Note: If you are looking for this collection on DVD it is known as "The Animation Show, Volume 3"
Inevitably any collection of shorts, animated or otherwise will always be a bit of a mixed bag, and this set of 16 animated films, almost all under 10 minutes, is no exception. But series curators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeld have made some great choices, and even the least of these films, if less than stellar, show imagination and creativity. None of them are familiar or by-the-numbers. And the best are freakin' brilliant.
Leading the pack is Hertzfeld's own "Everything Will Be OK", the longest film in the program. In 17 minutes of mostly simple stick-figure animation, Hertzfeld creates black comedy of death, and the sadness and lack of meaning of our day to day lives to make a film that will make you laugh, think, and even be moved. There are more ideas, laughs and emotion in his quarter of an hour film, than in the vast majority of full length features.
But there are plenty of highlights here, from the surreal fable 'Rabbit' that opens the program, eerily stealing imagery from 'Dick and Jane' readers to comment on greed, to the wonderfully goofy and funny abstractions of early computer games of "Game Over" that ends it. If you like creative and varied animation, this is well worth getting.
I'd say this is the strongest of the "Animation Show" collections, although the 2-DVD box set that combines Volumes 1 and 2 is certainly worthwhile as well, if you're interested in this kind of work.
Inevitably any collection of shorts, animated or otherwise will always be a bit of a mixed bag, and this set of 16 animated films, almost all under 10 minutes, is no exception. But series curators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeld have made some great choices, and even the least of these films, if less than stellar, show imagination and creativity. None of them are familiar or by-the-numbers. And the best are freakin' brilliant.
Leading the pack is Hertzfeld's own "Everything Will Be OK", the longest film in the program. In 17 minutes of mostly simple stick-figure animation, Hertzfeld creates black comedy of death, and the sadness and lack of meaning of our day to day lives to make a film that will make you laugh, think, and even be moved. There are more ideas, laughs and emotion in his quarter of an hour film, than in the vast majority of full length features.
But there are plenty of highlights here, from the surreal fable 'Rabbit' that opens the program, eerily stealing imagery from 'Dick and Jane' readers to comment on greed, to the wonderfully goofy and funny abstractions of early computer games of "Game Over" that ends it. If you like creative and varied animation, this is well worth getting.
I'd say this is the strongest of the "Animation Show" collections, although the 2-DVD box set that combines Volumes 1 and 2 is certainly worthwhile as well, if you're interested in this kind of work.