"Moon Bird"

I found this wonderful animated short on a 99 cent DVD. It is by Faith and John Hubley.

I love this beautifully artistic excerpt of two little boys trying to catch a bird at night. If you have never seen this, you don't know what you are missing. Made in 1959, this short film has elements of print making, rough edges and everything that is just so perfect in art. Mixed with the Hubley's children's voices it is a collage of one moment of a child's conversation, poetry and is very visually interesting.

Here is Muss My Hair's blog entry on the film (with links!):

"Hubley: Quite A Family
So far, the only gem I've found in the pile of 99 cent DVDs I bought is the 1959 animated short Moon Bird, by Faith and John Hubley, who had an astonishing fifty five year career as animators. They worked for Disney, got blacklisted as commies, made a bundle in advertising, and...well, just read this. And though they don't have Moon Bird up, good ol' PBS has clips from several other films they did [realplayer].Click on The Hole and see the style that melts my heart.Their kids have done quite a lot too: Emily Hubley is an animator. Georgia Hubley is the same Georgia Hubley as Georgia Hubley in Yo La Tengo. Ray Hubley is a film editor and Mark Hubley is a horse trainer."

Sadly, I can't seem to find any clips on-line of "Moon Bird". It reminds me of "To Kill a Mockingbird"...from the view and fresh insight of a child.

The Hubleys also did some work with "Sesame Street" as well.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi - there are actually a few screen captures of Moonbird at http://the-a-files.blogspot.com/2005/09/pure-gold.html

John and Faith Hubley are among my favorite film makers. A DVD (although a bit more expensive than 99 cents) that you may want to look for is called "Art and Jazz in Animation," a compilation of their work. No "Moonbird" but it includes "The Tender Game" (a lovely expressionistic short using the music of Oscar Peterson, on the first signs of new love) and "The Hole," an amazing Academy-award winning short featuring the vocal talents of Dizzy Gillespie.
Emily said…
Thanks, Anthony!

I will look into that DVD...sounds excellent. I think this will be my x-mas present to my self. : )

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