The Animation Show

Last updated

The Animation Show is a touring festival of animated short films that was first held in fall 2003. It was sponsored by MTV, and was created by award-winning animators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt. [1] Due to its association with MTV, the showcase was not intended for children, as the festival was more aimed at adult audiences, with its main kid-friendly equivalent being Nickelodeon's Nicktoons Film Festival , presented by Frederator Studios.

Contents

Following the demise of other American touring festivals of animation, such as Spike and Mike's Classic Festival of Animation, [note 1] the stated purpose of the Animation Show was to bring animated short films back into proper cinemas, where most of them were intended to be seen, and to "free these artists from the dungeons of Internet exhibition". It was the first-ever festival of animation to be curated by working animators and was described as a "passion project" by its creators, not something intended to turn a giant profit. A sister series of Animation Show DVD volumes are also available from MTV Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment, but the producers stress that the theatrical and DVD lineups are intentionally a little bit different, to encourage audiences to not just wait for the DVD but to visit the cinema and view these films properly. As stated on the Animation Show programs and flyers, once the current edition of the Show is out of theaters, it's "gone forever". [2]

Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt programmed the first three Animation Show programs together. Don Hertzfeldt parted ways with the festival in 2008 and the fourth season of the Animation Show was released without his involvement.

History

2003

The first season's 2003 tour visited over 200 North American theaters with occasional appearances from the producers (Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt) and Q&A's with many of the award-winning filmmakers involved. The program included "everything from forgotten classics to the very latest in computer animation". This included many current Academy Award nominees, as well as the restoration of a 5-minute excerpt from Ward Kimball's 1957 Disney film, "Mars and Beyond". The tour concluded with the DVD release of Animation Show, Volume One. [3] [4]

2005

The second Animation Show toured throughout 2005, featuring Bill Plympton's Guard Dog , the 1999 National Film Board of Canada's classic When the Day Breaks , Don Hertzfeldt's The Meaning of Life and new films by animators Peter Cornwell, Georges Schwizgebel and PES. [5] [6]

2007

The third season of The Animation Show began its nationwide release in January 2007, featuring the return of Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head . The third tour also showcased new work by animators Joanna Quinn, PES, Bill Plympton, and Don Hertzfeldt. [7] [8]

2008

The fourth Animation Show was released in 2008. It included new work by animators PES, Bill Plympton and Georges Schwizgebel as well as the Academy Award nominated short This Way Up . [9] [10]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In the early 2000s, Spike and Mike phased out their general "Classic" festival of animation, but retained their adult "Sick and Twisted" festival; thus general animation did not have an outlet through this channel.

Related Research Articles

The term independent animation refers to animated shorts, web series, and feature films produced outside a major national animation industry.

Ah, L'Amour (1995) is Don Hertzfeldt's first 16mm student animated short film, completed at the age of 18 at UC Santa Barbara. Though produced for a beginning film class and never meant to be exhibited, the short had a long life at animation festivals, launching Hertzfeldt into cult status at a young age. In 1998, the short won the Grand Prize Award for "World's Funniest Cartoon" from the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

<i>Oh Yeah! Cartoons</i> American animation showcase series on Nickelodeon

Oh Yeah! Cartoons is an American animated anthology series that aired on Nickelodeon. Created by Fred Seibert, it was produced by Frederator Incorporated and Nickelodeon Animation Studio, running as part of Nickelodeon's Nicktoons lineup. In the show's first season, it was hosted by a variety of schoolchildren, and the second season was hosted by Kenan Thompson of All That and Kenan & Kel, and later Josh Server of All That in the third and final season. Bill Burnett composed the show's theme music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Plympton</span> American illustrator, animator, and film director

Bill Plympton is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Awards-nominated animated short Your Face and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting with 2004's Guard Dog.

<i>Nicktoons Film Festival</i> American TV series or program

The Nicktoons Film Festival was an annual event that was created by producer Fred Seibert and produced for its first three years by his Frederator Studios.

<i>Rejected</i> 2000 film by Don Hertzfeldt

Rejected is a 2000 animated surrealist comedy short film directed by Don Hertzfeldt that was released in 2000. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film the following year at the 73rd Academy Awards, and received 27 awards from film festivals around the world.

