You take the good and you take the bad when you attend animation festivals, and with the Spike and Mike compilations you always get a lot of both.
The latest, "Spike and Mike's Classic 1998 Festival of Animation," may be as uneven a collection as they've compiled — outside of their "Sick and Twisted" amalgams, of course. Alongside a handful of award-winners and other delights are some yawn-inducing — or worse, headache-causing — cartoon shorts.
And parents should be warned that this is definitely not one for all ages despite the ads. Two of the cartoons featured, Don Hertzfeldt's "Oh L'Amour" and the English-made "T.R.A.N.S.I.T.," really push the envelope of what's acceptable in animation with some of their violent content and nudity.
The obvious draws here are Pixar's "Geri's Game," the 1998 Oscar winner for Best Animated Short Film, and "Stage Fright," the newest from Aardman Animation (the studio that brought us the clay-animated "Wallace and Gromit" shorts). And not too surprisingly, those two almost make the whole thing worthwhile.
Nearly as good, though, are "Fruhling," a German short about dancing dining-room furniture (set to the strains of Vivaldi); "Shock" (also from Germany), which features an unusual love triangle between the animator and two of his creations; and "Lily and Jim," a crudely drawn but charming piece about a disastrous blind date.
It's hard to believe the latter came from the same animator as "Oh L'Amour" (which was also featured in one of the "Sick and Twisted" compilations). This one is unbelievably violent and even a tad misogynistic.
While the diverse stylings of "T.R.A.N.S.I.T." are dazzling, it actually goes a bit further with the inappropriate material. And the uninspired "Guten Appetit" and the inexplicable "Underwear Stories" both feel like padding for what's already a too-long, pseudo "festival."
"Spike and Mike's Classic 1998 Festival of Animation" is not rated but would probably receive an R for animated violence, including stabbings and fist fights, gore, nudity, scattered profanities and one sexually suggestive gag.