The Animation Show

The Animation Show is a semi-annual touring festival of animated short films that premiered in fall 2003. It was created and was personally programmed by award-winning animators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt.

Following the demise of other American touring festivals of animation, the stated purpose of the Animation Show was to continually bring animated short films back into proper cinemas, where most of them were intended to be seen, and to "free these artists from the dungeons of Internet exhibition". It was the first-ever festival of animation to be curated by working animators and has been described as a "passion project" by its creators, not something intended to turn a giant profit. A sister series of Animation Show DVD volumes are also available, but the producers stress that the theatrical and DVD lineups are intentionally a little bit different, to encourage audiences to not just wait for the DVD but to visit the cinema and view these films properly. As stated on the Animation Show programs and flyers, once the current edition of the Show is out of theaters, it's "gone forever".

Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt programmed the first three "Animation Shows" together. Don Hertzfeldt parted ways with the festival in 2008 and the fourth season of the Animation Show was released without his involvement.

In June of 2009 the Animation Show announced its next tour would be in 2010.