Gorillaz in the Animist

What’s cool about Gorillaz is you don’t need Jamie Hewlett’s animation to appreciate the genius of the music. But what’s even cooler is the way that animation steals the show on any number of the highlights in the awe-inspiring Gorillaz compilation DVD Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades (Virgin Records U.S.). Hewlett is among the more inventive animators of his generation with a style that’s all his own — clips of “Feel Good, Inc.,” “Dirty Harry” and “Dare” work a head-on collision of live human action and shots of Gorillaz in their animated element. In “Dare,” Shaun Ryder’s disembodied head is jacked into Noodles’ computer, while in “Dirty Harry,” Pharcyde rapper Bootie Brown stomps through the desert with a children’s choir, meerkats and a military vehicle driven by Gorillaz drummer Russel. Other highlights range from “Rock It,” with more disembodied heads, to live performance clips of “El Mañana,” “Demon Days” and “Dirty Harry.”