Short Takes
THE
ANIMATION SHOW 4 Less hit-or-miss than the long-running Spike &
Mike packages of drawn-to-the-darkside filth, this touring animation
program curated by Mike Judge (this time without co-founder Don
Hertzfeldt) has hit its stride, emphasizing niceties such as craft
alongside reliable crowd-pleasers like the ultraviolent deaths of cute
little creatures and a self-explanatory something called “Yompi the
Crotch-Biting Sloup.” Faster and funnier than the somewhat lugubrious
Volume 3, the new program features a decided international bent;
whether from France, Germany or closer to home, the 20-odd selections
mesh with Judge’s skewed sensibility, from a 2-D freakout that reveals
the private disturbances behind a public-disturbance call (Stefan
Muller’s “Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker”) to the return
of Bill Plympton’s hapless Guard Dog in “Hot Dog,” where the hyper
pooch makes a poor substitute for a firehouse Dalmatian. Standouts
include Smith & Fowlkes’ “This Way Up,” a Corpse Bride-esque
CGI fantasy with two cadaverous undertakers seeing more than they ever
wanted of the underworld; Georges Schwizgebel’s “Jeu,” with its
furiously morphing Escher perspectives; and Steve Dildarian’s “Angry
Unpaid Hooker,” the ultimate unexplainable domestic crisis rendered in
scratchy line drawings and deadpan conversational hilarity. (It bodes
well for his upcoming HBO series.) The technique alone can be dazzling,
as in PES’ “Western Spaghetti,” two minutes of stop-motion magic tricks
that convert pincushions into tomato sauce and Post-It notes into
butter pats. Or it can be so minimal that its crudeness becomes part of
the joke—as in Grant Orchard’s “Love Sport—Paintballing,” in which tiny
cartoon rectangles enact an arms-race Armageddon on the field of
pellet-splatter combat. Arrive on time for the clever opening, directed
by Knoxville animator Joel Trussell. For older kids only. —Jim Ridley (July 4-7 at The Belcourt)
