I loved the Animation Show last year: new stuff from Don Hertzfeldt, old stuff from Mike Judge, plus great festival pieces and weird flotsam & jetsam.

This year's program can be viewed here: http://www.animationshow.com/schedule_05.html

I've actually seen 4 of the 12 shorts listed, but that's what I get for going to Ottawa. It's okay, they're worth seeing again.

WARD 13: an absolutely hysterical Evil Dead/Kung Fu style clay animated piece about an innocent patient trying to escape an evil hospital.

WHEN THE DAY BREAKS: beautiful drawing style, with a haunting melody sung by a pig.

GUARD DOG: Plympton's latest short is cute and funny. See a world of danger through a dog's eyes. I like it better than last year's parking lot piece.

THE MAN WITH NO SHADOW: Georges Schwizgebel's latest is beautiful, but I didn't quite follow the "plot." I read a synopsis of it later, and discovered that I wasn't paying close enough attention. Now I'll have to see it again. In the past, I was mesmerized by Schwizgebel's Fugue, which has animated cycles that repeat and grow in conjunction with music.

THE MEANING OF LIFE: Hertzfeldt worked on this for 4 years. I've been reading his journal for awhile, and I'm chomping at the bit to see this. Reportedly, it's less silly than his other pieces, but it should be interesting