Windy Day is a 1968 animated short film (nine minutes) directed by the husband-and-wife team of John and Faith Hubley.
It stars their children, Emily and Georgia Hubley. The cartoon shows two children wandering about the shore of a lake. Emily starts up "the play", a little make-believe story they have about Prince Joel going off to rescue Jane, his imprisoned sister, but a bored Georgia wrenches the conversation in different directions, ending with a surprisingly profound meditation on death.
The conversation sounds impromptu but was actually done by the Hubley girls in a recording studio with prompting from their parents. Compare 1959's Moonbird, another Hubley short that used the voices of their children (in that case, their two sons).
Tropes:
- Continuity Cameo: The brothers from Moonbird make a brief appearance.
- Cross-Cast Role: In-Universe. In the play they act out the story of the handsome Prince Joel, who goes off to rescue his sister, Jane, who is being held captive.
- Dragon Hoard: The sisters' tale of the adventurous Prince Joel involves him stealing a treasure from a dragon. The dragon keeps his treasure in the bathroom.
- Dreadful Musician: She admits it! After Georgia toots an off-key rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on a recorder for a while, she says, "I can't play too well."
- Due to the Dead: The girls discuss the time they found a dead rabbit and buried it, staging a full funeral. This leads to thoughts of death, and a giggling Georgia imagining her sister as an old lady, then making a surprisingly profound observation: "When you're done grow up, you die."
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: When Emily, as Prince Joel, says she'll poke out the eyes of Georgia the dragon, Georgia shoots back that it won't work, because her dragon has eyes in its feet.
- Father, I Want to Marry My Brother: Discussed Trope after the girls act out Prince Joel rescuing Jane. Emily says, "Do you want to marry me?" Georgia declines.
- Limited Animation: John Hubley pioneered Limited Animation at UPA and this short has the typical Hubley look, with watercolors against a simple sketched background.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Georgia Hubley really did get bored with the scripted "play" the kids were supposed to be doing, and really did go on a tangent about the two of them transforming into a giraffe and a kangaroo. Emily's frustration ("You don't want to do the play?") is real.
- Title Drop: While in character as Prince Joel, Emily says it's "a windy day outside!"
