'You Have to Make What You Want to Make'

Unearthing an archival interview with Faith and John Hubley.

A still from Of Stars and Men (1961) by Faith and John Hubley

Happy Thursday! It’s another edition of the Animation Obsessive newsletter — and this one brings a rarity.

For decades, Faith and John Hubley were America’s animation mavericks. John came from Disney and UPA, where he got involved in Snow White, Pinocchio and Fantasia, directed Rooty Toot Toot and co-created Mr. Magoo. Faith was an editor, painter, live-action script supervisor and more.

When the two married in the mid-1950s, they started to explore animation of a wildly experimental kind — at their independent studio.

Maybe you’ve seen the Hubleys’ Oscar winners Moonbird (1959) and The Hole (1962), or their nominee Windy Day (1968). These films abandoned cel animation for the likes of paper, watercolor, crayons and oil paint. They use improv dialogue. Their stories are freeform. Nothing about them feels traditional.

We’ve covered the Hubleys’ gorgeous work lots of times before. It’s one thing to read about these two, though, and another to read their own words. The Hubleys were fascinating people with serious thoughts on life and art. Which takes us to our topic today.

In 1973, John and Faith spoke to a higher-up from the Kansas City Art Institute about their history and process. The interview came out as a small booklet, around 20 pages, called Animation: A Creative Challenge. Although the text was reprinted elsewhere (it’s one of the major Hubley interviews), it was abridged and heavily edited. Lots of valuable details and asides found in the original were cut.

Animation: A Creative Challenge is rare — but we were lucky enough to find a physical copy earlier this year. Now, we’ve put it up on the Internet Archive. As far as we know, this is the first time it’s been available online.

You can read the interview via the link below, or continue on for highlights and other tidbits:

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John and Faith Hubley circa 1973, courtesy of Animation: A Creative Challenge