The Hole

John and Faith Hubley's Oscar-winning cartoon "The Hole" features a pair of construction workers (voiced by George Mathews and Dizzy Gillespie) talking about accidents. They start by discussing the things that could happen in a construction site but then branch out into the possibility of a nuclear holocaust. One of them always imagines a worst-case scenario (which we see depicted).

At once a funny cartoon and a "Dr. Strangelove"-style warning about nuclear proliferation, this is a clever cartoon. The unpolished animation helps emphasize the working-class nature of the characters. It just goes to show that cartoons don't have to be "cute". After all, animation is simply another type of filmmaking, and it's one of the best ways to point out society's faults. I recommend "The Hole".

This is a very, very simply drawn cartoon that features animation that is somewhat reminiscent of the children's story books by Ezra Jack Keats. It sure isn't like Disney or Looney Toons but is a much earthier and urban style of animation. It does give it an artsy look, but I prefer traditional animation.

As for the story, two co-workers (as voiced by Dizzy Gillespie and George Mathews) talk about a wide variety of things and ultimately talk about nuclear war. These guys talk and sound like New Yorkers and are just working class guy talking. Then, suddenly, at the end, there is a bit of a shocker.

What I appreciated about the film is that Jazz great Gillespie and veteran supporting actor Mathews both seem to like each other and talk incessantly. Nothing is made about the fact that one is Black and the other is White--it's not important to them. Socially, such a casting decision was an interesting choice and the best part of the film.

What I didn't particularly like, other than the animation, was that the story itself was only okay and the talking became rather monotonous. I really wish they'd trimmed a few minutes from the thing to make it flow better. Still, it does get points for being different.

I've really grown to like the films of John and Faith Hubley, and something about their style always struck me as familiar, but I could never quite put my finger on it. Then I saw the introductory title "an observation by John and Faith Hubley," and it came to me – this film is a precursor to "Seinfeld!" Don't lambast me just yet, I'll explain. Anybody who has seen the series' DVD releases would undoubtedly be familiar with the bonus "Seinimations," directed by Eric Yahnker, which presented crude animations that synchronised with the many bizarre conversations of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer. These snippets are worthwhile, not for their visuals, but for the vocal interplay between the contributing characters, and the essence of this idea was already entrenched in the films of the Hubleys, who typically constructed visuals around a spontaneous, free-flowing conversation between two people. 'The Hole (1962),' John Hubley's second Oscar-winning short, tackles, among other things, the nature of accidents, and whether the notion applies to nuclear war.

Two construction workers (voiced by Dizzy Gillepsie and George Matthews) are engaged in conversation as they work. The pair's interaction, as was the Hubleys' style, doesn't feel scripted in the least, following a natural pathway that begins with discussion of everyday issues and ends with the reality of nuclear war. Citizens in the early 1960s were, of course, faced with the height of the Cold War, and this is very much reflected in the cinema of the day. The characters in 'The Hole' reflect upon the possibility of nuclear war being caused by a technical glitch – a scenario terrifyingly brought to life in Sidney Lumet's 'Fail-Safe (1964),' – but one contends that even this can't be considered a passive, blameless "accident," as it is we who knowingly possess such a dangerous weapon with willingness to use it. Though the film's animation is not particularly handsome, lacking the bright, fresh colours of 'Windy Day (1968),' the conversation is most definitely worth hearing, and the ideas raised deserve more than a few seconds' contemplation.

This cartoon won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 1962. It deserved the award and is still well worth watching almost 40 years later. It's a very simple cartoon in its execution and in the devices used to carry the action forward, but conveys its subject matter-the nature of accidents and nuclear arms-in a most compelling and engaging manner. The cartoon is fascinating and the ending will stay with most viewers a good long while. Deserves as wide an audience as possible.

Moonbird (1959), The Hole (1962), & A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature (1966), the married director duo John and Faith Hubley's three Academy Award Best Animated Short winners, are very similar in intention and execution.

They are all unscripted- a conversation between their two children, an improvised conversation, and two already established songs, respectively. In this sense, the animation was an afterthought; secondary and (at least initially) separate from the source. The animation style is simple; childlike and rudimentary looking, flat and two dimensional. By no means is this type of animation inferior to more technologically advanced three dimensional styles; when used effectively, it can be as good or even better. Last but not least, music plays an important role in each short.

The first two shorts make it painfully evident that this is not the most advisable or easiest modus operandi to find source material for an animated short. The third shows us that it is possible, however, to make it work when done correctly!

"Moonbird", as mentioned, is a conversation between two young boys. The directors secretly recorded their sons, Mark and Ray, as they told each other stories before bedtime, as many young children are likely to do. This particular occasion was about something they called a "Moonbird", that was supposedly following them around, and their attempts to capture or otherwise trap it. The brothers imagine crawling out their window into the night on this very important quest. For whatever reason, this is the conversation their parents decided would work as the base for their short animation film. Unfortunately, like a stream of consciousness, the nonlinear thoughts and things said that likely made sense only to the speaker resulted in a confusing, uninteresting narrative. One can hardly be surprised, as the animation was made to order- it was created to match their sons' story and not the other way around!

"The Hole" features Dizzy Gillespie and George Mathews as two construction workers at work in the bottom of a hole on a construction site discussing nuclear war. That is the premise, anyhow. Turns out to be uncompelling nonsense regarding the possibility for nuclear war and the surrounding anxieties and fears. The voice over does not really match or flow smoothly with the animation.

This husband and wife team's final Academy Awards winner was, by far, the most successful of the three. It is no coincidence that it is also the shortest by far, at only a few seconds over the 5 minutes mark- and actually a "double feature", telling two separate stories! Essentially a narrative music video, using songs from the Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass album "Going Places", it features two catchy and mellifluous numbers: "Spanish Flea" and "Tijuana Taxi". Maybe in order to keep up the pace with the festive brass band numbers, this short was funny, quick, and avoided all the pitfalls in "Moonbird" and "The Hole"- namely an arbitrary plot, insipid dialogue, and unnecessary length.

All in all, this talented duo won three Academy Awards for their shorts that may not have been deserved every time, but there is little doubt that the Hubleys were innovative pioneers in animation.