Hey folks, Harry here with Mr Beaks' look at Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt's wondrous concoction... THE ANIMATION SHOW. Missing this duo's debut of the form here in Austin at the Drafthouse was a pain in the back of my skull while I was on vacation in Prague. To see Ward Kimball's MARS AND BEYOND on the big screen... killer. I hope that Judge and Hertzfeldt get the classic James Mason voiced TELL TALE HEART for ANIMATION SHOW 2. That'd kick all manners of ass. Here's Mr Thesau... I mean Mr. Beaks....
Last Friday night at the Egyptian Theater (my home away from home throughout the month of August, and, it appears, into September), known lunatics Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt debuted their ninety minute compilation of award-winning animation titled, appropriately enough, THE ANIMATION SHOW. It’s a multi-cultural collision of disparate styles and sensibilities ranging from the hand-drawn anarchy of Cordell Barker’s “Strange Invaders”, to Tomek Baginski’s expansive and meditative CG opus, “The Cathedral”. Their mission, according to the project’s website, is “to put animated short films into more theaters than any other animation festival in American history. We aim to finally give these filmmakers the wide exposure their work deserves and to share these short masterpieces on the big screen, where they belong.” It’s an admirable idea, to be sure, and one that will hopefully catch on as they take their show on the road this fall to towns and colleges across the country.
So, just what exactly are you in for? To begin with, how’s ‘bout some brand spankin’ new animation from Hertzfeldt, who’s supplied the anthology with its introduction, intermission (“in the third dimension!”) and grand finale with robots. You do know Don Hertzfeldt, right? Please tell me you’ve born witness to the demented, RED BALLOON-gone-homicidal genius that is “Billy’s Balloon”. If not, then I just *know* you’ve seen his Academy Award nominated short, “Rejected”, right? Because a lack of familiarity with these works would constitute a heinous act of treason against the grand old US of A that could very well find you being dragged from your home and subjected to “reorientation” via cheese grater (for our foreign readers, such unconscionable ignorance would result in a vehement blast of vituperation via email intended to shame you for not being American). Such extreme actions might not be necessary, however, because Hertzfeldt has been kind enough to include them in this collection, so, now, when one of your friends screams, “My anus is bleeding!” you won’t be hastily dialing 911. Mike Judge has also contributed a handful of vintage animation tests, including “Huh?” and “Office Space”, both of which afford early glimpses of two classic Judge creations, Hank Hill and Milton.
What’s most commendable about THE ANIMATION SHOW is its variety. I was particularly enthused to see an excerpt from Ward Kimball’s little-seen MARS AND BEYOND, a 1957 feature in which the brilliant Disney animator hypothesizes about what far-out forms of life might exist on the red planet. Combining traditional animation with some practical, filmed f/x work (and narrated by Uncle Walt himself), it’s classic Kimball, drawn with the same inspiring attention to detail he brought to such landmark creations like Jiminy Cricket and Pecos Bill. Hopefully, it’ll allow aspiring young artists to gain a finer appreciation of one of Disney’s legendary “Nine Old Men”. There’s also an early Aardman short called “Ident” that’s an intriguingly abstract counterpoint to the more classical “Wallace & Gromit” shorts that established the company, and helped it reenergize a dying art form. Written and directed by Richard Goleszowski, it’s an inexplicable mélange of bizarre imagery and indecipherable grunting that presages the artist’s work on REX THE RUNT. Though it might leave you scratching your head, it’s a must-see for anyone who’s been bitten by the stop-motion Aardman bug.
Of all the shorts, I found myself most taken with Koji Yamamura’s ingenious “Mt. Head”, which is apparently a variation on a familiar Japanese “Rakugo” story. Concerning a fastidious old man who refuses to discard that which might be “usable”, it’s a strikingly assembled combination of 2-D and CG animation that veers off into the absurd when a zit on the curmudgeon’s head literally flowers into a cherry tree. Soon, a herd of people start congregating on his pate, lazing about under the tree and generally causing enough of a ruckus that the incensed old man rips the tree out by its roots, leaving a large indentation in his scalp. It gets stranger, too, but Yamamura’s is such a singular voice, it’s fascinating even at its most inscrutable. The same can be said of Switzerland’s Georges Schwizgebel and his very brief “La Course a L’Abime”, an animated acrylic painting timed out to Berloiz’s “La Damnation de Faust” in which the pastoral intermingles with the macabre.
If Judge and Hertzfeldt mean for THE ANIMATION SHOW to be a complement to Spike and Mike’s “Sick and Twisted Animation Festival”, picking up where the erstwhile “Tournee of Animation” left off, they’re certainly headed in the right direction. If I had any caveats, it would be the inclusion of a few beloved, but widely available works (one of which is intended as a surprise addition to the lineup) at the expense of the thousands of brilliant, lesser-seen shorts that are out there. But, hopefully, that’s what THE ANIMATION SHOW 2, 3, 4 and so on will deliver. In the meantime, this is a pretty solid first effort from this irreverent duo that should appeal to animation buffs and neophytes in equal measure.
Well done, guys. Long may you scribble.
Faithfully submitted,
To find out when the big show will be hitting a town near you, check out the state-by-state schedule here. “Opening Night” is scheduled for September 4th at the Walter Reade Theater in New York City.
