Cartoon Noir

Billed as "animation's darker side," this compilation of six distinctly non-Disney animated shorts serves up a mixed bag, with standouts such as Paul Vester's "Abductees" (which combines several animated techniques to imaginatively interpret the tales of five alien abductees) and Julie Zammarchi's "Ape" (in which a couple bicker over the standard nightly meal of cooked ape) sharing the bill with less than stellar picks such as Jiri Barta's overlong "Club of the Discarded" (a stop-motion animated Jan Svankmajer-inspired Czech tale about a group of cast-off mannequins whose warehouse is invaded by a band of party-hardy mannequins), Piotr Dumala's "Gentle Spirit" (an atmospheric though tedious adaptation of a Doestoyevsky story) and Pedro Serrzina's "The Story of the Cat and the Moon" (a one-note romantic metaphor about unrequited love in which a cat chases a forever-out-of-reach moon). Rounding out the collection is Suzan Pitt's "Joy Street" (VL-9/97), a beautifully animated tale of a young woman's journey from suicidal despair to personal renewal that we characterized as "at times, a labored effort--and not nearly as joltingly imaginative as [Pitt's] Asparagus was a decade ago." Of course, Joy Street alone is still selling for $195 with public performance rights from Bullfrog Films, so you might consider the $24.95 VHS price a bit of a bargain for all six titles. Incidentally, the program title is a bit of a mystery since there is nothing noir-ish whatsoever about this compilation. A strong, optional purchase. Note: High schools should note that "Club of the Discarded" includes simulated mannequin sex--though, come to think of it, mannequin sex would be simulated, right? Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)