The 30th Anniversary Spike & Mike's Festival of Animation will take place from February 9th to March 30th, 2013 at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art. The festival will feature over 10 Academy Award winning and nominated short animations, including early works from Pixar directors. Special celebrity guests David Silverman and Rich Moore will attend opening weekend. Silverman directed the earliest Simpsons shorts and has a 2013 Oscar nomination, while Moore directed Walt Disney's Wreck-It Ralph. Advance tickets go on sale January 11th starting at $13.50.

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Events
T
he 30th Anniversary Celebra-
tion of Spike & Mike’s Festival
of Animation will be a unique
and exciting experience featuring the
most popular and award winning short
animations from the festival’s influen-
tial history and an opportunity to meet
and greet with our celebrity guests.
This years films include more than 10
Academy Award Winning or Nomi-
nated short animations, such as the
early works of Disney Pixar Directors.
Taking place at the San Diego Mu-
seum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla
between February 9th and March 30th
2013, the Festival of Animation will be
a celebration all ages will enjoy.
Since 1986, Spike & Mike’s Festival
of Animation has been the must see
event for independent, experimental
and foreign animation. The festival has
received international acclaim and is
responsible for premiering early films
by Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before
Christmas), Mike Judge (Beavis and
Butt-head), Nick Park (Wallace and
Grommit) and South Park creators
Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
The celebrity guests attending the
opening weekend ceremonies and
screenings are David Silverman and
Rich Moore.
David Silverman is the Director of
Animation for The Simpsons and The
Simpsons Movie. He is also the direc-
tor of the very first Simpsons short ani-
mations that premiered on the Tracy
Ullman show from 1987 to 1989 and a
select few of these shorts will be shown
at the festival screenings. He has a 2013
Oscar Nomination for his Simpsons
short “Maggies Longest Daycare.”
Rich Moore, the Oscar nominated
Director of Walt Disney Animation
Studios blockbuster Wreck-it Ralph,
has been featured director of many
shows including Futurama & The
Simpsons. A really fun guy to meet and
a longtime friend of the festival. He
will be signing autographs on March
1st and March 2nd.
Advance tickets go on sale January
11th 2013 for $13.50 on spikeandmike.
tix.com and will be $15 at the door.
Groups of six or more, seniors and
MCASD members $12 at door.
For more information please go to
their Facebook page at: www.facebook.
com/pages/Spike-and-Mikes-Festival-
of-Animation/102621521371 or call
(858) 459-8707.
M
ellow Manor Produc-
tions, Inc. was founded
by Craig ‘Spike’ Decker
and Mike Gribble, popularly
known as “Spike & Mike®.” Mellow
Manor is named after the famed
Victorian house in Riverside where
Spike, Mike and many others lived
in a communal setting. This was
an ‘Animal House‘ before National
Lampoon made theirs famous. Al-
though Mike Gribble passed away
in August of 1994, Spike continues
to produce touring theatrical festi-
vals of animated short film collec-
tions with the highest standards of
artistic and subversive excellence.
History of the festival
The original mission of Mellow
Manor Productions was to promote
underground bands with retro ani-
mated short films. In the early 70’s
Spike and Mike began promoting
local band “Sterno and the Flames,”
a band in which Spike sang bass
vocals. Later, they presented special
shows such as all-night horror-thons,
an evening of Star Trek bloopers and
Midnight rock & roll films such as
Jimmy Plays Berkeley and Quad-
raphenia. They would also present
full-length films like Slaughterhouse
5 and King of Hearts. At those shows,
they would open with Betty Boop and
Superman animated shorts. They also
picked up other shorts that became
cult favorites such as Bambi Meets
Godzilla by Marv Newland. The
demand to see the shorts soon eclipsed
the popularity of the band and the
other films. Spike and Mike knew they
were onto an unfulfilled niche and in
1977 they began promoting animated
shorts full-time.
Prominent Contributors
Spike and Mike premiered works in
the Classic Festival of Animation by
Tim Burton (Vincent), John Lasseter
of Pixar & Disney (First screened his
student films Lady and the Lamp
and Nightmare. Additional Pixar
titles screened include Luxo Jr., Red’s
Dream, Nick Nack, Tin Toy, Geri’s
Game, For the Birds, The Adventures
of Andre & Wally B.), Nick Park (A
Close Shave, Wrong Trousers and
A Grand Day Out), Will Vinton
30 years of Animation
Spike & Mike
Craig Decker (“Spike”) and Mike Gribble,
January 31, 1978
Continued on page XX
AllphotoscourtesyofSpike&Mike,unlessnoted.
Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation - 30th Anniversary
FEB 9 - MAR 30 – Select dates and times
Museum of Contemporary Art La Jolla v $13.50 - $15
spikeandmike.tix.com v (858) 459-8707
The show includes “Guard Dog” by Bill Plympton, “For the Birds” by Ralph
Eggleston, Annie Award winner for Best Art Direction on “Toy Story,” and
“Creature Comfort” by Nick Park, creator of “Wallace and Gromit.”

2. (Closed Mondays) David Fine and
Allison Snowden (Bob’s Birthday), Bill
Plympton (Nose Hair, Your Face) and
many others. Spike and Mike produced
the student films of Pixar’s Pete Docter
(Monster’s Inc., Toy Story I & II) They
produced & premiered the first 3 films
(Winter, Next Door & Palm Springs),
and Andrew Stanton, (Finding Nemo,
Monster’s Inc., Toy Story I & II and A
Bug’s Life) producing his 1st 2 films (A
Story & Somewhere in the Arctic). They
also screened Brad Bird’s Family Dog,
Frederic Back’s Crac, Chris Wedges (Ice
Age) Bunny, Mike Johnson (Corpse
Bride) The Devil went down to Georgia,
Danny Antonucci (Ed, Ed & Eddie)
Lupo The Butcher and Marv Newland’s
Bambi Meets Godzilla.
World Tours
The Sundance Film Festival, Cannes
International Film Festival, Australia’s
Flickerfest Short Film Festival, and the
International Festival of Animation in
Annecy, France, Slamdance and San Di-
ego Comic-Con have hosted Spike and
Mike shows over the past years. In the
spring of 2000, Spike and Mike’s Sick
& Twisted animations were featured on
tour with the rock band KORN. Abrams
Books have recently released an in-
depth book on the history and evolution
of Spike and Mike entitled “Outlaw Ani-
mation: Cutting-Edge Cartoons from
the Spike and Mike Festivals” by Jerry
Beck, now available in bookstores. Spike
and Mike have teamed up with Shout
Factory to release “Full Frontal” and
“Unprotected”, two brand new DVD’s
now available, featuring the very best
‘toons of the 2001, 2002 and 2003 fes-
tivals. Contagious (2006) is the newest
edition to the Spike & Mike collection
and Caught in the Act (2005) just came
out a few months before. They hope to
screen some new pieces from Weird Al
next year and Fox International will
be including Spike and Mike on their
channel in the U.K.
Spike and John Lasseter holding
Lasseter’s special achievement Oscar for
“Toy Story,” 1995.
Spike & Mike Continued from page XX
On opening weekend, a guest
appearance was made by David
Silverman, Director of “The
Simpsons” and “The Simpsons
Movie,” seen here with Spike
and Jamie Shadowlight.
JamieShadowlight(2)DGWills