Learn Self Defense is now available as part of the Shorts! Volume 4 DVD collection, which is published by the Colorado Film Foundation. It contains 3 hours of award winning independent shorts, both live-action and animation.

Each film is accompanied by 2 ridiculous, superfluous commentary tracks. Learn Self Defense has a story commentary about the ideas behind the film, and a technical commentary discussing how the film was physically made, removing all mystery and wonder from the process. Both also include introductions by Chris Harding’s mom, which are really the highlights of each track.

You can order the DVD straight from the Film Festival Collection website, or you can also order it at amazon.com.

Learn Self Defense is touring with Spike & Mike’s new Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation. The show will be playing for the next several months, mostly around the West coast.

Check the Spike & Mike site for current tour dates

The festival got a pretty decent review from the Vancouver Weekly, Straight:

Exerpt:
In general, everyone here is up for quite a bit of pain and violence, with only one short having a real (sharpened) point. Chris Harding’s “Learn Self Defense” would be a handsomely drawn spoof of cowardly machismo even if you didn’t (eventually) recognize that the George doing all the defending here is the president of the you-know-what.

- Ken Eisner, Straight.com
Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation 2005
10-Nov-2005

Learn Self Defense has so far screened in over 70 festivals in over 15 countries. But who the hell goes to film festivals? Here is an update on how normal, decent people can have a chance to see the short:

DVD
As of this writing, Learn Self Defense is included in 3 separate DVD collections:
- Best of SIGGRAPH 2005 Animation Festival DVD
- Pictoplasma Characters In Motion Collection DVD
- The upcoming SHORTS! Volume 4 DVD, which will be released in 2007(?) and will include two commentary tracks from Chris Harding and his mom.

Television
For those of you who live in Spain or Switzerland and you keep your eyes open, you’ll be able to catch Learn Self Defense on your very own TV set next year. As for the rest of the countries on Earth, you’ll just have to be patient… probably VERY patient. Maybe someday it will air in the US, but probably not…

Theatrical
It also looks like Learn Self Defense will play in the next Spike & Mike Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation tour. Check the Spike and Mike Web site, because they add dates constantly.

They’ll also likely put out some kind of DVD. (but Chris Harding doesn’t share any revenue action from that, so buy the SHORTS! Volume IV collection mentioned above instead– it has a commentary track!)

Two of Chris Harding’s shorts– Learn Self Defense and Make Mine Shoebox– will be included in the new Pictoplasma Collection of Contemporary Character Animation entitled “Characters In Motion.” It’s a beautiful package filled with very inspiring work from directors all over the world.

Learn Self Defense will also screen in the Pictoplasma Animation Festival November 25-26, 2005 in Berlin.

The DVD/book will be available worldwide very soon. Check the Pictoplasma Web site for updates.

Chris Harding’s very first short, He’s a Good Monkey, played on G4TV this week on the Happy Tree Friends and Friends program.

We will try to keep on top of things enough to announce it ahead of time if it plays again! Ha, heh… huuhhh…

The G4TV staff also conducted an interview with Chris Harding. Read it HERE.

Hell, why not?

The "Make Mine Shoebox," a video commissioned by a very large greeting card corporation, has been posted in its entirety in the Animation Section. 

Go to the Make Mine Shoebox page to see the entire 5-minute short online in glorious, crappy, web-compressed Quicktime.

Make Mine Shoebox has been honored at the Kansas City AIGA 2004 Design Competition, in the Motion Graphics category. As everyone knows, AIGA stands for American Institute of Graphic Arts.

The short will be screening at the reception. 

For the Kansas City people, here are some details about the awards ceremony:

DATE/TIME:
Friday, January 21, 2005
6:30pm - 10:00pm

LOCATION:
Club 1000 Penthouse
1000 Broadway6th floor
Kansas City, MO
(above Tanner's)

ADMISSION:
$35 Members$45 Non-members
$25 Student Members
$35 Student Non-Members

RSVP: info@kansascity.aiga.org

The Robot Family Short "The Slick Salesman" has made the top ten in the Nicktoons Film Festival competition. What this means is… well, who knows. But it's an honor to be in the top ten amongst some great films.

Many thanks to Nicktoons and Frederator for holding the contest, and giving independent animators a little peek into television.

By the way, there was a really good little film in the early part of the series called "Attack of the Note Sheep." Very simple and clever. Worth checking out…

Times and dates for the Robot Family short, "The Slick Salesman" in the Nicktoons Film Festival on the Nicktoons Network have been confirmed:

Sunday, December 5th, 10PM Eastern, 7PM Pacific
Monday, December 6th, 1AM Eastern
Monday, December 6th, 10PM Eastern
Tuesday, December 7th, 1AM Eastern

Be sure to tune in if you have Nicktoons!