Gather round Stash 53 and let 90+ minutes of blazing animation and VFX warm your hands, heart and brain.

This roaring [ yet somehow cozy ] inferno starts with a flight of spots demonstrating the full range and all the strengths of 3D animation: Smith & Foulkes’ brings powerful new character work to UK traffic safety; 1st Ave Machine creates intrigue by combining geometric magic with characters in spots for Audi and Saturn; Bitt Animation splices together the world’s first fishdog in the smile-inducing new VW promo; Akama helps a lonely espresso cup find freedom through, well...coffee; Imaginary Forces gets surgical; and slick sampling scores of Scions and Deli Pictures break out a cacophony of CG to show you what hangovers actually look like.

Broadcast design, event titles and other motion graphic concoctions are also here in force, including PostPanic’s scary new VFX short for MTV Oooh, Superfad’s pair of mutational snow sculpture clips for the winter X Games on ESPN, the head-snapping new O’Neill Evolution open from Onesize, Colourmovie’s snappy new intro for Cinema Tuesdays for Flux and Nike, and Offspring’s new clips for Ford featuring the rant-alicious voice talents of Denis Leary.

The second half of 53 is one long boiling stream of inspiration including awesome work from new talent like the spectacular System 7 “Hinotori” video from Japan’s Mood Magic, the launch film from brand new San Fran studio Autofuss, charming and tricky live action/2D fun from Montreal’s Julien Vallée, the winning effort from Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” video contest by Tobias Stretch, the manically detailed new video for The Pangs called “Fighterplane” from Zeroh in the UK, a surprising take on Croatian history called “Magic Chest” from Luminus in Belgrade, and the naughty-enough-to-be-banned-from-YouTube video for Le Le “Breakfast” from Sandder Lanen and Parra.

Of course 53 also delivers plenty of work from the studios you know and love: Lobo is here with their epic Lego viral; Passion Pictures casts a Meerkat in a cravat for Compare the Market.com; Tronic is back with a pair of geometry-fueled spots for Oracle; Boolab directors Denis-Cisma and Nico Casavecchia roll up five virals for OCB; and Belgium’s Czar light up the new year for Electrabel by hand animating 228,000 candles.

Stash 53 closes the main program with “E1even Roses”, a short written and directed by Pedram Goshtasbpour, a young Canadian who harnessed a battalion of international volunteers to bring his zero-budget ode to love and obsession to the screen.

The four BONUS FILMS on Stash 53 are the incredibly diverse and ambitious winners from the 2008 Getty Images Short & Sweet Film Challenge.

The BONUS MUSIC on Stash 53 is a serving of eight MP3s from the stellar bands signed to Toronto-based indie label White Whale Records, including Kids These Days, Culture Reject, Precious Fathers, Octoberman, The Mohawk Lodge and Poorfolk.

BEHIND THE SCENES material on 53 includes insightful looks at the making of VW “Fishdog” from Bitt Animation, “Indescribable Pain” by Deli Pictures, the pair of ESPN Winter Games spots from Superfad, the “Anything You Synthesize” music video from Onesize, and the Pangs “Fighterplane” music video from Zeroh.

Running time: 93 minutes