Everyone Calls It Windy
This past Sunday, there was a very offbeat Doonesbury cartoon. In it, Garry Trudueau has the character of Zonker address the home audience about how some kids today don’t like the strip and tell their parents they think it’s “dumb” or “boring” – or both. He suggested that a way to change that is introduce them to cartoons, like Windy Day done by animators John and Faith Hubley. And then Zonker even provided an online link to it on YouTube.
Not the sort of thing you usually see in a comic strip. (And Trudeau doesn't leave it there, and the strip does take a quick turn back in the final panel.)
Here's the end of the wonderful weirdness --
John Hubley was a renowned animator, who created such famous cartoons as ‘Mr. Magoo” and “Gerald McBoing-Boing.” Previously, he worked for Disney Studios on such films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Bambi, as well as the "Rite of Spring" segment from Fantasia. He was blacklisted for several years because of refusing to name names before The House Committee on Un-American Activities. He continued working independently, periodically on commercials, including creating the popular TV ads for Maypo cereal (“I want my Mayo!!!), though he wasn’t able to get credit Later, though, working with his wife Faith, they won three Oscars (including one for Windy Day) and got four other nominations. They did a great deal of other animation, among them many short films for Sesame Street. Although much of their work followed dramatic narrative, they also created deal of experimental work.
I suspect one reason that Garry Trudeau mentioned the Hubleys, beyond the excellence of their work, was because in 1977 they got an Oscar nomination for the short, A Doonesbury Special.
I tracked down Windy Day. It’s certainly unique. At first I was a little uncertain where it was going, but as soon as I realized, I thought it was remarkable, in its look at imagination. And I won't say more about it than that. It won’t be for everyone – it's among their “experimental works” in story structure and style – but even for those who don’t agree with the Oscar voters, it will still be hard, at the very least, not to be taken by the superb animation. For most others, I suspect they’ll agree with Zonker and see it as a gem.
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