The Animation Show 4 - Press Reviews

The Animation Show 4

Austin Chronicle (pick of the week) "Part of the joy of the program is its all-inclusiveness; there’s room here for the dirty-bird chortles of "Yompi the Crotch-Biting Sloup" and the earnest, gosh-wow inventiveness of PES’s “Western Spaghetti”. At 20-plus entries, the program slightly blurs in its haste and expanse, but even that is addressed in Julian Grey's elegiac adaptation of former poet laureate Billy Collins’ “Forgetfulness,”. It’s a lovely, tender short, a moment of quiet in an overstuffed but superlative program."

Austin American Statesman "The spectrum of animation is here, from stop-motion to primitive ink. Some shorts bask in pregnant quietude; others twitter with such spastic speed that their impact hits subliminal registers. A global survey of a spunky art form that has little in common with the extreme showcases of Spike and Mike."

Austinist "Featuring a wide range of styles and narrative structures, including repeat appearances of some jail-bait bunnies, a Teletubby like crotch-cruncher and a couple of wacky, half-witted Australians, our eyes were glued to the screen for the full hour and a half."

Columbus Alive "The latest edition lives up to its track record of presenting high-quality animation from around the world and giving audiences a good time. One thing definitely in its favor is volume — more than 20 shorts are included, the number pumped up by several series of short shorts featuring recurring characters. The program is also nicely light on filler, with several memorable, stand-alone shorts that cater to various tastes."

The San Francisco Bay Guardian "Mike Judge compiles an irresistible medley of innovative independent shorts from around the world in the fourth installment of The Animation Show. Featuring the understated absurdity of Matthew Walker's Op-erator, Corky Quakenbush's warped Yopi, with its adorably creepy crotch-biting protagonist, and the stunning geometric wizardry of Swiss director Georges Schwizgebel's Jeu, this collection is a veritable Whit-man's Sampler of animated treats."

The Dallas Morning News "Texas animation impresario Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill) has again corralled an as-sortment of irreverent, funny and consistently entertaining animated shorts into a brief package. In this fourth go-round, The Animation Show 4, Judge has picked more than two dozen of his favorites from around the world, with choices coming from the U.S., France, Canada, Britain, Australia and elsewhere. With someone as admittedly juvenile and rebellious as Judge, the shorts range from the innocuous but strange (Trevor Jimenez's Key Lime Pie) to the foul-mouthed but hilarious offerings of Australian Dave Carter, the creator of the three short episodes of Psychotown, which feature South Park-like figures who al-ways have something shocking to contribute."

The Seattle Times "Featuring more than two dozen works from around the world, "The Animation Show 4" includes a few artisti-cally redeeming shorts for a touch of class, but goofy mayhem still gets top priority. Judge has also commis-sioned four original works exclusively for this year's program, each reflecting the seemingly unlimited variety of techniques and styles that have become a staple of Judge's yearly compilations."

The Boston Globe "The Animation Show" rounds up a fourth collection of new shorts (about two dozen) and descends upon the Kendall Square Theater today. Mike Judge, the creator of "Beavis and Butt-Head" and the director of "Office Space," curated this program, whose styles run a wide a gamut; the distance traveled is as vast as the dif-ference between Judge's famous primitively drawn cartoon series and the wit of his live-action workplace classic."

The LA Times "Curated by Mike Judge (of "Beavis and Butt-head," "Office Space" and, let's not forget, "Idiocracy"), "The Animation Show 4" is, as it sounds, the latest in an ongoing omnibus highlighting recent short films made in a variety of animation styles. It's worth noting that a number of the most vivid standouts -- including "This Way Up" by the team Smith & Foulkes, "Western Spaghetti" by PES and "Psychotown" by Dave Carter -- were commissioned specially for this collection. Other highlights include world premieres such as "The Life and Times of Tim" by Steve Dildarian, about a husband who tries to explain to his wife why there is a hooker in their living room, and "Operator" by Matthew Walker, in which a man asks directory assistance to connect him to "capital-g God," and he is put through. As with any such collection, there are a few duds, but at least they are short and then are gone quickly. Overall, the quality of the picks here is quite pleasantly high."

The Daily News of LA "There really is something for everyone here, be it dry English humor (Matthew Walker's wry short about dialing up God with a pressing question) or Aussie Dave Carter's in-your-face `Psychotown'."

The Washington Times ""The Animation Show" remains a virtual stick in the eye to the folks behind "Kung Fu Panda," "Toy Story" and every other glossy animated feature churned out by Hollywood. Produced by "Beavis & Butt-head" creator Mike Judge, the theatrical showcase gathers the world's most eclectic animators for a compilation like no other. The shorts can be silly, garish or bawdy. Yet regardless of the quality, they're bracingly original - and not for mass consumption."

The Onion "2008 is an exceptionally good year for The Animation Show, the traveling short-features tourney now curated solely by King Of The Hill/Beavis And Butt-head mastermind Mike Judge."

Chicago Sun Times "Besides brevity, cleverness is a recurring trait. The various animation techniques are all slick, but not terribly inventive, compared to past "Animation Shows” … Shorter running times, though, don't mean these shorts should be relegated to YouTube-type formats. "The Animation Show" proves that shorts can thrive on the old big screen, too."