⤷ Animation Skillz ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ
- freyamanning0
- Dec 13, 2025
- 17 min read
WEEK 12 -
objectives:
- research into John and Faith Hubley
- do research into the animation principle Appeal
JOHN AND FAITH HUBLEY ( ・・)つ―●○◎-
The Hubleys were actually really famous when they were alive. They were American animators whose whole life pretty much surrounded art. John Hubley was an animator for Disney (helping with art to do with famous films like Fantasia, Snow white ad the seven dwarfs and more!!) then moved onto UPA after the Disney riots and strikes for pay and recognition. John Hubley was actually one of the most important parts of UPA co-creating one of their most famous cartoon(s) "Mr Magoo (1949)", "Rooty Toot Toot (1951)" and "Gerald McBoing Boing (1950)" . Which was a refreshing difference from Disney's realism, producing a different kind of harsh angular and exaggerated body typed style.
Though during that time he was married to a different woman, but once they divorced he met Faith. Once John was discharged from UPA (due to the UPA for being seen as their head animators/creative directors, which John was a head creative director, having links with communists parties - it was during 1950's communism wasn't really great then still isn't but real bad - but John Hubley refused that he was which in turn made him leave). Though with him leaving, him and his pretty talented wife (who also had a love for art and specifically really talented in film making) started working on their own personal independent films (mainly because John was blacklisted as an animator so nobody would hire him so he and his wife founded a studio called "Storyboard studios" , which were even more stylised than the ones John worked on in UPA and Disney. They encapsulated childlike wonder using their own families as main inspirations (specifically their children).
Even with the new film studio the film they made still had that Jazz like feeling as well as an emotional heaviness too theme even with a childlike outlook, but compared to the other cartoons they made in UPA which still had emotional value these were more for emotional feeling; and as they kept getting bigger with one of their films winning the first Oscar for independent film, the jazzy and emotional feeling became the main lead of the films using visual language to express more feeling and using limited dialogue.
During the war with UPA and when John Hubley was working with them its what gave birth to the cool looking minimalistic stylization that animators were actually interested in than boring old Disney realism. When John Hubley eventually left, making the films he did with his wife were actually quite simple to create because he had already been working for 2 very big film companies and not in small roles, their quite big roles that made his name known to the world. The work he created in UPA you could tell was brought into his own personal films because of the colours and the shading used. UPA had this very colorized and tonal way of working making things look effective but still having this flat look.
Due to Faith being from the New York theatre scene their work they produced was very much focused on music and painting, which doesn't really make too much sense for theater but I think it does because theater is all about over exaggerating feelings through possibly music or how a character would act on stage and animation(s) are there to create a language that anyone can understand which is why I think their animations were so successful because with limited dialogue people from anywhere could watch it and the dream like state that the animations gave along with the materials that they used looks just really unique and cool making it something that just caught the attention of people because of how different it was from the big companies that were fighting all the time on who was better.
I read "Animation: A creative Challenge John and Faith Hubley" that was made in 1973 (on the internet Archive as it's a pretty old book), It was an interview of both of them. Honestly I didn't think much of the book at first because it was a little bit difficult to read but I managed to get it to be read aloud to me on my laptop which helped alot. but mainly just talked about both of their experiences with working in different companies and then ending up working together. Finding information about Faith Hudley I found to be quite difficult. I think it's because she just isn't as famous as her husband as well as upsettingly she is a woman and everything just makes her a co worker or just his wife who helped. Which is slightly annoying but the book I read had a whole section where they interviewed just Faith.
Honestly it was really interesting she worked as a woman in film and met her husband when he was helping in UPA with the stylization (which I found out was on purpose but some of the drawings and cartoons they produced they didn't want to look so simple but had to work with small budgets as they just weren't too popular at the start of their birth especially having to compete with a company like Disney - though eventually they got a lot more clients after becoming really popular).
She was hired as his assistant in producing cartoons and they both had this passion for Jazz. From what I read she seemed to be a very methodical worker though like to work with others, as she claimed that she did anything she could help (as John was the director for most of their independent films). They got married when nJohn was still in UPA though right near the end of his UPA career. When he left Faith actually was against making advertisements for any companies but when they moved to NEW york after John got discharged from UPA and blacklisted. They both wanted to create an independent film but had no money or funding for it so had to resort to the first few years making advertisements for big companies before their films took off. The main thing people LOVE to talk about is the one that won them the first Oscar for independent artists, "MoonBird" is the name and it still holds up as being a pretty good short film.
