Remember "24 Cartoons!" on Saturday mornings at the Rowland in Wilkinsburg (or the equivalent neighborhood theater near you!)?
Many from the -- and in their -- 50s do. For the rest of you young whippersnappers: It was a weekly marathon of Disney diversions and Warner Bros. Looney Tunes that gave us our abiding love of animation.
Half a century later comes another batch of two dozen cartoons in a single program, not from Hollywood but from the fourth "Animation Show," screening next week at the Oaks Theater in Oakmont only. This batch, however, is decidedly for adults, not kids. Among its highlights:
"Angry Unpaid Hooker," by America's Steve Dildarian, is an absolutely hilarious 7-minute tale of a wimpy white guy whose girlfriend returns early from vacation to find him in a compromising situation with a disgruntled prostitute. "You called and said, 'Send a black woman with big [breasts],'" the pro says. He denies it, but a recording made "for quality assurance" confirms it. He ends ups advising the hooker to become a travel agent.
"Operator" and "John and Karen," by Britain's wonderful, terrifically subtle Michael Walker: In the former, a diffident cell-phone user calls an unlisted number ("Hello, is that God?") with a couple of specific requests. In the latter, a remorseful polar bear apologizes for his previous night's bad behavior to his girlfriend -- a penguin.
"Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlucker," by Germany's Stefan Muller: Disturbed by his neighbor's loud music, Mr. Schwartz calls the cops. The investigating officer is thwarted by neighbors Hazen and Horlucker in a complex tale told with simple (wordless) clarity. It involves a cocaine-LSD drug lab and wayward pills that act like billiards -- pilliards, you might say -- and end up in Mr. Schwartz's coffee.
"Jeu" (Game), by George Schwizgebel in cooperation with the Orchestre de Suisse Romande: Numbers and shapes twist, twirl and metamorphose in playful abstract-geometric choreography that would make Balanchine proud -- all to the gorgeous score of the second scherzo movement of Prokofiev's second piano concerto.
"Prof. Nieto Show," by France's eccentric performance artist Nieto: "Today we will study a small insect with a very specific behavior," he tells his medical students at the outset. What follows is a bunch of Brazilian bugs that instinctively know how to play soccer -- until consumed by Nieto's chimpanzee lab assistant.
"Raymond," by French collective BIF Productions, chronicles a team of scientists' solution to the "cerebral reconfiguration" of a lazy swimming instructor.
"This Way Up," by animation team Smith & Foulkes, is a glorious saga of two top-hatted undertakers who find it harder to lay a corpse to rest than they ever imagined.
There are some big duds in the mix: Corky Quakenbush's "Yompi, the Crotch-Biting Sloup" is a tiresome one-gag routine. And Dave Carter's nasty, sadomasochistic "Psychotown" series left me cold. But most of these little gems will leave you laughing, and (cue in the music) -- that's all, folks.
Playing exclusively at the Oaks Theater in Oakmont, Monday through Thursday, nightly at 10 p.m.