| |
|
|
BY PEG ALOI
|
|
|
|
|
If you’re a fan of those excellent international animation shows that played arthouses in the 1980s and you thought the ubiquitous but marginally appealing Spike & Mike Sick & Twisted tours meant the end of thought-provoking animation — think again. From Academy Award–nominated Don Hertzfeldt (his "Rejected" is a highlight of the show) and Beavis and Butt-head/King of the Hill’s Mike Judge ("Early Pencil Tests," circa 1990, is included) comes this promising showcase of new and classic shorts. With hilarious Hertzfeldt segments providing the bookends, the emphasis is on dark, subversive fare. There’s Tim Burton’s 1982 "Vincent," a gothic doggerel narrated by Vincent Price that presages Burton’s later works. There’s the stunning 1957 sci-fi confection "Mars and Beyond," which is offered in tribute to Ward Kimball, the Disney animator who died last year at age 87. There’s Bill Plympton’s brand-new "Parking." And there are recent Academy Award nominees from Japan, Germany, Poland, and Great Britain (including an Aardman production from those Wallace & Gromit guys).
|
