Does the world really need another animation festival? After all, there are already several permutations of Spike and Mike’s long-running fest, with both the “Sick and Twisted” and “Classic” varieties passing through town every year or so. In the past we’ve also had General Chaos: Uncensored Animation, Nick Park’s Aardman animations, and enough Canadian cartoons to gag a moose. So — honestly now — more is called for?
Well, yes, if it’s co-produced by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head, King of the Hill) and Don Hertzfeldt (“Billy’s Balloon,” “Rejected”), two acknowledged saviors of the form who have joined forces for The Animation Show, the first traveling collection of animated shorts programmed entirely by animators.
Speaking from his home-away-from-Austin in Los Angeles by phone, Judge says, “I just want to have one that I can go to that’s good — that’s really my main reason for doing this.”
Comprising around 19 short animations from “all over the world,” The Animation Show — which has its “world premiere sneak” at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown this weekend — ranges from CGI to traditional cell animation and pretty much everything in between. And the Judge-Hertzfeldt fan contingent won’t be disappointed either: Both will be showing either new or previously unscreened works, including Judge’s initial foray into the cubicles of Office Space.
“When I first started doing animation,” says Judge, “it was because I just loved the way it looks when it’s shown on film and projected. And so with this show we’re doing it mostly for fun. We’d like it to be an annual thing, though, and hopefully it will inspire other young animators or old animators or whatever, who will then be able to maybe make a little money and have their work seen by a lot more people than previously possible.”
The Animation Show premieres at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown (409 Colorado St.) on July 18-19 with Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt in attendance. The program will return in the fall for a longer theatrical run. More info and angry puffballs at www.animationshow.com and www.bitterfilms.com.
This article appears in July 18 • 2003.