FILM/SNEAK PEEK : ANIMATION FESTIVAL AT MEDIA CITY CENTER MALL.

Byline: - Bob McCarthy

Anifest '98 runs through Sunday in Burbank, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how animators combine artistic talent and technology to produce visual entertainment that's as individual as its creators.

Familiar characters the Angry Beavers, Arnold, Bad Dog, Bobby, Candy, Eek the Cat and Robocop will be there in costume, along with the Scooby Doo Mystery Van. This event should appeal to working animators, people wanting to break into the industry and the rest of us who just plain enjoy watching cartoonish high jinks.

Highlights of Anifest '98, being held at the Media City Center mall, are:

``Dexter's Laboratory'': Creator Gendy Tartakovsky presents a never-before-seen episode and other animated stuff in the works. 7 to 8:30 tonight.

Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, takes questions from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Voice-over stage show, 2 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

``The Making of Mulan'': Original artwork, a video presentation and discussion with a team of Disney feature animators, 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Create your own animated film: Full-day session starts at 10 a.m. Sunday. Fee and registration required. Call [phone].

A ``How Do They Do That?'' display area where studios and artists reveal the process of making key animation elements.

The Media City Center is at 210 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. For festival information or a schedule of events, call [phone].

MGM, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Saban Entertainment, Sony Pictures, the Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera, Film Roman and the University of Southern California are among the participants. Anifest '98 is sponsored by ASIFA Hollywood, a chapter of the international association of film animation founded in France in 1957.

Goodbye for now 

``American Cinematheque's Greatest Hits, 1993-1998'' enters its final weekend at the Raleigh Studios theater before the lights go down for a four-month hiatus.

At 7:15 tonight, the last remaining 35mm print of ``Twitch of the Death Nerve'' (1971) has been secured. A mansion is the setting for murder as 13 occupants turn on each other in this 90-minute film by Italian frightmaster Mario Bava. At 9:15, director Robert Wise's ``The Set-Up'' (1949, RKO), about a washed-up fighter in his last bout, will be followed by Vincent Sherman's ``The Hard Way'' (1942), starring Ida Lupino as the overbearing sister who insists to everyone that her sister is a movie star. Discussions with the directors, both of whom will attend, take place between screenings.

On Saturday, ``The Last Big Thing'' will be shown again at 7:15 p.m. Writer/director Dan Zukovic stars in this scathing 1996 satire that takes aim at super-hyped modern media that's given us music videos, supermodels and the sudden cultural affection for the '70s. The director will attend and discuss his film. Four episodes of Lela Lee's animated ``Angry Little Asian Girl'' (six minutes total) will also follow.

At 9:15, ``Sword of Doom'' (1966), from Japanese director Kihachi Okamoto, and the spaghetti western ``Cemetery Without Crosses from 1968 will close. ``Cemetery'' is actor/director Robert Hossein's western about a killer drawn into a kidnap/murder plot by love. Strangely, the story has little dialogue and is mostly achieved through visuals.

For program information, call [phone]. The Cinematheque will reopen in early December at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

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Photo

PHOTO Nancy Cartwright

Voice of Bart Simpson