John and Faith both loved expressionism that was used in Swedish art and when John was working in UPA to begin with he and the rest of UPA were under strict workings for Columbia pictures. This made it so they still had to use things that the animators tried to escape from Disney in, for their first 2 films. Humanized animals. Due to the love of expressionism the animal characters didn't really fit within the world of UPA though because it became popular Columbia Pictures gave UPA full freedom to make more humanised and cartoonish things. Now once John no longer worked for UPA and worked with his wife, as everything was completely up to him and his wife (that's the joy of being an independent company) he and his wife got to lean heavily into exorcism and creating emotion. through styles that John originally learned from working in Disney to then working and developing his own visual voice in UPA. All of John and Faith's work is actually done physically which is super cool, a lot of their stuff was done from wax being layered up on top of different media and then scratching out shapes and taking photos of it all and then putting it all together.
Because Faith worked in film and theatre to begin with, she actually liked early computer animation but much preferred working hands on, mentioning that computer animation is just a tool to help produce animation not animation itself. Faith and John really liked moving away from commercials as even though they got a lot of money to begin with they found it hard to keep that money because they has tight lines to follow to make the work as if they didn't do that then their client would be upset, working for themselves was freeing as well as being to experiment much more, using their work as more of a visual metaphor than a tool to advertise or mass produce.
As their work is influential and won awards for being and independent company is pretty awesome so I decided to watch 4 of their short films because I wanted to look into 2 UPA cartoons that John worked on then 2 things he and his wife worked on to just see the difference and how they progressed I would look into Disney's work but John only really worked on the background art and I also have already looked into Disney for one of my research tasks and I don't really want to do it again.
the 2 UPA cartoons I decided to look into are their most famous from when John was working on them (because they have made popular shows that I think are more known Like the "PowerPuff girls (1998)" and "Dexters Laboratory (1995)", that are sort of more relevant to me, but that isn't what im looking into) "Mr Magoo (1949)" and "Gerald Mcboing boing (1950)".
The 2 independent short films I looked at was their objectively most famous "Moonbird (1959)" and also "Windy day (1968)"
"Mr Magoo (1949)" , "Gerald Mcboing boing (1950)". , "Moonbird (1959)" and "Windy day (1968)" even though are different (very different in the media used) you can tell that they are similar and have the same vibe for the style and everything being very human based not so much a focus on anthropomorphic animals. I really like how the focus isn't on what things usually are, I mean there are so many shows now with human focus but they don't really have that UPA style with things having pushed proportions, for popular things like anime the style is very rigid and doing things out of the usual style normally isn't that accepted only old shows that are still going really keep up a different style. For western cartoons everything is also really human like, everything feels super real. But for the 2 cartoons I watched that UPA did, I actually really really liked them. I mean I used to watch "Mr Magoo (1949)" as a kid so it was just cool to see it again.
But for "Gerald Mcboing boing (1950)". and Mr Magoo they have quite a lot of similarities though are different in their own way.
For "Gerald Mcboing boing (1950)". you can definitely tell they didn't have a big budget due to the way everything is drawn and the way colour is used, everything has a fixed colour palette and honestly it looks quite cool. It reminds me of just doodles you do on a page because the characters skin colours (at least the main ones where just the background colours) I really liked all of the perspectives used for it and, something about having just Gerald having coloured clothes makes it feel really important, I think its because if there are background characters they don't even have eyes and for some of the shots in the episode I watched they didn't even move it was just sort of a static image.
Every time I paused in the show each frame felt like its own illustration, the style is just super unique and using a fixed colour palette makes me feel a bit happier than, you can do that for cartoons because I found when doing a different project for a different module that using fixed colour palettes helps me see tonal differences and the way this cartoon is done, it's just like that and I think it's just a really cool way to show differences between things. Everything being minimalist even though it kind of has to be due to budgeting i feel like helps ou view what a child would see. It almost feels like a children's drawing from the perspective of Gerald, the school scene I think is the most effective as it feels like those are the only things that Gerald cares about the school and the playground near the school everything else is just green. I also really just like the story line of "Gerald Mcboing boing (1950)". . Just being a kid who makes noises instead of words. it felt kind of like autism representation to me which was quite nice considering Im autistic, sometimes I cant speak when i get really overwhelmed and even though Gerald isn't like that he can only make sounds which makes him different but he still got to be famous with his skills and it is just comforting seeing differences in people being shown but in unique and fun ways.
