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Johnfaithhubley

John and Faith Hubley, left, with jazz musician Benny Carter

John Hubley (1914-1977) and his wife Faith Hubley (1924-2001) produced countless independent animated short films, commercials, and sponsored projects from their New York-based studio Storyboard Films, including many inserts for Sesame Street.

John Hubley began his career at Disney, serving as an art director on Fantasia (Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" segment), Dumbo, and Bambi. He quit the studio during the 1941 strike, and moved to Columbia's Screen Gems division, where he began directing, including the "Fox and Crow" series. Screen Gems was dissolved in 1946, and Hubley eventually joined United Productions of America, or UPA (whose films would also be distributed by Columbia), for which he created Mr. Magoo and directed such acclaimed shorts as the jazzy melodrama Rooty Toot Toot.

However, Hollywood came under fire from the House Un-American Activities Committee in its hunt for alleged Communists in all branches of the entertainment industry, and Hubley, alongside several others, resigned from UPA (rather than get the studio in trouble) in 1952.[1] The following year, he established Storyboard as a commercial firm, allowing him to work anonymously. He married Faith Elliott, an editor and script clerk who had worked for Columbia and Republic on such films as Twelve Angry Men. Together, the couple vowed to make one personal film a year. Their collaboration led to seven Academy Award nominations, three of which were wins, on such shorts as Tender Game, The Hole and Moonbird. With an emphasis placed on music, several of these projects were collaborations with noted musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie and Herb Alpert; voices were supplied by the likes of Dudley Moore, Jack Warden, and Meryl Streep, as well as the Hubleys' own children.

With the debut of Sesame Street in 1969, the Hubleys became an integral part of the show's animated landscape. Like their personal films, their inserts were distinguished by the use of jazz soundtracks, abstract and fluid imagery, and improvised dialogue. Several letter-specific segments almost function as free-form, stream of consciousness poetry. In 1971, they also began producing work for The Electric Company, notably the "Letterman" segments with the voices of Gene Wilder, Joan Rivers, and Zero Mostel. John Hubley's work was also showcased in The Grover Monster - Jean Marsh Cartoon Special.

Daughter Emily Hubley followed in her parents' footsteps, directing several animated projects of her own, including Sesame Street material. In 2003, the Hubleys were the focus of the PBS documentary Independent Spirits: The John and Faith Hubley Story.

Partial Filmography[]

Picture Title/Topic First Appearance Description
Eaticecream
Letter E Episode 0001 A dream-like fable involving long "e" sounds within words.
Ohubleycartoon
Letter O Episode 0011 A rolling O travels across shifting landscapes.
Exitpolarbearcartoon
Exit Episode 0131 A polar bear learns what an exit sign is.
Kisforkiss
k - kiss Episode 0131 The "k" in "kiss" kisses an apple and a duck. Voices: Emily and Georgia Hubley
Hubley-SmallJ
Letter J Episode 0133 Various J words.
HubleyJazzBirds
Birds Count 1-20 Episode 0134 Birds appear around the numerals one through twenty as jazz music plays. Music and voice: Dizzy Gillespie
200012
F, Football Episode 0135 A football player talks about his favorite sport.
Stopcartoon
Stop Episode 0149 The O in STOP bounces around, and the other letters tell it to stop.
RoosterDANGER
DANGER Episode 0151 Various renderings of the word DANGER.
Cat.Telephone.Hubley
Telephone: Cat Episode 0154 A cat chases after a telephone as if it were a mouse.
Hubley-ElephantsH
Letter H Episode 0162 A big elephant and a small elephant make lowercase Hs come out of their trunks.
HubleyV01
Small V Episode 0167 Small v ... for voom, voice, violin, etc.
Balloncolumn
Baby Fantasy Episode 0184 A baby rescues a ball from a column.
Hubley.Cat
Catch the Kitty Episode 0187 A girl (Georgia Hubley) tries to lure her cat out from under the chair so she can pick him up. Music: Quincy Jones.
HubleyFishing
Fish Addition and Subtraction Episode 0187 A bear has trouble adding and subtracting fish as he fishes at a lake; the number of fish keeps changing.
0573s
Baseball Bully Episode 0235 A bully won't give the kids' baseball back. The boy imagines a few scenarios before ultimately calling for his dog.
Hubley.Penguintap
Penguin Rhythms Episode 0239 A penguin repeats the rhythms of the sounds it hears, which include a drum, a door knock, a saw and a typewriter.


HubleyCatandMouseChase
Cat and Mouse Chase Episode 0244 A cat chases a mouse into a mouse hole. The cat and mouse make music as they hit the wall, until the cat breaks through the mouse hole. Music: Toots Thielemans.
CatLion
Jungle Abstract Episode 0255 A black cat chases after a white bird, until a white lion steps in.
Achicken!!
Night Sounds Episode 0257 A man tries to get to sleep, but is woken up by a fly, a chicken and a drum-playing rabbit, all of whom call him on the phone after he throws them out.
Themwhocametodinner
Letter M Episode 0276 A man invites an M to dinner. The M is very appreciative, and makes "Mmmmmm" sounds. It eats all of the food at the table, and winds up taking bites of the screen! Voice: Ralph Meeker
Hubley.snake
Letter S Episode 0278 A voice (Ralph Meeker) asks a face (Joshua Shelley) if it's aware of the letter S, and it is revealed that the face belongs to a snake.
Hubley.stop
Transportation S-words Episode 0279 S is for subway, sailboat, sled, scooter, skates, skis... and stop. Voice: Ralph Meeker
1095u G is for Glue Episode 0279 A boy gets engulfed in glue, and several G-word objects get stuck on him.
HubleyV02
V, vitamins Episode 0311 Vitamins give vim, vigor and vitality to a droopy V. Music by Billy Taylor. Voice: Jack Gilford
Hubley V spanish
'v' minuscula Episode 0389 Small v (Spanish version)
Toon-B-Beso
'b' minuscula - beso Episode 0461 Spanish version of "k for kiss"
2257t
'j' minuscula Episode 0475 j words (Spanish version)
Cartoon ifwedare
If we dare... Episode 0962 A poem about changing seasons.
Soundsofletters
Consonant Letter Sounds Episode 0964 A man demonstrates how certain consonant letters sound by playing them as instruments.
Mynameisfred
My Name Is Fred Episode 0977 Fred, a singer, fails to figure out the words that rhyme with his name in the song he sings.

Sources[]

  1. Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic, 1980. Page 334.

Voice info from trusted documents

External links[]

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