When the people who worked with animator John Hubley (1914-1977) spoke of him, they agreed that he was a creative genius, a designer who would push the envelope of his medium, a man of vision with the ability to follow a dream. Working with him could also be very difficult.

Hubley was born in Marinette, Wisconsin on May 21, 1914, into an artistic family. His grandfather was a painter, and his mother attended the Art Institute of Chicago. Growing up watching his grandfather in his studio, Hubley knew that he would be a painter. He went to college in Los Angeles, California, then studied painting at the Art Center there for three years.

At Disney

At the age of 22, Hubley went to work at the Walt Disney studios. Disney was undergoing a rapid expansion, as work was beginning on the studio's first feature-length cartoon, Snow White. Young artists were in...