The Animation Show, Volume 2 (2005)

Sadly Over-hyped

Must See Movie...

Excellent but underrated film

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I was a huge fan of the first Animation Show disk, so I was sure to see this second collection. However, I was very disappointed because the films just weren't very funny--as they tended towards "arsty-fartsy" films that just made my head hurt.One of the biggest disappointments was the virtual absence of Don Hertzfeldt's cartoons throughout the DVD--only having the bizarre and not particularly good MEANING OF LIFE. Likewise, PAN WITH US and MAGDA were too artsy and I disliked them. Fortunately, WARD 13 was a sick and twisted and funny film and the rest of the films were adequate.Fortunately, THE ANIMATION SHOW does get much better with Volume Three. Three is NOT funny like one, but features much more amazing and mind-blowing films--and one of my all-time favorites, the unsavory and cool RABBIT.

I won't review each short here separately, but in general this series is intriguing and definitely worthy a view. It starts off on the silly side with "Guard Dog", a short that, albeit a bit predictable, is still humorous and a little odd. The shorts don't really get funnier after that, but then again animation doesn't have to be funny.While I'm not too knowledgeable on the subject of why these were put together, I believe it has something to do with showcasing creative talent in animation that would otherwise pretty much go unwatched, which in my case is true being that I wouldn't have heard of any of these animators if it wasn't for Mike Judge's and Don Hertzfeldt's names put above the title. However, besides Hertzfeldt's "The Meaning of Life" (which is the weakest Hertzfeldt short to date, methinks), the real stars are the other animators.The strongest short is "Ward 13", a stop-motion animation about a patient trapped in a hellish hospital and trying to escape. It is hilarious, disturbing, and amazing all at the same time, a combination that results in the viewer staring at the screen with jaw agape once the credits start rolling at the end. It is so powerfully done with all three emotions that they tend to battle inside of you and leave you wondering what to think.If it happens to be showing somewhere around you, I'd strongly suggest going to see it. Even if you don't like the separate shorts as a whole, the feature is definitely something intriguing and creative, and it's always nice to show what can be done with a creative mind at work.--PolarisDiB

Yeah, everyone knows Plympton (and "Guard Dog" was a funny short) and the stick figure guy (Hertzfeldt)'s "Meaning of Life" (which had some very funny moments), but I want to recommend seeing this collection for one of the lesser known shorts. Slight spoiler ahead: It was called "Hello" (by Jonathan Nix). It was about this character with a cassette tape player for a head, trying to work up the courage to approach a cd player head character to ask her out. He goes to his old friend the gramophone/record player head for help. Even as a generally cynical person who hates trite sentimentality I still thought the entire piece was very sweet. It was very creative, well done and the story was the right length, hit the right tones, etc. My only suggestion was to put the names of the songs in the credits.I also really liked the animation for "When the Day Breaks" (by Tilby & Forbis) - the anthromorphized animals were really well done. However the 'story' was weak. "Ward 13" (by Peter Cornwall) done in claymation was good, suspenseful and amusing.On another note, I didn't really think the computer graphic animation shorts should really have been included - or it should've been a separate section. I tend to think of that as not quite the same as non computerized animation. I look for different things and have different expectations when I watch those. However one did stick out as highly amusing, though it will only appeal to you if you have a twisted sense of humor, it's called "Fallen Art" (featuring the "Asfalt Ballet") I wont' ruin it for you by describing it but it is amusing (in a sick way) and definitely very creative.

While not every short in this collection is a gem, the four or five that are impressive are unbelievably creative. Guard Dog is a gut-bustingly hilarious opening from the great Bill Plympton, with a great combination of clever, uproarious comedy with a twist of tragedy. Ward 13 is one of the most impressive action movies I've ever seen. That's quite a lot to say for a short animated film, but check it out and you'll see what i mean, it's relentlessly kinetic and dynamic. There's a short called Pan with Us that's an interpretation of a poem by robert frost that is a unique, ingenious form of animation unlike anything else out there. It's unfortunate that Don Hertzfeldt felt the need to make something so epic and out of character for his work because i think it left most of the audience disappointed, but it still had glimmers of his simple, comic genius. Thankfully, there are plenty of other works that cover up the less exciting ones. With the previous ones i mentioned, plus the gorgeous motion paintings of The Man With No Shadow, the perfect auditory love story of Hello, and thoughtful, subtle interconnected story of livestock humanoids in When the Day Breaks, the Animation Show Volume 2 is an amazing collage of the best modern animation in the world.