Short Film Series Review - Pixar Shorts

Since the very early days of the company  Pixar are mostly known for their short films, the majority of which, despite being short (heh, funny that * sarcasm*) are actually very good. There are a lot of them, so to finish my Pixar reviews for the time being (at least until the next films they make, come out), here are the reviews of the many short films (excluding the Cars ones as I've already talked about them).

The Adventures of Andre and Wally B.

Andre is the guy on the left and Wally B is the bee on the right. The film is basically Andre trying to get away from the bee, and that's it. Officially  it's not a Pixar short as it was made by the same company  but under a different name which was The Graphics Group who before going into a separate company  were part of LucasFilm. As the first film in this series (although not an official entry), it's OK  Its a simple story to follow but not much else happens other than Andre being chased by the bee. 6/10

Luxo Jr.

Now this one is probably the most iconic of the lot as it features Luxo who as everyone knows is the official Pixar mascot. This film shows a smaller version of him in action with a ball. Not much else happens other than that but it's an OK film nevertheless with a massive breakthrough in animation. 7/10

Red's Dream

This is a story all about how a unicycle dreams of being in a better place other than at a shop. The place in question is in a circus where a clown is peddling on him and doing all your typical tricks. Its a very straight forward and kinda sweet film which continues to deliver the same good looking animation as before. 7/10

Tin Toy

This one is about a toy who is looking forward to be played with, but instead has a very scary and oddly animated baby is the one that the toy will be played with. As such the toy makes every attempt to get away from the abomination that is the baby. Sound familiar? Many elements of this short film, was explored more in depth in the Toy Story films, but the scenario itself was explored in the 3rd film. Overall, it's one of those s**t your pants films that makes everyone scared. Fortunately  this was the only film to have that model for a baby which is a very good thing. For anyone who plans to watch this, be aware of the baby. It is really that scary. 6/10

Knick Knack

In this one, a snowman in a snow globe comes across this toy woman and he has the hots for her and as such, tries whatever method available to get what he wants, but for the most part, fails to do it. Again, it's an OK short that sticks straight to the point and doesn't go too far with the jokes. 7/10

Geri's Game

Now here's a funny one. Geri's game is about this old man who decides to play chess, with himself. The way he does this, is on one side of the table, he has glasses on and the other side doesn't. The idea is that whoever wins, gets the false teeth. Its a good film that once again sticks straight to the point of it and is quite funny too. 7/10

For The Birds

This film is you guessed it, about birds. The small birds decide to rest on the electric wire and mumble about things. But when a much bigger bird comes over, they try everything to stop him from entering their territory. Overall, this film is just a reenactment of what students tend to do all the time and I personally love it. They do it well and it's very funny. 8/10

Mike's New Car

Being the first film in this series to be based on one of Pixar's feature films and also for a direct to DVD release, this one has Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc (and yeah I should really include this in my series review later this year, but I'm not going to bother right now) enter Mike's new car and they just basically mess around with it, which mostly involves Mike getting really angry with Sully  Its quite funny with a lot of slapstick humor to go about. 8/10

Boundin'

Now I'm very impressed that this film was made by just one man who did everything for the film. I'm talking about the characters, their voices, the music, everything. And for what the film is worth, that is impressive. Any way, this film is about a sheep who likes to river dance as it were, but when the farmers shave his wool off, he is in a way naked, and everyone starts laughing at him. That is until a big jackal-ope comes along and teaches him to jump high in the air and land hard. Given that this was made by a guy who did everything for the film, I like it. It goes straight to the point of it and I like it. 8/10

Jack-Jack Attack

Taking place during the events of The Incredibles (mainly between the Parr family (except for Bob) on the plane, heading for Syndrome's island and when Syndrome's dreams of being a superhero gets crushed), We come to Jack-Jack's babysitter who does everything that a regular babysitter does, until Jack-Jack's powers are let loose onto her. The slapstick comedy here, works well and I'm sure anybody will enjoy this, because for now, it's the closest that anyone is going to get from a Incredibles sequel. 8/10

One Man Band

This is a fun one. The film is about 2 street performers who want the attention of a small girl, who's intention is to put a coin into a fountain to make the wish. Both musicians attempt to get her attention, even going as far as battling out. Its a funny film that just shows how far one will go to get what he wants. 8/10

