Enjoy this fine release with the short
animated films Pixar created over time.
All in 720p Quality

“Boundin’” (2003)
An interesting departure for Pixar attached theatrically to the start
of The Incredibles, “Boundin’” tells the musically narrated tale of a
young sheep, happy as a clam until sheep-herders appear and shear
him of his clothes. Luckily, a jackalope appears to give the young animal
the secret to happiness—bounce your cares away. A cute message and
colorful animation will sure to delight the kids, but the format of music
and monotone poetic narration failed to strike a chord in this reviewer.
Score: 7/10

“For the Birds” (2000)
Another Oscar winner for Best Animated Short Film, released theatrically
alongside Monsters, Inc.. A clique of birds perched on an electrical wire
get an unexpected visitor in the form of a large, awkward blue bird, much
to their chagrin. A delightful play of color, character design, sound effects,
and dialogue-free storytelling, this is the most quintessential Pixar short of
the bunch, best illustrating the amazing talent and cinematic skill of the
animators to entertain so easily in such a short span of time. It is also the
last to be free from speech—from here on out, they’re all talkies.
Score: 9/10

“Geri’s Game” (1997)
An Oscar winner for Best Animated Short Film, released theatrically
alongside A Bug’s Life, “Geri’s Game” depicts a lonely man in the park
playing chess against an oddly familiar opponent. Eight years after
the previous short, the improvement in the technical skills of the Pixar
animation team is evident here, bringing humans to life in a convincing
fashion for the first time.
Score: 7/10

“Jack-Jack Attack” (2005)
Something of a deleted scene from The Incredibles, “Jack-Jack Attack” fills
in the missing moments with the youngest baby and her hapless babysitter
as Jack’s super-powers manifest in dangerous and outrageous ways.
A fantastic short, but only if you have seen the feature film, otherwise it
makes no sense whatsoever.
Score: 8/10

“Knick Knack” (1989)
Released theatrically alongside Finding Nemo, “Knick Knack” may be the
best-known example of the features presented here, as well as Pixar’s
continual fascination with animating inanimate objects—in this case, a
snowman trapped in a snow globe looking for his freedom.
Hilarious and charming.
Score: 8/10

“Lifted” (2006)
Shown theatrically with Pixar’s Ratatouille, this is modern-era Pixar
at its finest: an abduction gone horribly awry with a young alien
performing his “abduction test” under the watchful eye of an instructor
and making a terrible mess of things. Beautifully animated and
side-splittingly hilarious, this is arguably the best short of the bunch.
Score: 9/10

“Luxo Jr.” (1986)
Pixar’s first official short film brings the iconoclastic company logo
—the Luxo desk lamp—to life in a charming short of two lamps entertaining
themselves on a desk. A short demonstration, but the start of something magical,
“Luxo Jr.” was theatrically screened alongside Toy Story 2.
Score: 8/10

“Mater and the Ghost Light” (2006)
A short to accompany Cars, “Mater and the Ghost Light” brings back
the protagonists from the film for a short adventure in a pseudo re-telling
of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”—or in this case, “The Car Who Cried Ghost.”
After playing endless pranks on the inhabitants of his town, the cars decide
to team up and get back at Mater with a prank of their own—a story about
a haunted ghost light that eats cars. This one runs just a bit too long for my tastes.
Score: 6/10

“Mike’s New Car” (2002)
A supplement released alongside Monsters, Inc. on DVD, “Mike’s New Car”
tells the unfortunate tale of Mike and his awesome new car, a top-of-the-line
behemoth with more buttons than a VCR remote. When Sully and Mike try to
go for a drive, chaos ensues. Some beautiful animation and technological skill
is evident here (check out Sully’s fur). For fans of the film,
this one scores high marks.
Score: 8/10

“One Man Band” (2005)
Two street performers vie for the affections of a young girl and her money.
Clearly lifting animation influences from the then-upcoming feature Ratatouille,
“One Man Band” experiments with more angular character designs and European
locals and features some outrageous musical performances from its two
musical acts, each trying to outperform the other to comedic absurdity.
Score: 7/10

Download All