Friday, October 2, 2009

The Windy Day

John and Faith Hubley recorded a rambling conversation between their daughters and animated the interaction in this video. The changing conversation is reflected in the fluid animation as their kids wander casually from one story to another. The Windy Day tries to capture the "real world of children rather than what children do that adults think is cute" (Charles Solomon). The Hubleys animated in watercolor and "threw dust on the cels... worked with grease so the paint would run" (Bill Littlejohn).



The Language and Lore of Schoolchildren, collected by another couple-- Iona Opie and Peter Opie-- in the 1940s treats children like anthropological subjects, “the greatest of savage tribes, and the only one which shows no signs of dying out.” (haha) They observed the non-parent-mandated activities of kids on the playground, and recorded their rhymes, games and songs, meticulously describing their meanings, purposes and rules of usage.