at the Art Center School for three years. In 1935, he gained a job as a background and layout artist at Disney, where he worked on such classic films as ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo,'' and ''Bambi,'' as well as "The Rite of Spring" segment from ''Fantasia''.

On February 25, 1939, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright visited the studio with a copy of the Russian animated movie ''The Tale of the Czar Durandai'' (1934), directed by Ivan Ivanov-Vano, which he showed to the artists, among them Hubley. Wright thought that the different style and design, that was very different from the typical Disney animation, would inspire and give the animators new ideas. Hubley liked what he saw and was influenced by it. He left the company during Disney animators' strike in 1941, and found work directing films for Screen Gems and the Army's First Motion Picture Unit until he joined United Productions of America which was founded by Stephen Bosustow, Zack Schwartz, Dave Hilberman. UPA soon became known for their highly stylized designs and limited animation.

UPA

In 1949 he was the creator of the Mr. Magoo cartoon character, based on an uncle, and directed the first Magoo cartoon with Jim Backus voicing Magoo.

Hubley's final project at UPA was to direct the animation of '' The Four Poster'', which became influential in Yugoslavia and was a major stylistic contributor to the Zagreb School of Animated Films. Hubley was forced to leave UPA in 1952 when he refused to name names before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He founded Storyboard Studios the next year and worked on commercials (where he would not be credited) such as creating the Marky Maypo character, but was forced to turn down more exciting projects (such as an adaptation of ''Finian's Rainbow'') because his name was still blacklisted. He moved his studio to New York in 1955, where he switched production over to independent short films.

Later works

Hubley married Faith Elliott (September 16, 1924 – December 7, 2001) the same year as the studio's move. They began collaborating on films in 1956 with ''Adventures of an *'', commissioned by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. It premiered in April 1957 and was described by ''Variety'' as "the first moving picture ever directly originated and financed by an art museum". Faith later said that it portrays "a child's vision, the slow erosion of the vision, and how it can only be regained through the eyes of one's child."

In 1962, the Hubleys completed '' The Hole'', which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film that year.

John and Faith continued to collaborate on all of their films through 1977, when John died at age 62 during heart surgery. Their final production was '' A Doonesbury Special'' (with creator Garry Trudeau), which was a co-winner of the Short Film Palme d'Or jury award the year after his death. Hubley was originally the director of ''Watership Down'', until disagreements with producer Martin Rosen caused the latter to take over. Some of his work, including the opening sequence, remain in the final version. He died shortly after.

Personal life

The voices of his two other children with Faith Hubley, Mark and Ray Hubley, were used for the Oscar-winning ''Moonbird''. His widow and their four children carried on his work in the renamed Hubley Studios. His daughter Georgia Hubley plays drums and sings for the rock band Yo La Tengo and his daughter Emily Hubley is a filmmaker and animator.

Preservation and legacy

The Academy Film Archive has preserved a number of John Hubley's films, including ''A Smattering of Spots'', '' A Doonesbury Special'', and ''Of Men and Demons''.

''The Hole'' was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2013.

Filmography

Screen Gems

* ''Wolf Chases Pigs'' (1942)
* ''Old Blackout Joe'' (1942)
* ''The Dumbconscious Mind'' (1942)
* ''King Midas, Junior'' (1942)
* ''The Vitamin G-Man'' (1943)
* ''Professor Small and Mister Tall'' (1943)
* ''He Can't Make It Stick'' (1943)

UPA

* ''Flat Hatting'' (1946)
* ''Robin Hoodlum'' (1948)
* ''The Magic Fluke'' (1949)
* ''Ragtime Bear'' (1949)
* ''Spellbound Hound'' (1950)
* ''Punchy de Leon'' (1950)
* ''Gerald McBoing-Boing'' (1951)
* ''Fuddy Duddy Buddy'' (1951)
* ''Rooty Toot Toot'' (1952)

Format Films

* ''The Tale of Old Whiff'' (1959)

Storyboard/Hubley Studios

shorts and features
* ''Adventures of an *'' (1956)
* ''Harlem Wednesday'' (1957)
* '' A Date with Dizzy'' (1958)
* ''Tender Game'' (1958)
* ''Moonbird'' (1959) (Oscar winner)
* ''Children of the Sun'' (1960)
* '' The Hole'' (1962) (Oscar winner)
* ''The Hat'' (1964)
* ''Of Stars and Men'' (1964)
* ''A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature'' (1966) (Oscar winner)
* ''Urbanissimo'' (1967)
* ''Windy Day'' (1968) (Oscar nominee)
* ''Of Men and Demons'' (1969) (Oscar nominee)
* '' Zuckerkandl'' (1969)
* ''Eggs'' (1970)
* ''Dig'' (1972)
* ''Cockaboody'' (1973)
* ''Voyage to Next'' (1974) (Oscar nominee)
* ''People, People, People'' (1975)
* ''Everybody Rides the Carousel'' (1976)
* ''A Doonesbury Special'' (1977) (Oscar nominee)
* ''Watership Down'' (1978) (uncredited)
* ''The Cosmic Eye'' (1986) (archive footage)

TV
* ''Sesame Street'' ("Imagination E", 1969)
* ''Sesame Street'' ("O Song", 1969)
* ''Sesame Street'' ("Polar Bear & Exit", 1970)
* ''Sesame Street'' ("Small V", 1970)
* ''Sesame Street'' ("F for Football", 1971)
* ''Sesame Street'' ("Baby Fantasy", 1971)
* ''Sesame Street'' ("Birds 1-20", 1971)
* ''Sesame Street'' ("Penguin Rhythms", 1971)
* ''Sesame Street'' ("Hungry M", 1971)
* ''Sesame Street'' ("Letter S", 1972)
* ''The Electric Company'' ("The Adventures of Letterman", 1972)

National Film Board of Canada

* ''The Cruise'' (1966)The Cruise (1966) - IMDb
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References

Notes

*Tied with another Oscar-nominated animated short ''Oh, My Darling'' by Dutch animator Børge Ring

See also

*Bebop
*Independent animation
*Modernist film

External links

''Moma Exhibition'' – The Hubley Studio: A Home for Animation
*
* /www.clipland.com/Name/0010608/ John Hubleyat /www.clipland.com Cliplandbr>Independent Spirits documentary on PBSExcerpt from Screening Room with John & Faith Hubley on YouTube

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubley, John
1914 births
1977 deaths
American art directors
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
Animators from Wisconsin
Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners
English-language film directors
First Motion Picture Unit personnel
Film directors from Wisconsin
Hollywood blacklist
National Film Board of Canada people
People from Marinette, Wisconsin
Producers who won the Best Animated Short Academy Award
Walt Disney Animation Studios people