The Animation Show 2007

I loved the first installment of THE ANIMATION SHOW. It was incredibly funny--particularly because of its sick and twisted Don Hertzfeldt cartoons as well as the great films by Adam Elliot (UNCLE, BROTHER and COUSIN). However, with Volume Two, I was very disappointed--few of the cartoons (including Hertzfeldt's) were funny and the entire DVD is a bore with only one or two exceptions. I assumed that Volume Three would continue this downward spiral of the series, though fortunately Three was about as good as the first DVD. However, the overall type of cartoon is very different. While One featured many overtly funny toons, Three featured much more visually striking and risky shorts--spectacular and impressive. My favorite was RABBIT--a short that I've seen on a couple other compilation DVDs.

Because Volume Thee was so good, I can't wait until they bring out more--this is a great series of short animated films.

This show was packed full with about 14 short animation films that were creative and hilarious. The show had mild to strong language some of the time. My personal favorites from the show include: "Everything Will Be OK", "9", "Game Over", "Guide Dog", and "Davey and Son of Goliath". Some films were random and boring because they were too abstract. The film "Rabbit" was very creative and had a very surprising ending. "City Paradise" didn't have a good plot but it was fun to see the innovative techniques they used. "Everything Will Be OK" was very funny but near the end it became very weird and lost my interest. "Guide Dog" was simply full of funny parts and was very well done. All together it was a great experience.

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.

Animators Don Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge have put together a collection of animated shorts that easily rivals the quality of Spike and Mike.

This is their third Animation Show, and as usual Don Hertzfeldt's own contribution was among the biggest crowd pleasers. But don't expect anything as silly as his infamous "Rejected" this time around; his new film "Everything Will Be OK" is perhaps his darkest yet.

My personal favorites were "Rabbit" and "Overtime," though "Game Over" got the most applause in the theater. Speaking of which -- stop reading and go buy tickets! You have to see this in a theater for the full experience. There's nothing quite like watching these films in a room with a huge group of weirdo fanatics like yourself.