Animating Attraction

Into 'The Tender Game' by Faith and John Hubley.

The Tender Game

Welcome! For this Thursday issue of the Animation Obsessive newsletter, we’re headed back to 1958. In New York, Faith and John Hubley were creating an independent cartoon about falling in love — The Tender Game.

The Hubleys made indie animation at a time when you didn’t really do that. The infrastructure wasn’t there — the world wasn’t built for that sort of thing. But these two were fierce, defiant originals. They cut a path that other artists followed.

The Tender Game is an early but important example. One of the Hubleys’ first films together, it shows them developing the style that later won them an Oscar. The film is playful and dazzling — and as tender as the title suggests. It holds up remarkably well. Today, we’re getting into how the Hubleys made something so great.

Enjoy!