Faith Hubley
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Faith Hubley (16 September 1924 - 7 December 2001) was an Academy Award-winning animator, known for her experimental work both in collaboration with her husband John Hubley, and on her own following her husband's death.
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[edit] Biography
Reportedly born as Faith Elliott[citation needed], Hubley grew up in Hell's Kitchen in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. She left home at age 15 to work in the theater. At age 18, she moved to Hollywood, starting as a messenger at Columbia Pictures. She subsequently worked as a sound-effects and music editor, and then script clerk for Republic Pictures. She later worked (in New York) as script supervisor on 12 Angry Men, and script supervisor and editor on the Harlem Globetrotters film Go, Man, Go.
Faith and John Hubley were married in 1955. They founded Storyboard Studios as an independent animation studio, vowing to make one independent film a year. They collaborated on 21 short films, up until John's death during open-heart surgery in 1977.
At that time they were working on the Doonesbury television cartoon A Doonesbury Special; Faith, with Garry Trudeau and Bill Littlejohn, completed the special despite the doubts of NBC executives. The Hubleys won Oscars for their shorts: Moonbird (1959), The Hole (1962) and Tijuana Brass Double Feature (1966); they also received Oscar nominations for Windy Day, Of Men and Demons, Voyage to Next, and A Doonesbury Special.
As a pioneering woman animator, Faith Hubley was often shortchanged by animation historians and critics. She was typically regarded as simply an assistant to John, who was always credited as director on their films. However, her numerous solo films have established her as a significant creator in her own right. She began her first project on her own, W.O.W. (Women of the World) after being diagnosed with cancer in 1975.
Between 1976 and 2001, she completed 24 further solo animated films. Her films often feature abstract imagery and non-linear stories; many draw on themes of mythology and indigenous art. She was also a painter, with her works being exhibited in galleries in Europe and the United States.
Faith Hubley received honors from the Cannes, Venice, London, and San Francisco film festivals. She won fourteen CINE Golden Eagle awards, and received honorary doctorates from the University of Chicago, Columbia College, and Hofstra University. Her 1981 animated film "Enter Life" can be seen at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History, as part of the Early Life exhibit. In 1995, the National Gallery of Art presented a retrospective program of her works.
Faith Hubley died in 2001, aged 77, in New Haven, Connecticut, following her long battle with cancer.
John and Faith Hubley had four children: Mark Hubley, animator Emily Hubley, musician Georgia Hubley, and Hamp Hubley. Their children's voices were featured in a number of their films.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] With John Hubley
- Harlem Wednesday (1957)
- Tender Game (1958)
- Moonbird (1959)
- Children of the Sun (1960)
- Of Stars and Men (1961)
- The Hole (1962)
- The Hat (1963)
- Tijuana Brass Double Feature (1965)
- Urbanissimo (1966)
- The Cruise (1966)
- Windy Day (1967)
- Of Men and Demons (1968)
- Zuckerkandl (1969)
- Eggs (1970)
- Dig (1972)
- Cockaboody (1973)
- Voyage to Next (1974)
- People, People, People (1975)
- Everybody Rides the Carousel (1976)
- A Doonesbury Special (1977)
[edit] Solo
- W.O.W. (Women of the World) (1975)
- Second Chance: Sea (1976)
- Whither Weather (1977)
- Step by Step (1978)
- Sky Dance (1980)
- The Big Bang and Other Creation Myths (1981)
- Enter Life (1981)
- Starlore (1983)
- Hello (1984)
- The Cosmic Eye (1985)
- Time of the Angels (1987)
- Yes We Can (1989)
- Who Am I? (1989)
- Amazonia (1990)
- Upside Down (1991)
- Tall Time Tales (1992)
- Cloudland (1993)
- Seers and Clowns (1994)
- Rainbows of Hawai'i (1995)
- My Universe Inside Out (1996)
- Beyond the Shadow Place (1997)
- Africa (1998)
- Witch Madness (1999)
- Our Spirited Earth (2000)
- Northern Ice, Golden Sun (2001)
[edit] References
- PBS. Independent Spirits: The Faith and John Hubley Story. Retrieved on 2006-06-28.
- Animation Magazine. Animation Loses Another Master: Faith Hubley Passes at 77. Retrieved on 2006-06-28.
