AllMovie

The first full-length animated feature by the innovative husband-and-wife team of John and Faith Hubley, Of Stars and Men is a fascinating, visually rich exploration of man and his place in the cosmos. There is no actual story, as the film is an adaptation of a non-fiction science book, but there is a logic to the individual sequences which provides a plot-like frame and which allows each segment of the film to build upon the one preceding it. Created over a long period of time through the efforts of only six animators (including the Hubleys), Stars is an intensely personal piece of art, one in which the slight flaws of the animation -- an occasional jerkiness, the very infrequent mismatch -- serve to give it an extra texture, especially in contrast to films that depend upon computer-based animating techniques; the film feels like a human being created it. And the overall design of the piece is gorgeous, a moody, constantly changing series of images created in a variety of media, placing flat semi-transparent figures on top of deeply hued color bursts or fashioning recognizable figures from little more than blots of ink. Too serious for young children, Stars is a treat for adults who crave something more from animation than simple fairy tales, funny animals, or wisecracking kids.