Written by Marlene SharpRemember Sonic the Hedgehog’s star turn in the iconic Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation? Picture it: the year is 2016; the locale is San Diego Comic-Con; SONIC BOOM animated TV series episode EGGMAN THE AUTEUR unspools on the big screen alongside other nutty, micro cinematic masterpieces inside San Diego Convention Center; and thus, the Blue Blur celebrates his 25th birthday in huge nerd fest style.
Gotta go fast . . . to present day and a big announcement at the Toronto Animation Festival (TAAFI). Bottom line: If Sonic ever enjoys a Spike & Mike encore, then he is surely Skybound in more ways than one. The reason is that Skybound Entertainment of WALKING DEAD and INVINCIBLE fame, is the proud new owner and restorer of the Spike & Mike empire.
In a bold business move, Skybound Entertainment, the creator-led multi-platform media company, proclaims a revival of long-running Spike & Mike’s animated film events. Beginning today, submissions are open for short films from North American and British creators. International short film catalogue owners are able to enter their original works for the chance to shine in the newly-minted Skybound Presents: Spike & Mike’s library of animation.
The Fest’s first application window is free of charge and open for 60 days. This complimentary entry period ends on January 3, 2024.
Comprehensive Fest details, including strategic partnerships and collabs, are works-in-progress. However, a few key perks are public knowledge. For instance, Festival awards include project stipends, acquisitions, and project development opportunities.
“Bringing this iconic brand under the Skybound umbrella is an enormous opportunity to bring Spike & Mike’s rebel origins to the masses and expand upon what we’re already doing in adult animation,” muses Rick Jacobs, Managing Partner of Linear Content, Skybound Entertainment. “Co-founder Mike Gribble once stated that their mission was ‘to find the most original, funniest, and weirdest animation in the world and play it.’ Digitizing the festivals opens the doors for — and to — millions of talented of creators who will shepherd a new generation of animation.”
As part of the revival, Skybound Entertainment plans to do the following:
· Relaunch Spike & Mike’s traveling animation festivals, thereby encouraging filmmakers worldwide to engage in distinctive, unconventional Spike & Mike’s appeal.
· Offer content digitally via curation of recent and legacy animated shorts for globally accessible online outlets.
· Forge new partnerships with diverse creators across a wide range of visual and narrative aesthetics.
· Reintroduce the repository and foster opportunities to either rejuvenate classic tales or craft fresh narratives in true Spike & Mike’s spirit.
Since the late ’70s, Spike & Mike’s signature short filmexhibitions, including the renowned Spike & Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation, are the definitive destinations for cutting-edge, daring, and often hilarious animated shorts. These guerilla-style gatherings are known as the theatrical launchpads for many of the animation industry’s most acclaimed figures, including Pete Docter (MONSTERS, INC., UP), Mike Judge (BEAVIS & BUTT-HEAD), and Nick Park (WALLACE AND GROMIT).
Put simply, “Spike & Mike came from nowhere with nothing and created a market where none existed,” states animation author, educator, and historian Jerry Beck.
“Spike & Mike has been a seminal platform for creative voices in animation,” says Marge Dean, Head of Studio at Skybound Entertainment. “There would be no place for shows like INVINCIBLE to exist without their efforts to develop a safe space for creators to express both the uplifting and introspective, or ‘sick and twisted,’ in an incredibly innovative, complex, and boundless art form.”
“I’m incredibly appreciative of Skybound’s respect and understanding of what the Spike & Mike brand has accomplished, and what we can continue to offer. I’m excited to see what they’re able to do for existing Spike & Mike work and look forward to developing a new chapter with them,” enthuses Craig “Spike” Decker, co-founder of Spike & Mike.
Gotta go fast . . . to present day and a big announcement at the Toronto Animation Festival (TAAFI). Bottom line: If Sonic ever enjoys a Spike & Mike encore, then he is surely Skybound in more ways than one. The reason is that Skybound Entertainment of WALKING DEAD and INVINCIBLE fame, is the proud new owner and restorer of the Spike & Mike empire.
In a bold business move, Skybound Entertainment, the creator-led multi-platform media company, proclaims a revival of long-running Spike & Mike’s animated film events. Beginning today, submissions are open for short films from North American and British creators. International short film catalogue owners are able to enter their original works for the chance to shine in the newly-minted Skybound Presents: Spike & Mike’s library of animation.
The Fest’s first application window is free of charge and open for 60 days. This complimentary entry period ends on January 3, 2024.
Comprehensive Fest details, including strategic partnerships and collabs, are works-in-progress. However, a few key perks are public knowledge. For instance, Festival awards include project stipends, acquisitions, and project development opportunities.
“Bringing this iconic brand under the Skybound umbrella is an enormous opportunity to bring Spike & Mike’s rebel origins to the masses and expand upon what we’re already doing in adult animation,” muses Rick Jacobs, Managing Partner of Linear Content, Skybound Entertainment. “Co-founder Mike Gribble once stated that their mission was ‘to find the most original, funniest, and weirdest animation in the world and play it.’ Digitizing the festivals opens the doors for — and to — millions of talented of creators who will shepherd a new generation of animation.”
As part of the revival, Skybound Entertainment plans to do the following:
· Relaunch Spike & Mike’s traveling animation festivals, thereby encouraging filmmakers worldwide to engage in distinctive, unconventional Spike & Mike’s appeal.
· Offer content digitally via curation of recent and legacy animated shorts for globally accessible online outlets.
· Forge new partnerships with diverse creators across a wide range of visual and narrative aesthetics.
· Reintroduce the repository and foster opportunities to either rejuvenate classic tales or craft fresh narratives in true Spike & Mike’s spirit.
Since the late ’70s, Spike & Mike’s signature short filmexhibitions, including the renowned Spike & Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation, are the definitive destinations for cutting-edge, daring, and often hilarious animated shorts. These guerilla-style gatherings are known as the theatrical launchpads for many of the animation industry’s most acclaimed figures, including Pete Docter (MONSTERS, INC., UP), Mike Judge (BEAVIS & BUTT-HEAD), and Nick Park (WALLACE AND GROMIT).
Put simply, “Spike & Mike came from nowhere with nothing and created a market where none existed,” states animation author, educator, and historian Jerry Beck.
“Spike & Mike has been a seminal platform for creative voices in animation,” says Marge Dean, Head of Studio at Skybound Entertainment. “There would be no place for shows like INVINCIBLE to exist without their efforts to develop a safe space for creators to express both the uplifting and introspective, or ‘sick and twisted,’ in an incredibly innovative, complex, and boundless art form.”
“I’m incredibly appreciative of Skybound’s respect and understanding of what the Spike & Mike brand has accomplished, and what we can continue to offer. I’m excited to see what they’re able to do for existing Spike & Mike work and look forward to developing a new chapter with them,” enthuses Craig “Spike” Decker, co-founder of Spike & Mike.
In the meantime, all in favor of a Sonic/Spike & Mike reunion, say . . . “And Knuckles.”
See Spike & Mike’s Skybound sizzle piece here:
