Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation and then later Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation was

started by two unlikely characters out of Riverside California. Straight from the mouths of

animation directors who got a leg up on their careers when Spike & Mike screened their early

short works to theater audiences all over the U.S. Follow their early years and what it took to

promote the 2-hour program with their street smarts using hand to hand flyer distribution

to dressing up in cowboy outfits with mini cows.

A story of humble beginnings in Riverside California; Spike Decker and Mike Gribble began

by founding Mellow Manor Productions in the 1970s as a way of promoting rock bands,

special screenings of horror films and a few classics. Before the main attraction, they would

screen a short, animated film. After spending the summer of 1977 giving out flyers for the

Fantastic Animation Festival, they decided to focus on presenting packages of animated films

themselves, known as the Festival of Animation.

Before the Festival of Animation it was difficult to see independent, experimental, and foreign

animation. Spike and Mike treated the promotion of the shows like a rock concert, carefully

choosing the artists to create flyers, t-shirts and posters. Spike and Mike wrangled some of the best

directors to the shows and do a Q&A, sign posters, t-shirts and sometimes even bare chests.

When you attended the Festival of Animation you could expect a happening. The carnival

atmosphere of Mike as showman and comedian was performed during intermission and

giving out prizes as “Scotty the Wonder Dog” wreaked havoc on stage popping balloons to the

delight of sold-out audiences.

A big part of their success was that Spike and Mike went on yearly worldwide film hunting

expeditions. They signed-on animation from the National Film Board of Canada, Cal Arts,

Sheridan, Royal College of Art, and Annecy. The shows toured in theaters, film festivals4

(Cannes, Sundance, Annecy), college campuses, and events such as the Vans Warped Tour and

the Winter X Games. Spike and Mike’s festival affected the fans that participated. Much of the

success of the sold-out shows was word of mouth.