It's easy to see why the 17 shorts in this latest edition of "Mike & Spike's 1990 Festival of Animation!" are easily among the most creative, fanciful and thoughtful pieces of film shown on any screen anywhere.
There are a couple of clunkers in the bunch this time, but even those are not without interest. And since the average length is from three to five minutes, even the weakest links are not unendurable.
As usual, there are some you may have seen before if you attend these shows regularly — Bill Plympton's hilarious "25 Ways to Quit Smoking," the delightful Pixar computer animated "Knickknack" and the fascinating Canadian life cycle treatise "In and Out."
There is also a funny short that you may have seen in a longer form on TV — "Family Dog" is an abbreviated version of an episode of Steven Spielberg's old "Amazing Stories" anthology series. (Tim Burton, director of "Batman" and "Beetlejuice" is one of the animators and Danny Elfman did the music.)
Of the new entries, the drawing card is "The Hill Farm," an English piece — by far the longest of the bunch at 18 minutes — which is nominated for an Oscar as best animated short. It follows a family of farmers and their animals as they contend with a drought, sightseeing campers, a huge bear and a fox hunt. There's a slight edge to it all and some amusing and thoughtful bits sandwiched in.
The funniest, but also the blackest, is "The Housekeeper," about a put-upon cleaning woman whose boss invents a time machine helmet and sends her to various historical events where she rearranges history. Some of the humor is on the sick side, but it's a riot if you like your humor askew.
Also very funny is "The Chore," a simple look at how to eject a cat from your home.
Impressionistic bits are provided by "Black Hula," a look at "civilizing" the world (and other worlds), by Marv Newland, famed for his "Bambi Meets Godzilla"; "Feet of Song," a British short similar to some South American pieces we've seen in the past; "Uncles & Aunts," a Holland entry; and "Plaid Baker," which I found disappointing.
Easily the most fascinating visually is "Locomotion," an amazing piece of computer animation that makes a detailed train on a high bridge almost seem to be a rubber doll. And the award for weirdness goes to "Negative Man," which was a bit annoying, with one joke that seemed longer than its two minutes and 30 seconds.
"Mike & Spike's 1990 Festival of Animation" on the whole, however, is an utter delight and should more than please fans. It is not rated, but everything is in PG territory, including some animated violence and nudity. Still, small children won't get most of the jokes.