IN THE BOX (V KOCKE) Shorts Program

Animation as a whole is in the midst of a real renaissance right now, like a smack in the head-or a body blow, as is evident in the opening short PUMP-ACTION, where balloon animals meet RESERVOIR DOGS.

On the more traditional side comes the suburban teen comedy PROUD FAMILY which inlvolves a young girl trying to keep her infant siblings out of trouble while maintaining her coolness factor. MAN OVER THE Hill’s sweet and cynical humor turns the tables and shows that growing up isn’t the only way to go. Beauty has its place in the darkly enigmatic SENTINELLES (winner of the Palm Springs Best Animation Award) and IN THE BOX, which dramatizes man’s struggle with space.

Don Herztfeldt (BILLY’S BALLOON, L’AMOUR) returns with a vengeance with the hilarious REJECTED, a “how I’ll never work in advertising again” lesson, followed by the “couldn’t be more different” musical GILBERT & SULLIVAN-THE VERY MODELS. The musical theme continues, on a different note, with the complex CG dance and allegory, SYNCHRONICITY. Then claymation gets mean in DOWNPOUR, as two would be farmers fight for survival in a desolate land. The program concludes with amazing stop motion animation in the Kenneth Branagh-voiced tale of the Medieval plague, THE PERIWIG-MAKER.