SPIKE & MIKE’S 2000 CLASSIC FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION
Avant-garde animation with too much troubling content for a family outing.
Should You Watch It?
This anthology has a few worthwhile moments, especially “Hum Drum,” a funny short about two bored shadow puppets inventing their own entertainment. The collection also includes award-nominated work from animators around the world.
But the overall experience is neither consistently interesting nor uplifting. The source review specifically objects to the collection’s violence, sexual content, necrophilia, and occult elements. Its animation is also judged unevenly, with many television commercials described as just as good, clever, and funny as most of the festival’s offerings.
For your family, the answer is practical: SKIP IT.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESThis is an anthology of animated shorts collected from around the world. The program includes returning favorites, Oscar-nominated films, Aardman’s “Angry Kid” cartoons, and other works with titles including “The Village of Idiots,” “At the Ends of the Earth,” “Mysterious Mose,” “The Ghost of Stephen Foster,” and “One Day a Man Bought a House.”
Is It Any Good?
Two stars means this is an uneven collection with a few bright spots, rather than a consistently strong festival. “Hum Drum” is singled out as funny and is described as an Oscar nominee. Several other shorts, including “Billy’s Balloon,” “When the Day Breaks,” and “Three Misses,” are part of the program, but the review finds most of the other works neither particularly interesting nor uplifting.
The collection does include award-nominated animation from accomplished artists around the world. Still, the source review concludes that many television commercials are often just as good, clever, and funny as most of what this festival presents.
The Worldview
The collection presents an eclectic avant-garde worldview with pagan elements, spooky occult imagery, and references to God in an animated Jewish folktale. The review notes that only a couple of the shorts rise above the collection’s broader problems, including one that refers to God in that Jewish folktale setting.
The festival’s central weakness is not merely that it is unconventional. It is that its imagination repeatedly turns toward darkness, disturbing humor, and immorality without offering a consistently uplifting vision. Scripture calls believers to dwell on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable: “If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Eclectic avant-garde pagan worldview, with some spooky occult animation of ghosts, goblins & graveyards, plus references to God in an animated Jewish folktale; 11 obscenities, 2 profanities, plus cow, dog & bird relieve themselves; moderate cartoon violence, including chases, hitting, dwarves killed, train hits woman tied on tracks off screen, woman falls to her death, rooster dressed as a man killed by car off screen, & balloons take violent revenge against the children who hold their strings; graphic description of sexual intercourse, conception & birth in one cartoon & dwarf kisses Snow White & hops in her glass coffin with her; rear nudity on green creature; alcohol use; smoking; and some miscellaneous immorality, such as arguing, man leaves wife & kids, & scary occult scenes.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
What makes entertainment genuinely uplifting rather than merely unusual or clever? How can Philippians 4:8 guide your choices?
When should a Christian avoid entertainment that may shape the imagination in unhealthy ways?
Psalm 101:3 · Ephesians 5:11How can you show wisdom and grace when friends recommend media that does not fit your family’s convictions?
Romans 14:13 · 1 Corinthians 10:23–24The Final Word
This festival offers a few clever and award-nominated shorts, but the collection is too uneven and too troubling for family viewing. Because the source review finds excessive violence, sexual material, occult imagery, and other concerns, SKIP IT. For better options, see.
