The most beautiful animation on view here is Frederic Back’s noncomic and pantheistic half-hour The Man Who Planted Trees, made for the National Film Board of Canada, which illustrates a Jean Giono story that is read offscreen by Christopher Plummer. Apart from that, the 13 other shorts from seven countries are mainly standard (if competent) stuff. The most impressive are two featuring nonstop, free-form metamorphoses (George Schwizgebel’s Swiss 78 Tours and Monique Renault and Gerrit van Dijk’s Dutch Pas a Deux), Bill Kroyer’s Avery-inspired Technological Threat from the U.S., and some English TV ads by Richard Williams (Who Framed Roger Rabbit). Least interesting are the cutesy examples of Claymation, although Craig Bartlett’s brief American Arnold Escapes From Church has its moments. (JR)