<i>Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"</i> Adult animated television series

Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" is an animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi for the cable network TNN / Spike TV. The series was developed as a more "extreme" revamp and spin-off of The Ren & Stimpy Show, which previously aired on the American cable network Nickelodeon. The series premiered on June 26, 2003, and was removed from the network on July 24, after airing only three episodes; the remaining episodes were released on DVD. During its run, Adult Party Cartoon was heavily panned by critics, audiences and fans of the original series. It has been referred to as one of the worst animated series of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Antonucci</span> Canadian animator, cartoonist, director, producer and screenwriter

Daniel Edward Antonucci is a Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer. Antonucci is most known for creating the Cartoon Network animated comedy series Ed, Edd n Eddy. He also created Lupo the Butcher, Cartoon Sushi, and The Brothers Grunt.

<i>Billys Balloon</i> 1998 film by Don Hertzfeldt

Billy's Balloon is a 16 mm animated short by Don Hertzfeldt. It was his 4th and final student film at UC Santa Barbara. Similar to his other cartoons, he utilizes a minimalist stick-figure technique.

<i>Cartoon Sushi</i> American TV series or program

Cartoon Sushi is an adult-animated showcase program that aired on MTV from 1997 to 1998. It was developed by Eric Calderon and produced by Nick Litwinko, and was the successor to Liquid Television. The title screen opening was illustrated by Ed, Edd n Eddy creator Danny Antonucci. Each episode featured internationally produced cartoons, along with some original material created for the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars and Beyond</span> 12th episode of the 4th season of Walt Disney anthology series

"Mars and Beyond" is an episode of Disneyland which aired on December 4, 1957. It was directed by Ward Kimball and narrated by Paul Frees. This episode discusses the possibility of life on other planets, especially Mars. The show was also released in theaters in 1957.

<i>Random! Cartoons</i> Television series

Random! Cartoons is an American animated anthology series that aired on Nicktoons. Much like Oh Yeah! Cartoons, it was created by Fred Seibert and produced by Frederator Studios and Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It premiered on December 6, 2008, and ended on December 20, 2009.

<i>Genre</i> (1996 film) 1996 film

Genre is a 1996 animated meta-comedy short film by animator Don Hertzfeldt, his second 16mm student film, produced at the age of 19.

Fantastic Animation Festival is a package film of animation segments, set mostly to music and released in theaters in 1977. It was one of the earliest of the sort of collections typified by Computer Animation Festival and Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation.

Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation is a presentation of award-winning animated short films, annually touring throughout theaters, film festivals or college campuses in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. G. Quintel</span> American animator

James Garland Quintel is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, writer, producer, and voice actor. He is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network series Regular Show (2010–2017), in which he voiced Mordecai and High Five Ghost, and the HBO Max series Close Enough (2020–2022), in which he voiced Josh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animation Show of Shows</span>

The Animation Show of Shows is a traveling selection of the year's best animated short films. It is curated and presented by Acme Filmworks founder Ron Diamond. The show began in 1998 with the aim of showing the most original, funny, and intelligent short animated films from all over the world by presenting them to major animation studios, in hope of inspiring their influential animators and directors. Since 2007, a number of the films have been released as DVDs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Hertzfeldt</span> American animator

Don Hertzfeldt is an American animator, writer, and independent filmmaker. He is a two-time Academy Award nominee who is best known for the animated films It's Such a Beautiful Day, the World of Tomorrow series, and Rejected. In 2014, his work appeared on The Simpsons. Eight of his short films have competed at the Sundance Film Festival, a festival record. He is also the only filmmaker to have won the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize for Short Film twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Beck</span> American animation historian, author, blogger, and video producer

Jerry Beck is an American animation historian, author, blogger, and video producer.

<i>Its Such a Beautiful Day</i> (film) 2012 animated feature film directed by Don Hertzfeldt

It's Such a Beautiful Day is a 2012 American surrealist experimental adult animated drama film directed, written, animated, photographed, produced and narrated by Don Hertzfeldt, his first feature film.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.