There are a lot of animation studios out there. You have ones that just do commercials and the various studios that stick with Saturday morning fare. There’s Disney, of course, and then there is that company that consistently makes Disney movie knock-offs almost immediately after the film in question is released. Like someone who sells fake Prada shoes, Coach bags and Rolex watches, I can’t imagine anyone being fooled by them, and in fact, I thoroughly question the consumers who patron such films.

But then there is Pixar (and yes, I know they are back with Disney – doesn’t matter). Pixar stands alone in my eyes as true artists of animation. While Disney was more or less content with releasing films based off of literary sources (late 80’s-90’s – see The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc.), Pixar was busy creating its first full-length computer-animated feature film Toy Story. It was a huge hit, which got a lot of kids and their parents in seats multiple times and was even more of a hit on video and DVD. Particularly with the DVD format, Pixar was able to include copious amounts of bonus features, including exposing fans to the short films that preceded and inspired their theatrical ventures. Nearly every Pixar DVD since Toy Story (if not every one) has included at least one short film that was related to the feature in some way. This much-loved trademark of theirs has lead to this collection’s existence – Pixar: Short Films Collection – Volume 1. This set of shorts collects films that have previously seen DVD release and adds a few more that are new to the format. Here’s a breakdown of the 13 shorts you’ll get with this collection. 

1984 – The Adventures of André & Wally B. – (1:51)

This is Pixar’s first short, made back when they were part of Lucasfilm. The quick short showing André being pestered by Wally B. (an actual bee) isn’t anything to write about. This was intended as a tech demo and it shows. However, for what is lacking in the animation, it's more impressive in the ideas. The background forest still looks rather impressive to this day, and the light sources, while not using modern software, are well implemented. For example, individual leaves give illustration to shadows across André, instead of not shadowing at all. It’s also interesting to see the attention to detail given to things like André’s shoes, which are well detailed, with one having a hole worn in the bottom. For an animation demo, the creators didn’t need to get this detailed, but it shows the kind of artistic mindset that set the team apart from their peers. 

1986 – Luxo Jr. – (2:10) [also available on the Toy Story DVD]

A parent drafting lamp enjoys its youthful son’s amusement over a ball. It’s simple and without any dialog, but it really is the first example of Pixar injecting emotion into its characters. The notions of bemusement, childlike energy and intuitiveness are all on display in a way that the audience can easily understand, and the film is a monumental technical achievement as well. The shadows are impressive, since the lamps are a constantly moving light source themselves, and the flow of the shadows is incredible. This is probably the short that Pixar is most well-known for, and the character of Luxo has since become integrated into Pixar’s logo as part of their intro animation.  

1987 – Red’s Dream – (4:13)

Probably the saddest and most depressing of all Pixar’s shorts, Red’s Dream features an anthropomorphic unicycle that has dreams of stardom but is upstaged by the clown that uses him. Probably the most interesting things to look for here are the rain slicked streets that open the short which was technically impressive and the overall challenging concept of making an unfunny and sad cartoon to further push the medium of animation.  

1988 – Tin Toy – (5:10) [also available on the Toy Story DVD]

This is another classic of pre-feature Pixar, and one that is obviously a direct inspiration for Toy Story. In it, a little tin toy is at first amazed as a baby plays with other toys, but becomes further terrified after seeing how rough he is with them. This was Pixar’s first attempt at trying to animate a human character (the baby) and while the result may look a bit… freakish… in 2007’s eyes, it was certainly impressive for its time and remains an amusing short. The sound design is easily where this short works its magic, though. Every single sound the toy and baby make is perfectly realized.  

1989 – Knick Knack – (3:35) [also available on the Finding Nemo DVD]

This short is less a technical marvel (aside from illustrious particle effects) than it is just a seriously amusing short. This one has a snowman trying desperately to escape his snow globe prison to spend time with the more warm-themed bric-a-brac items on his shelf, particularly the bikini-clad “Sunny Miami.” It’s short and cute, and has a great Bobby McFerrin beat to move with. 

1998 – Geri’s Game – (4:51) [also available on the A Bug’s Life DVD]

This is probably my favorite of all Pixar’s shorts that aren’t related to a larger feature. In it, a delightfully senile old man spends all day in a battle-of-wits (and personality) chess game against… himself. The man’s animation is delightful and you can clearly see a step up in the ability to make human characters. With great animation and a simply great story this is one that should not be missed.  

2001 – For the Birds – (3:21) [also available on the Monster’s Inc. DVD]

A cute short, this features a bunch of birds gathered on a telephone wire. They are all gathered in unison to make fun of an excluded odd looking bird that wants to join them. The strange bird is oblivious to their mockery but karma allows those disapproving birds to get what’s coming to them. At this point, Pixar is already well established, and For the Birds is merely another project. It isn’t bad, but it doesn’t really push any envelopes thematically or technologically.  

2002 – Mike’s New Car – (3:48) [also available on the Monster’s, Inc. DVD]

This short features the Mike (Billy Crystal) & Sulley (John Goodman) characters from Monsters, Inc. This film is a little side story where Mike has just purchased his titular new car, a 6-wheel road monster that he doesn’t quite have the hang of driving. He prematurely tries to impress Sulley with it, to disastrous results. If you enjoyed Monsters, Inc. you would probably enjoy this short as well. 

2004 – Boundin’ – (4:41) [also available on the The Incredibles DVD]

A proud sheep has to learn the hard way how to reclaim his enjoyment of life after being sheered of his wool and dumped back where he came from naked. A jackalope helps show him how. All I can say about this one is its cute. The morality tale of maintaining high hopes even when things aren’t going so well is nice, and the song itself is too. But ultimately it’s a bit too cutesy for my taste. I do like seeing a song used as the framework, though. That was an original touch for Pixar. 

