You owe Spike and Mike a world of thanks, and you didn’t even know it. If it weren’t for them, you might never have seen the works of Nick Park (Chicken Run), Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead) or Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park). In the ’70s, Craig “Spike” Decker and Mike Gribble compiled the works of obscure animators, showing them to savvy moviegoers before midnight showings of cult films like Quadrophenia and Slaughterhouse Five. When they discovered more folks were coming to see the shorts than the films, they began a tour, showing their compilations at theaters throughout the country. Unfortunately, Mike passed away in 1994, but Spike carries the torch for the world’s best animation. This year-2000 installment features a couple of Aardman studios productions, a few Academy Award nominees and one film, Ghost of Stephen Foster (pictured), featuring the music of hometown favorites, the Squirrel Nut Zippers. See it in the newly refurbished Varsity Theater in Chapel Hill. See “Opening Friday” for times.
