Everybody Rides the Carousel. USA. 1976. Directed by Faith Hubley, John Hubley. 72 min.
“As I see it, the animator is moving into an exciting period of change. From a vaudeville and comic-strip childhood, ‘cartoons’ seem to be struggling toward maturity” (John Hubley). Subtitled, “a view of the Stages of Life,” this feature, based on the writings of psychoanalyst and social philosopher Erik H. Erickson, employs the metaphor of a carousel to illustrate his concept of the eight stages of the human life cycle. Faith Hubley remarked, “I so loved trying to find the symbols for the various stages. The pussycat and the porcupine are among my favorites. The snakey schmoo and the lion of courage are not bad, and I still love the notion of all these symbols rattling around in our innards.”