Everybody Rides the Carousel
September 10, 1976
| Hubley Studios
| 73 minutes
| |
Directed by: Faith Hubley, John Hubley
| Written by: Faith Hubley, John Hubley
| Music: William Russo
Based on the writings of psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, "Everybody Rides the Carousel" invites the viewer along on eight rides through the different stages of life. Part I covers three periods of life: the newborn, the toddler, and childhood. Part II illustrates the child's struggles from early childhood to adolescence. Part III is the longest ride on the carousel of life, the stage of the adult, in which animated vignettes illustrate adult development from attempts at teenage communication through the various ways elderly people face aging and the idea of their approaching death.
Cast: Alvin Epstein, Judith Coburn, Ray Hubley, Lou Jacobi, Lane Smith, Eleanor Wilson, Georgia Hubley, Linda Washburn, Maura Washburn, Michael Washburn, Emily Hubley, Bruce E. Smith, Jane E. Smith, Leeds Atkinson, Jenny Lumet, Jo-Carroll Denniso, Charles Levin, Meryl Streep, Per Bloland, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Tulani Bridgewater, Pau Casals, Dinah Manoff, Florence Miller, George Miller, Lawrence Pressman, John Randolph, Lanna Saunders, William Watts, Harry Edison, Jack Gilford, Jane Hoffman, Juanita Moore
Production Notes
This animated special depicts, through brief vignettes, the eight stages of life defined by psychiatrist Erik H. Erikson. Animation techniques illustrate the inner conflicts of people as they journey through the various stages. The sketches depict the following stages of development: trust versus mistrust, which shows how infants gain faith in others; autonomy versus shame and doubt, which depicts how toddlers gain their independence; initiative versus guilt, which explores how children further their independence by going after what they want while battling their need to be good; competence versus inferiority, which depicts the importance of success to a school-age child; identity versus role confusion, which uses an amusement park setting to show the struggles teenagers must endure in order to find themselves; intimacy versus isolation, which depicts young adults as they face their need for and fear of commitment; generativity versus stagnation, which explores the hardships of raising children; and integrity versus despair, which depicts how two different couples deal with being old.