2005 – Jack-Jack Attack – (4:45) [also available on the The Incredibles DVD]

A babysitter has no idea what she gets herself into after agreeing to babysit the Incredible’s youngest son, Jack-Jack. This short is hilarious, although it loses some effect taken out of context with the film The Incredibles as the stories run simultaneously. Nevertheless, the scene where Jack-Jack goes Human Torch the first time had me in hysterics the first time I saw it and continues to after many viewings. The actress that voiced the sitter was perfect in that role, too. This is Pixar completely unrestrained. 

2006 – One Man Band – (4:32) [also available on the Cars DVD]

This was my first time seeing One Man Band, and I think I have a new all-time favorite short. Set in (seemingly) renaissance times, two one-man-band minstrel types compete against one another over a little girl’s coin. The delight here is in not only the sound design, but the increasingly over-the-top theatrics as the two men try and one-up each other much to the delight and frustration of the little girl. The girl’s facial expressions and the finale are perfection. 

2006 – Mater and the Ghostlight – (7:08) [also available on the Cars DVD]

This short recycles characters from Cars, which to date is the only Pixar movie I haven’t seen (seriously due to lack of interest). Anyway, this short has Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) being the subject of comeuppance from the other cars for being constantly scared by him. They convince him that there is a ghost light that haunts the road, and then tie a lantern to his crane. Despite my reluctance to see Cars, this short has changed that apprehension. It’s funny, and has a great payoff at the end. 

2007 – Lifted – (5:01) [also available on the Ratatouille DVD]

Pixar’s most recent short is like Close Encounters of the Third Kind mated with License to Drive. The film starts off with a Spielberg-ian attempt at alien abduction, cut short by how horrible the abductor is at the control panel. With no dialogue at all, we’re shown that this is a test run at abducting for the pilot and he’s just not ready yet, so the instructor will have to take over. I smiled through the short, but I don’t consider it one of Pixar’s best. 

Pixar’s animation studio made a great many short films before venturing theatrical and ultimately going from an arm of the company, to the company itself. I wouldn’t call all of their films classics, but they do follow all the rules of great animation. The characters are memorable with defining personalities. The worlds that they create are unique to each other and the films are always visually interesting. In my eyes, they saved family animation after Disney was noticeably running out of steam. Pixar: Short Films Collection – Volume 1 does a fine job of showing the evolution of both the studio’s style and its technology.  
 

The DVD Presentation
I don’t think there has ever been a poor DVD for any of Pixar’s films. This collection of shorts is no exception. All of these films, from the oldest to youngest look and sound astounding. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Disney or Pixar. The audio varies depending on the short whether it is in 5.1 Surround or 2.0 Stereo. You can probably guess that the older films use the stereo mix. It’s entirely acceptable no matter how you look at it. Dubs in French and Spanish are also included. Most of these films have little if any dialogue, but all sound effects come through perfectly clear. Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish. In a nice twist, even the audio commentaries are subtitled. That impresses me; I wish more studios did that.  

And the Extras Are?
Basically, a set of short films is kind of like a collection of extras to begin with. That said, there is some great stuff here 

Audio Commentaries on every short (except Jack-Jack Attack)
Almost all of the commentaries (participants vary based on the film) are excellent albeit too brief. The films are short – as is the time to discuss them. Animation fans are going to love the commentaries. However, there are exceptions. First of all, the commentary for Mike’s New Car is done by the director’s bastard children. I still say that kids don’t belong on commentary tracks, and I certainly don’t care what these kids find scary or what directionless comments they have to say. Also, for some reason Jack-Jack Attack didn’t get a commentary, which is a shame for me since The Incredibles is my favorite Pixar film and I was looking forward to hearing about the short. 

The Pixar Shorts: A Short History – (23:33)
The true “featurette” of this DVD, this is more than just a tour of Pixar Studios, but also the complete background of the company as a Computer Hardware and Software Company. I wasn’t actually familiar with Pixar outside of their theatrical and short films, so this was pretty engrossing to me and the story of the switch from selling computers to selling their animations is one of the more entrepreneurial – and ballsy – moves in the industry’s history. 

Sesame Street: Surprise – (0:22)

Sesame Street: Light and Heavy – (1:00)

Sesame Street: Up and Down – (0:34)

Sesame Street: Front and Back – (0:42)

These four shorts are clever little animations using characters Luxo and Luxo, Jr. to illustrate the definitions of lightness and heaviness, front and back, etc. They were created for the children’s program Sesame Street and unfortunately, it looks like they had to use copies from a tape source, because these have nowhere near the exceptional video quality that the featured shorts do. They are still a delight to watch though, with “Light and Heavy” having some very impressive animation physics. 

Easter Egg
I don’t know if there are any Easter eggs that I might have missed, but on the film selection screen there is one which shows the entire Luxo Jr. cartoon in its early framework stage. Pretty awesome as far as Easter Eggs go. 

The Bottom Line
Kids and adults are going to love the shorts on Pixar: Short Films Collection – Volume 1. The real target audience, though, is adult animation fans. Potential buyers need to determine how hardcore they are. I mean first of all, most of these shorts you may already own. Are there other Pixar titles in your DVD Collection? Then you’ve got most of this all covered. If they’re not, and you’re still interested in this set, I have to wonder why you don’t have those DVDs. Regardless, purchasing this set will provide you with an almost documentary-like walk through of Pixar’s best creations and history. I’m going to recommend it. I have to wonder what they’re going to do with Volume 2, though, because Pixar really blew their wad by giving us so much with this DVD.