Hubley also directed the animated segments of Irving Reis's The Four Poster (1952). In September 1951, UPA layout artist Bernyce Fleury testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee that several UPA artists, including Hubley, were promoting communism through their films. In response, the following April Columbia sent UPA a list of eight suspected communist employees which included Hubley. Columbia, threatening to end their distribution deal with UPA, wanted the named employees to either confess or leave UPA. Hubley refused to denounce communism and was subsequently fired from UPA on May 31, 1952. Reflecting upon his time at UPA, Hubley would say "it got too large. Before we knew where we were, we were getting more and more concerned with administration and less with creation." Independent success with Storyboard, Inc. 1952–1969 Following his firing from UPA, Hubley was effectively blacklisted from the animation industry. He found work illustrating album covers for Westminster and Clef Records for artists such as Al Hibbler, Aaron Copland, Slim Gaillard, and Chico O’Farrill. These covers showed Hubley’s art progressing further into abstract expressionism and modernism, taking heavy influence from Pablo Picasso. Still “undercover” in Hollywood, Hubley founded Storyboard, Inc. (sometimes referred to as Storyboard Studios or simply Storyboard) in 1953. Since television work was both uncredited and in high demand, Hubley quickly found work directing animated commercials for companies such as Heinz, Bank of America, and E-Z Pop. Since many of his clients were looking for a fast turnaround, Hubley’s highly-stylized approach to limited animation and bold graphics became both practical and popular. For these early commercials, Hubley would again collaborate with animators such as Bill Littlejohn, Emery Hawkins, and Rob Scribner. Also in 1953, Hubley and producer Michael Shore began developing an animated adaptation of the musical Finian’s Rainbow. Shore wanted Hubley to direct, and Hubley was motivated to “develop the visual art even further than the UPA films”. Shore had difficulty interesting studios with the project due to the musical’s strong racial themes, but eventually secured funding and a distribution deal with the Distributors Corporation of America (DCA). Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald were signed on for the film, marking their only collaboration. By the end of 1954, all of the dialogue and music had been recorded for the film and Hubley had assembled a large team of past collaborators, such as Littlejohn, Babbitt, and Les Goldman. Faith Elliott (née Chestman), later Hubley’s second