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Dizzy Gillespie talks nuclear disarmament in 1962 animated short, ‘The Hole’
03.25.2014
10:33 am
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In the mundane setting of a construction site, casual conversation turns into a discussion of freewill, subconscious desires, chaos and the fear of accidental nuclear catastrophe. The animation is muddy, mottled, fluid and shuddering—the product of watercolors on paper, as opposed to the Disney-style of opaque paint on animation cells. The dialogue is improvised—realistically stuttered and stammering, voiced by jazz-great Dizzy Gillespie and George Mathews, a 6’5” actor known most prominently for his roles as tough-guys and heavies. The 15-minute short has the feel of a Jim Jarmusch vignette rather than a kiddie cartoon—a story about a conversation, told with humor, humanity and affection. And the ending is a shock.

If the subject matter feels a little heavy or surprisingly political, it may help to know the context of its creators. The Hole is one of the many gems from animation legends, John and Faith Hubley. Prior to meeting his wife and artistic partner, John Hubley worked for Disney but left during an animators strike. After finding success a second time with another animation company (and creating the character of Mr Magoo), Hubley was fired for refusing to name names before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and blacklisted throughout the industry.

In 1955, he married fellow animator Faith Chestman, and they opened up their own animation studio, pledging to make one independent film a year. They later made shorts for Sesame Street to finance their more experimental projects. Their independent films were often explicitly political, tackling subjects like war, urbanization and children’s rights, without condescending to the cutesy artistic sensibilities children are so often assumed to possess. The Hubleys were also notable for using improvised dialogue, children’s voices for children’s characters (sometimes their own children) and a diverse cast that avoided the racial cliches pervading the medium at the time.

The Hole won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” in 2013.
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Brilliant ‘Doonesbury’ TV special from 1977 questions the high-minded ideals of the 1960s

Posted by Amber Frost
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03.25.2014
10:33 am
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Brilliant ‘Doonesbury’ TV special from 1977 questions the high-minded ideals of the 1960s
01.29.2014
07:06 pm
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In 1977 NBC aired A Doonesbury Special, a short film produced by John and Faith Hubley—a couple of married animators probably best known for their work on The Electric Company—based on Garry Trudeau’s popular “Doonesbury” comic strip.

The Academy Award-nominated animation (it won a Special Jury Award at Cannes for best short film in 1978) was written by Trudeau together with the Hubleys and revolves around a question proto-Yuppie baby boomers were asking themselves a lot at that time: “Have I sold out the counterculture ideals of my younger days?”

It’s depressing to keep in perspective that when the long-running strip began in 1970, the main characters (Mike, Zonker, Mark, etc) were commune-dwelling college students. Today they’re senior citizens!

It’s difficult to imagine a primetime animated TV special in 2014 that name-checks Simone de Beauvoir or George McGovern getting commissioned by even the most recklessly adventurous network exec, but this thing is a treat. I wonder if this was the first time someone was shown smoking pot in an American television show? Even if that someone was a cartoon character, this was still something that you didn’t see so much back then…
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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01.29.2014
07:06 pm
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