Avoid Eye Contact: Best of NYC Independent Animation, Vol. I

Animation anthologies are usually a mixed bag, but the overall standard in this initial volume of independent work from New York artists is reasonably high. The 18 shorts were made by 11 animators from the early 1980s up to the very recent past and represent many different techniques, mostly based on traditional 2-D animation but with some computer-generated efforts included. Some are well known, such as Bill Plympton's One of Those Days, but others are relatively obscure, and while quite a few feature narratives (at least of a primitive sort), others are more impressionistic or musically-oriented. And each viewer will have favorites: Patrick Smith's wonderfully perverse Delivery, for instance, especially grabbed this reviewer. However, while some of the shorts are suitable for audiences of all ages, a number of them are decidedly not: Delivery and a few others have levels of violence that would put Itchy and Scratchy to shame, and the language and sexual depictions in other pieces are extremely explicit (one of Signe Baumane's contributions, for instance, is titled, quite descriptively, Five Fucking Fables, and John Dilworth's Dirty Birdy, while colorful and zany, easily earns its titular adjective). The individual shorts are accompanied by various DVD extras, including commentaries from the animators, additional drawings, and pencil sketches, bringing some perspective to the artists' work. With the caveat that this collection includes—as the box art warns—“content for mature audiences only”—this is recommended. [Note: the second volume in the series—which has no warning advisory—is also available.] Aud: P. (F. Swietek)