For "Mr Magoo (1949)" , I feel like you can tell that UPA may of had a bit more funding for this show because things have more colour, It's still all very minimalistic as that just seems to be the UPA way, lots of flat colours with out any shading and thick shape/angular lines. For the episode I watched, even though it's really old I still found it funny. It's just a fun concept having a hard time seeing and doing things. I think compared to the colours in Gerald Mcboing boing (1950)". being the colours in this show hold more weight. For "Gerald Mcboing boing (1950)". , the colours were just used for almost everything not really having any colours be different and the drawings being over the background colours, I mean it was super effective and cool to look at but for "Mr Magoo (1949)" things felt more thought through with more colours which I think also just keep people more interested in what you are watching. I really liked the way the doctor in this episode was shown, he was just one colour.
Which usually I find something being just one colour to get lost within the story but because everything else around the whole show isn't really detailed it just makes it stand out more. The colour was white and the doctor himself was very angular (I mean all of the characters where the army soldiers were very oval shaped I think to show them looking down on people from a power stand point) but for the doctor the way he was done was really effective. Using just white for the doctor I felt as though it pushed the cleanliness feel that doctors have and it being white, I mean usually I would get the impression that the doctor had a whit sin tone but I didn't he just felt like he belonged in a clean zone and hospitals and doctors offices usually have a lot of white in them, just everything about the character design made it feel more like a doctor. Something I really like about "Mr Magoo (1949)" is that Mr Magoo himself is quite boxy and usually the boxy feeling creates this hidden and angry vibe but because the shape is rounded off it gives him this friendly vibe and I love how the lines feel like one continuous line drawing but they clearly aren't because there are break ups in the designs but the way the lines are just really visible and thick give it a calligraphy feeling.
Something I really like about the episode I watched was when a gun fired and Mr Magoo was holding it he sort of rattled around and instead of doing loads off different drawings they just made like 3 drawings layered over each other and it worked, the 3 layered drawings where moved around the screen and it gave the feeling of fast juttery movement, I just thought it was a col way to show it with a limited budget.
Now for the personal films you can tell that they had a lot more creative freedom and things felt more whimsical, everything was not being mass produced the characters didn't have to look exactly the same always there could be mistakes because it wasn't something that was being shown everywhere to everyone (even though one of the films I watch won an Oscar so it was seen by many people).
Everything about the personal films felt much cooler and I preferred them so much more than the cartoons. Cartoons are always really clean and I sometimes find it kind of upsetting? because I like it when things are a bit messy and you can see how much time animators and creators put into a project. For the personal films, I didn't really realise that it could hold so much emotional weight to it, but because they used their own children for the voices everything they made carried this childlike wonder to it. I did mention about the cartoons I watched that felt a bit like child doodles, but for the personal films these really feel like a child point of view.
Things change shape, many things are quite dreamy and some things don't stay on the screen all the time changing the way they look constantly. I also really like the personal films for the mixed media. Everything seems to be layered on top of each other, it sort of looks like glass or different pieces of plastic layer atop of each other to create this 3D environment physically. I also really liked how the fixed colour palette stayed a thing, I mean for the Oscar winning film definitely a fixed palette for the other film not so much but I felt like the difference was needed because for "Moonbird (1959)" it is based in the night, this film is super messy but I love it, the way that the children act with each other and how they didn't always show the child ren with in the film used more shadows and shapes for certain scenes gave it that night time feeling, I really like how the background didn't move one bit it was just the characters. It kept the cartoon and out of this word feeling but it still felt real. I really, really like how the bird was done, you can see that it has been scratched out and even though it seems a bit anthropomorphic in the design it just acts like a bird. I think having it a bit anthropomorphic though helps you see how a child sees things.
"Moonbird (1959)" carried this feeling of adventure but a calm adventure, even with children singing and being loud, the colours used really helped show that calm feeling, only using whites, blacks and blues. I especially like how with the children moving you can see the sketchiness to it and sometimes the frame work of the kids. I can totally see why this film won an Oscar because for the time it was made in it just showed so much uniqueness and especially collaboration within families (which I don't think it the whole selling point but it's super sweet that the whole family got to join in)
For a "Windy day (1968)". The colour palette is much lighter and I am glad I chose 2 short films that are very different from each other because the colours for this and just the way its draw , this film is the one that feels the most like childhood drawings and imagination, with 2 girls (voiced by John and Faith's children again) just playing on a windy day having fun, making up stories and the way things change to be super colour fill and just like a child's drawing makes it feel really sweet and close to the kids. I love how creative the Hubleys where in this film and the way animals and people look, the style is much more closer to the Moomins in my opinion because things are much more rounded off and sketchy, I mean the sketchiness comes from the fact that I think production value is expensive so they can't clean it up but. I like it like that and I am glad they went with it, because it just makes things feel more raw and like a child is telling a story. I think out of all the films and cartoons "Windy day (1968)". is my favourite, The way the 2 young girls are portrayed and how the children jump from subject to subject feels familiar in a nostalgic way, the way everything is colourful and how materials used, especially when they were crawling under what I could only assume is like a dock? for shadows i think was my most favourite part, the way it looked felt a lot like a college and I am glad that the drawings weren't improved on a computer they are just the raw drawings. Everything about the film Windyday I generally don't have anything negative to say about it when watching it, it made me feel happy, nostalgic and safe, the way animals were drawn being all wobbly and the drawings constantly changing as well as everything feel like its own illustration just really bring the whole view of children together. I am quite sad that short films aren't like this anymore, expression done this way is a way I understand, most of the time I don't really like expression as its too difficult to understand but for this, this is the kind of work I want to create, I want to use minimal colours in comics and create something that people can just enjoy and remember. The way that things stayed minimal even with a lot of layers and detail is something that I want to be able to achieve, I want to achieve a readable but layered and fun looking style.
