Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation


    Craig "Spike" Decker and Mike Gribble, known as "Spike & Mike" started a film festival in the 1970s as a means of promoting rock bands, horror films, and classic movies. Around 1977 they started airing very popular anaimtion shorts from the local area, and these became so popular that it spawned it's own Festival of Animation. Soon, Spike and Mike were getting so many requests from filmmakers all over the country, it became obvious that they needed to expand. Soon they were taking the festival on a 50-city tour.

    Responding to the social demands at the time, Spike and Mike started the Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in 1990. There were alot of R-rated animations being produced in the states and overseas, that could not get distribution in the states. These film makers were looking for a way to show their films to a more open-minded audience, and the Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation was a great way to do that. These were uncensored and adult-oriented short films not being shown anywhere else.



    Before this festival, it was difficult to see experimental animation or animated film from outside the states. Every year, Spike and Mike would travel the world looking for new and fresh talents to show at the festival. Some notable filmmakers shown at the festival are Tim Burton, Wil Vinton, and Mike Judge.


    It's easy to look back at the 90s as a place where animation w as just rude and crude for the shock factor, and for some that may have been true. But it was also a place to try new things, to push the medium in way that had been seen before. Showcasing that animation wasn't just 'for kids' was important and it helped nurture young, creative film makers. With the Sick and Twisted Film Festival, we might never have gotten, King of the Hill, Family guy or even South Park. It was an importantly valuable tool and one that keeps fans a critics alike talking.





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