Spike & Mike’s Sick and Twisted Animation Festival 2002
“fuck”
I think they used to gives these shows Roman numerals, but that got lost so I’m adding the “2002” to minimize confusion. Yup, it’s sick, it’s twisted, and it’s one of the best in recent years. Sure, you’ve still got the No Neck Joe thing happening, but the sound is down to reasonable and there are only six, one of which is actually cute. Themes are more sexual than scatological, and there are no supper gross outs, so while I wouldn’t take my mom, this is suitable for a third date or night with the guys. Let’s hit some highlights:
Choke, Spot Choke takes up the reader series we all started on and extends it – mom and dad are into some weird sex scene, the kids get a little broader education than I did, and Spot gets to toke up while blowing off obedience class. It’s so funny it should have it’s own 2003 calendar. Then there’s a nice clean (well, I mean the film stock isn’t scratched to hell) video of Tenacious D singing their boffo hit “F*@# Her Gently” (punctuation by the director – I’m just being accurate). You may have seen it on their web site, but this is better. I particularly like it when Kyle flips on his little miner’s headlamp before beginning the ob-gyn exam. Next drop in on comedian Chris Rock in a collage animation while he has Bad Phone Sex. I sure hope he’s not getting billed for this – oral sex is down on the to do list after “take out the trash” and “clean the toilet.” And he looks a bit weird in those cheesy boxer shorts arguing about which is better – “Penis” or “Dick.” Another highlight is Harry Pothead and the Magic Herb, a nice little tale of the wonderful relationships that grows between parent and child when they meet on the common ground of a really good children’s book and some killer weed. Don’t forget your lighter! One last item to mention is the series Timmy’s Lessons in Nature. They’re, fast, furious, and back up all my preconceived notions of how nasty wildlife can be.
Not everything is brilliant – there’s a bizarre Russian short Pornoless about a person of ill-determined sex being attacked by the phalluses that live in the wall, and setting vagina traps to catch them. An Israeli piece entitled An Old Story has an Alte Kocker fall into the john and get the big flush from his wife. I’m sure he snores, but this seems a bit much. Later, a cut paper animation called Of Mice and Men and Mama Cass wanders around surrealism and ends up back in reality without adding much to the journey.
Filling out the bill is an old Max Fleicher Betty Boop cartoon, Snow White. It definitely isn’t the Disney version – Betty is dumped down a hole along with KoKo the Clown and Bosco the Dog, and spends some time in “H-E-double hockey sticks” as Cab Calloway sings “St. James Infirmary Blues.” It’s so brilliant, you hope the Enzian or SOMEONE out there will do an entire Betty Boop festival someday. True, her face is weird, but her legs are nice and she’s still the sexiest ‘toon going. There’s tons more – some recent Plympton, Hertzfeldt, and some sharp VH-1 parodies, but go see for yourself – I might be lying, you know.
Spike And Mike: http://www.spikeandmike.com
