January 6th, 2023 
Jackson Murphy 
Elizabeth Hobbs is on the 2023 Oscars shortlist for The Debutante. It’s about a young woman who befriends a hyena. They seek to shatter the norms of behavior and societal expectations in shocking, wild ways. This is an animated short that will definitely get people talking. (This Animation Scoop interview with Hobbs was conducted as an Email Q&A and was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: What interested you in the short story your film is based on?
Elizabeth Hobbs: The film is based on a short story called The Debutante. It was written by the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington in the late 1930’s, and it’s loosely inspired by her own experience of rejecting the grand life that was planned for her by her parents. When I first read The Debutante I found it so startling, funny, and fresh and the themes really resonated with me. We were lucky to get permission from the Estate of Leonora Carrington to adapt the story.
JM: Are you a fan of going to the zoo, and who is your favorite animal?
EH: I’m not a huge fan of the zoo actually, though it’s really fun to animate, especially the monkeys. I think I prefer watching little bugs in the garden pond!
JM: What fascinates you about hyenas, and how did you want to explore that with this short?
EH: The hyena functions so well in Carrington’s short story. She represents the very worst kind of dinner guest, scruffy and smelly, with terrible manners too. When the hyena dresses in the debutante’s dress, she looks mostly fine, and mother doesn’t realise that anything is amiss. However the audience has seen her get dressed, and so they are aware that everything is going to unravel sooner or later. I love the tension in that situation, and I had a lot of fun exploring the maximum disruption of convention in that scenario.
JM: How long did it take to put each image together? I saw a video of you online for Annecy, and it looks like you have to be so delicate with everything you do.
EH: Each frame is drawn or painted with ink or paint or created with collage on A6 paper. I work quite quickly because I like to use minimal information. I capture the image under the rostrum camera with a digital SLR while the ink is still wet. I tend to shoot each scene a few times in different ways to give our editor Mark Jenkins more material to cut together.
JM: What were your goals with creating movement in the ways you do? It’s very cool.
EH: Thank you. When I’m animating under the rostrum camera, I will have a few ideas about what will happen, but on the whole, my goal is not to be tied down too much so that the process can always remain surprising and joyful. I wanted the surprise and joy of the process to be a part of the experience of watching The Debutante and to underpin the themes of wildness, spontaneity and disruption.
JM: The short takes place in 1934. What did you want to say about behavior and traditions back then vs. today?
EH: The language, dress and expectations of the English upper class in 1934 were certainly different from today, but the sense that we need to strongly reject traditions that don’t serve us well is very current.
JM: I LOVE the music. How was it working with your music team?
EH: Thank you! Hutch Demouilpied was really extraordinary to work with. From early on in the project we were talking about Leonora Carrington’s life and her other stories and paintings, and exchanging drawings and musical brushstrokes. Hutch has an amazing energy and attention to detail. For instance: Leonora Carrington lived a large part of her life in Mexico, so Hutch found a Mexican singer to sing with the hyena and the debutante at the end of the film.
JM: How did working on “The Debutante” allow you to grow as an animator and a storyteller?
EH: I’ve made maybe 10 films since 1999, and each film has offered the chance to try something new. For The Debutante, my producer Abigail Addison and I were very glad to have been supported by the BFI through its Short Form Animation Fund, which is made possible thanks to National Lottery funding. This allowed us the time and space to take our time, to be bold, and the luxury of collaborating with composer Hutch Demouilpied and editor Mark Jenkins, who both brought so much to the film.
JM: How would you feel about being an Oscar nominee (and possibly winning an Academy Award)?
EH: I’m so amazed and delighted to be included in the Animated Short Film shortlist. I love so many of the other films in the list, and I’m really glad that we’re part of a shortlist which reflects the breadth of animation practice in 2022.
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