THE ANIMATION SHOW 2005 — *** 1/2 — Compilation of animated shorts from around the world; not rated, probable R (violence, gore, drugs, vulgarity).
Like many other animated compilations, including the various "Spike & Mike" festivals, the first "Animation Show" featured a lot of "repeats" seen elsewhere, as well as its creators' greatest hits.
Mind you, they were quality selections. And as it turns out, that formula was only to establish "The Animation Show" — the brainchild of Mike Judge ("King of the Hill") and award-winning animator Don Hertzfeldt (the short pieces "Oh L'Amour" and "Billy's Balloon") — as a viable commodity.
"The Animation Show 2005," or "Year 2," features more "exclusive" shorts than the previous year's version. And the shorts are more creative, imaginative and dazzlingly animated. The whole package provides a nice contrast to the formulaic, almost generic animated features being produced by the major studios — with the obvious exception of Pixar.
Speaking of Pixar, the quality of animation in "Rockfish" almost rivals that studio's work, verging on photo-realism. And Hertzfeldt's ambitious "2001" homage "The Meaning of Life" is even more mind-blowing when you consider that it was done without the assistance of any computers or digital work.
"Guard Dog," a look at dog ownership through the eyes of a pet, is certainly Bill Plympton's best work in a long time, and at least one of its fantasy sequences is fall-off-your-chair funny.
"The Animation Show 2005" is certainly not without its clunkers. "The F.E.D.S.," Jennifer Drummond's bit about grocery-store food samplers, is pretty dull. And only art aficionados are likely to appreciate the impressionistic "The Man Without a Shadow."
Both are thankfully short, however. In fact, the longest piece is "Ward 13," a clay-animated thriller about an unfortunate patient at an experimental lab that packs more excitement in 15 minutes than most live-action thrillers accomplish in two hours.
And "Hello," which relies on musical samples for its "dialogue," is so completely charming that it's too bad this collection isn't appropriate for all ages (the Plympton piece, "Ward 13" and the grotesque but amusing "Fallen Art" are too rough for young audiences).
"The Animation Show 2005" is not rated but would probably receive an R for scenes of animated violence (including animal attacks, vehicular violence and some explosive mayhem), some gore and alien goo, some drug material (use of experimental drugs and hypodermic needles) and some vulgarity. Running time: 83 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com