These 2 animators I am going to try and take a lot from for next trimester in my own work, I really just want to create things just like that, maybe not exactly like it because I still want things to be my own but the way it feels, I want that feeling, the connection of real people to my work. The happiness when watching something and the awe at how everything looks, the hierarchy shown even with lots of colour and detail, the sketchness without it feeling not finished. Everything about the personal films I love and is something I would personally love to work towards, I think a comic or an illustrated book in that style would be so cool which is what I want to do when I am older. These animators/directors are the first people I have researched into throughout the first trimester and truly been inspired and love their work.
APPEAL ヾ(☆▽☆)
Appeal is.. Well making things appealing to look at or to the animation/illustration you do. It doesn't particularly have to look good (as in possibly a character being handsome) it can just have something cool to look at (so a cool helmet that possibly portrays something to do with a character's emotional state); it can also be making a character over exaggerated or given them an interesting character development its all to do with appeal.
I watched a video in class that explained it and even though I already knew that making interesting characters was important I always struggle with making interesting characters because I seem to either make them too detailed to draw or too simple to be classed as something that could grab someone's attention. Even though every animated tv show or film has different means to appeal by style or just how the story they are telling is laid out, the appeal still works regardless what it is.
Out of all of the principles this principle sort of is the one that ties every other principle together because without an interesting character design or just something that looks good the other animation techniques don't really matter because not many people would view your work. I always struggle with getting people to view my work. But after just knowing the bases of Appeal to be honest even though I think I know the principles, just looking at them sometimes makes me think of new ideas for characters or a story to make things understandable and cool enough to keep my own busy style.
For example I have a Christmas project (not for this module but for a different one) and just looking at what appeal is even though I literally do understand what it is and. I feel a bit dumb for looking into it. It just helps me brainstorm. I think simple and effective character designs are the hardest to be correct because sometimes it becomes that whole animation/company's purpose or mascot. I really want to get better at reading so I think in the first trimester, revisiting all of the animation principles has really helped me, especially this one.
Now of course I completed my work this week as it's the last week until christmas that I am in uni and I managed to completely do everything. I talked to my lecturer about it and she said she really likes it, which I am super happy about. I decided to not add shading in the end because well I just thought it looked good the way it did and just like in my other modules I need to learn when enough is enough. I felt as if I had added more to the animation itself for the work I would have completely messed up and the focus on the actions creating the noise would be lost within my shading. I really like the way I shade. I feel like it comes with a lot of personality but in this case because of what I have been learning I felt maybe I can take a step back and see if people prefer it more flatly coloured for the characters and a cool background to make them pop from everything.
I really like my animation and I am so glad that the sound works properly because I was so afraid that even if I edited it on premier pro it wouldn't work at all but it is and has worked so I feel proud of what I have created. I feel as though I need to work on line weights to keep the whole hierarchy thing going where I am trying to improve making things readable and maybe use more dynamic shots to make sure the viewer of my work follows certain actions or things characters might do in a space correctly and don't get confused or lost. But for the first proper project I have done for animation in Uni I am really proud and seeing my work now to what it was in college even though it was only a few months ago makes me feel like i really have been progressing, I get stuck in my head a lot and I feel like when I do I never see the progress and achievements I have made but writing these blogs and constantly going back and forth through things to make sure they are the best I can produce at the moment make me feel just happy that I am doing alright. I believe everything I make can be better but I will not look past the achievements I have made already and just hope that I will get better in the future as I keep working on things.
I do feel like the best part of this animation is the audio, not the animation itself, but I plan to get better or atleast I am going ot keep working towards getting better!!
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