Hello, a solo work by Faith Hubley, imagines the children of Earth playing the Peace Ball Game. Photo credit: Lucius Barre.

Hello was designed and directed by Faith and it featured the voices of Dizzy Gillepsie and the Hubleys’ children. The music was composed by William Russo with solos in the film played by Dizzy Gillepsie and Toots Theilemans. The animators were William Littlejohn, Emily Hubley and Fred Burns. It won several prizes at major film festivals and was incorporated into Faith’s compilation feature, The Cosmic Eye (1985). Hello is available on DVD, The Hubley Collection, Vol. 2.

The roots of John Hubley’s use of animation to advance social concerns can be seen in The Brotherhood of Man (1946). He was one of four writers on that project. It was a commissioned by the United Auto Workers right after WWII. The union was organizing integrated factories in racist Southern states and they wanted a film that would help them promote peace between the races. It educated viewers to the fact that apart from a few superficial differences like skin color and hair texture, we are all alike. We all have the same blood types; there are no differences in the brains and other organs of people of different races, etc.

The film is a handsome, modern looking work. The credits include: script adaptation by Ring Lardner, Jr., John Hubley, Maurice Rapf and Phil Eastman, direction by Robert “Bo” Cannon, animation by Cannon, Ken Harris and Ben Washam, production design by Hubley and Paul Julian, backgrounds by Boris Gorelick, music by Paul Smith. The producer was Stephen Bosustow. The production company was Industrial Film and Poster Service, a name that changed to U.P.A. a few months later.

The soundtrack is an integral part of The Hole’s message.

Brotherhood of Man was based on The Races of Mankind, a pamphlet by anthropologists Ruth Benedict and Gene Weltfish. It was created in 1943 at the request of the U.S.O. for the men in the armed Forces. It disputed the Nazi belief in racial superiority. The publication was widely distributed, and later a picture book was published based on the film.

Unfortunately, the pamphlet and film came under attack for having a liberal perspective on racial equality and for the political beliefs of several of the people who produced them. In 1944, the pamphlet was banned from military libraries as opponents claimed it could lead some people to believe northern blacks might be smarter than southern whites. The pamphlet discuses how economics and education can effect intelligence scores. Is it wrong to conclude some people might have higher IQ test scores due to their having a better education? Keep in mind that much of the U.S., including the military, was segregated at that time.

With the coming of the cold war Dr. Weltfish was attacked for his political beliefs, as were several people who created the film. Ring Lardner, Jr. was one of the Hollywood 10. The film’s other scriptwriters were served with subpoenas to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1950s. The film was banned by our government, not for its content, but due to the alleged beliefs of the writers. (An excellent article on Dr. Weltfish can be found on the Internet at www.webster.edu in the section on Women’s Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society. I wrote in greater detail about some of the artists and writers of the film in my book, Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators.