Animator John Hubley gets his due at the I-House

Not long ago, Turner Classic Movies aired Leo Penn’s 1966 curiosity A Man Called Adam, starring Sammy Davis Jr. as a self-destructive bop trumpeter. Almost immediately after the title sequence began, I wondered if the playfully abstract animation, full of jazz-quirky black and white geometric stylizations, was the work of Hubley Studios, a suspicion confirmed moments later by the credits.

Animator John Hubley would have turned 100 years old this week, and to celebrate his centennial the International House will screen eight of his films in 35 mm on Saturday. Though he died in 1977, Hubley’s career spanned much of the great animation work of the last century. He began at Disney, working on films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio before joining the nascent United Productions of America (UPA) studio and co-creating the character of Mr. Magoo. But he was forced out after refusing to name names during the Communist witch hunt of the early ’50s, a political scar that would brand much of his satirically minded independent work.

Hubley’s films, many created in collaboration with his wife Faith (who died in 2001), combined the studio’s limited animation style with inspirations from then-modern graphic design and art — his work at times resembles a synesthetic combination of a Joan Miró canvas with a Blue Note album cover.

The Hubleys’ creations also extend to their two daughters: Georgia combines the same mix of the smart, the wry, the adorable and the hip from her father’s work in her music with Yo La Tengo; while Emily has carried on the family business, most notably creating the “Origin of Love” sequence for Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Emily will be on hand to introduce her father’s work at I-House this weekend.

Sat., May 24, 7 p.m., $9, International House, 3701 Chestnut St., 215-387-5125, ihousephilly.org.