Spike & Mike’s Classic Festival of Animation 1999 (1999)

(In theaters, July 1999) Short anthology of animated cartoons, from the highly-technical CGI “Tightrope” (by Digital Domain) to the almost-primitive classic “Bambi Meet Godzilla” (which is followed by a forgettable computer-animated sequel) Lowlights include a few baffling French shorts, and at least one English shoe love story. I wasn’t impressed by 1998’s Oscar-winning “Bunny”, but 1987’s Oscar-winning “Balance” is pretty cool in an eastern-European concentration camp way. Among the undisputed high points of the festival are “Billy’s Balloon” (one of the sickest, funniest shorts I’ve ever seen), the baffling “Bingo”, the opening computer-generated Penguin/Bear gags, the British “Hum Drum” and a rather suggestive scene between a carrot and a grater. Not a must-see but not a total waste of time either, this edition of Spike And Mike‘s animation festival could have been much, much better. Not to mention funnier.