It was November 27, 1977, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and A Doonesbury Special was playing on NBC. While Star Wars was number one at the box office that week, this show was not exactly for children. The special dealt with a Walden commune and characters reflecting back on their hippie days.
The 26 minute animated special was produced and directed by John Hubley, who had just been fired midway through production of Watership Down. Sadly, Hubley wouldn't live to see the Doonesbury project finished as he would die on the operating table.
As an interesting point of trivia, one of Hubley's daughters is the drummer and singer for the band Yo La Tengo. His wife (also an accomplished animator) would write a book on the project a year later in '78, but is currently out of print.
The special is currently unavailable on DVD and try to find it on YouTube and you get: This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Garry Trudeau. I would love to see this again, if anyone has a link to find it. One day, Trudeau will see fit to release this on DVD or air it again on television. Until then, we'll just have to whine and complain about it.
