Skydance
Skydance
In their 1955 wedding vows, experimental animators Faith and John Hubley promised they would make one film a year. Until John’s passing in 1977, the duo worked together on dozens of animated films and projects, often collaborating with renowned jazz musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Herb Alpert for scoring and soundtracks. The pair won several Academy Awards for their short films, and for residents of Marinette, Wisconsin—John’s hometown—the mayor named May 20, 2023 "John and Faith Hubley Day.”
Faith made twenty-four animated films on her own, starting in 1977. Her short film Sky Dance (1980) was shortlisted in the 1980 Cannes Film Festival for the Short Film Palme d'Or, the highest prize given to a short film in the festival. Her daughters Emily and Georgia (who would later co-found musical ensemble Yo La Tengo) helped with the artwork and animation.
Reprinted for the first time since its 1981 release, Mexican Summer & Anthology have published Skydance, the book adaptation of Faith Hubley’s now-classic film. Fully realized in richly abstract illustrations, and with evocative, rhythmic prose by musician, writer, and composer Elizabeth Swados, Skydance is a playful tribute to life on other planets.
Faith Hubley (1924–2001) was a painter and filmmaker, renowned for her experimental animation and independent sensibility in children’s entertainment. After leaving a Hollywood career behind in the mid-1950s, she and her husband, John Hubley, devoted themselves to a groundbreaking practice of freely expressionistic filmmaking. In addition to more than fifty iconic films, Hubley created five books for children, several in collaboration with Elizabeth Swados.
Elizabeth Swados (1951–2016) was a playwright, director, composer, and author. A pioneer of the innovative New York theater scene of the 1970s, her pieces were performed on Broadway and the world over, and she was the recipient of Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, Guggenheim and Ford Fellowships, and numerous other honors. She was the author of fifteen books, nine of them for children.