Lifted

In this one, an alien is under observation to acquire a human from his house, using the controls that the ship has, none of which are labelled. Its a funny film that shows how an examination could go from bad to worse. 8/10

Your Friend The Rat

This is more of an educational film than before, but is very funny all around. 2 of the protagonists from the film Ratatouille explain the history of the humans against the rats using various and different animation for each bit. As I said, it's very funny all around and the many animation styles used in it, are great. In a way, many people would see this as more of a educational show spoof more than anything else, but that's ok. 9/10

Presto

This is a film about a rabbit who refuses to go on stage with the magician unless he is fed, which for the most part, the magician refuses to do. The film does a good job of playing homage to the many Tom & Jerry and Looney Tunes cartoons and is funny all around. 9/10

BURN-E

This film takes place before WALL-E and EVE arrive at the Axiom and then during the remainder of the film, WALL-E. Its about a robot who has to repair this lamp that's on the Axiom, but keeps failing to do it and for most of the time, he's going back and forth to get it done. It's very funny and it reminds me a bit of those cartoons that use that sort of scenario. 8/10

Partly Cloudy

This one is a very heart warming and sweet film. Have you ever wondered where Storks get the sacks of babies from? Well this film says that they are from living clouds. One cloud in particular who is away from the other clouds, creates creatures that while cute, are quite hard to deliver. I won't go any further as there will be spoilers. But for the most part is a good film that gives us closure on the storks that people who have watched Dumbo and/or have played Yoshi's Island have been wondering about for years, even if it's fictional. 9/10

Dug's Special Mission

This one takes place during the film Up, just before Dug encounters Carl and Russell for the first time. As Dug narrates, it's his birthday and he is tasked by Alpha and the other dogs to stay out of their way, but say it in a nice way, however their plans seem to always fail which doesn't help at all. Its very funny and I enjoyed it. 9/10

George & A.J.

So far, Up is the only Pixar film to have 3 short films accompanying it (Partly Cloudy being one of them). In this one, we see what happens to the guys who attempt to take Carl away to the retirement home in a storyboard styled way (meaning that the frame rate is incredibly bad). This film is OK, but suffers with a few inconsistencies towards the actual film, but nevertheless, is quite funny and tells you to as Aria T'Lock from Mass Effect would put it "Don't F**k with the elderly", because you never know what they might do next. 7/10

Day and Night

So we've come to Pixar's most unique and ambitious short film yet. This one combines 2D and 3D animation and tells how a guy called Day and a guy called Night meet and show what each other can do for both Day and Night activities  while also trying to get each other. Its a funny film which I like and looks to be one of Pixar's best short films yet.

La Luna

Now this one is a bit of an unusual one, where 2 men and a boy go out into the ocean one night to sort out the moon. How do they do this? Well they use a ladder and clean up the stars on it. Its another good film with some heart warming moments and some funny moments too. 7/10

The Legend of Mor'du

There isn't much to say about this one, other than it's one that provides a back story for the main antagonist in Brave in an artistic styled way, much like Your Friend the Rat and George and A.J. It gives us more of an insight to the villain and honestly, it sounded as if the villain's true intentions were to gain power over all. 8/10

Toy Story Toons

Last but by no means least, we come to the Toy Story shorts, better known as Toy Story Toons. Unlike Cars Toons where its the same thing, but with a different scenario each time, this series tends to explore the worlds of other toys. In Hawain Vacation, Barbie and Ken want to go to Hawai but realize that the bag they stowed away in, is not with Bonnie, but is instead in her bedroom and the other toys attempt to reenact the country of Hawaii. In Small Fry, Buzz is replaced by a kid's meal sized Buzz and the real Buzz ends up in a support group for abandoned kid's meal toys, and makes every attempt to get out. And in Partysaurus Rex, Rex gets played with in the bath tub and it isn't long before he and the other bath toys party as it were. Overall, all these shorts are great, allows us to keep seeing our favorite characters in action and I love it. 9/10

So even with some of them being a bit weird and off putting, the majority of the short films are great and I look forward to seeing more. 9/10