Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 1 Blu ray

Pixar's unprecedented string of hit animated features was built on the short films in this collection. John Lasseter and Ed Catmull used these cartoons the way Walt Disney used the "Silly Symphonies" during the 1930s: as a training ground for artists and a way to explore the potential of a new medium. Although it's only 90 seconds long, "Luxo, Jr." (1986) ranks as the "Steamboat Willie" of computer animation: For the first time, audiences believed CG characters could think and feel. (It was also the first CG film to make audiences laugh.) When the artists began work on Toy Story, they had learned so much from the shorts, they were ready to undertake that landmark creation. In the later shorts, the viewer can see the artists continuing to experiment: with a more realistic human figure in "Geri's Game" and with new ways of suggesting atmospheric effects in "Boundin'." Some of the more recent shorts continue the adventures of the characters from the features. "Jack-Jack Attack" reveals what happened to the hapless baby-sitter while the Incredibles were off fighting Syndrome, while "Mater and the Ghost Light" shows that life goes on for the inhabitants of Radiator Springs. When Sully from Monsters, Inc. tries to adjust his seat in "Mike's New Car," the animators prolong the moment to wring every drop of humor from the situation–just as an earlier generation of animators milked Wile E. Coyote's antics for all they were worth. The long-unseen films for Sesame Street are an unexpected bonus. A delightful collection of entertaining shorts, and a significant chronicle of the growth of computer animation. (Rated G: suitable for all ages: cartoon violence) –Charles Solomon

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars The real value here is…
The real value in this collection isn't so much the collection itself, which sadly is too small, or too short, and is over before you know it (which may make you sad if you buy this disc with the wrong expectations). The value is really in the history of all of these animations and of Pixar itself.

Each individual short is entertaining in some way, though they are short films and aren't intended to last more than a few minutes each. Many times the credits roll on seemingly longer than the shorts they accompany. But… if you recognize the history of computing and computer animation that is involved here, you realize just how much work went into these shorts and how truly amazing they are given the technology available when most of these shorts were created.

Perhaps the most 'priceless' (to borrow from the credit card commercials) portion of this collection is the included documentary: The Pixar Shorts: A Short History. It looks at the players involved, the hardware involved, and the work that went into creating these classic works. How Pixar Animation Studios came to be, and why they were creating these shorts.

Taken in context with the shorts themselves, you realize just how far we've advanced when it comes to computer animation and animated film. Technology that shows up in video games, movies, virtual reality for training purposes and more.

Pixar was on the forefront of the tech and this collection does a good job of introducing viewers to all of that great history. Worth a full price purchase? Probably not so much. On sale or discounted through an Amazon marketplace purchase? certainly worth consideration.

1 Star Terrible Purchase
I have never been this disappointed with a movie purchase. Is it too much to expect the standard 90 minutes of viewing time for $30? The disc states 54 minutes and I'm sure it's accurate given that the credits for some of the shorts last as long as the short itself.

The shorts are only worthy of being free internet downloads and nothing more, most certainly not a $30 throw-away blu-ray disc.

5 Stars Great buy if you love Pixar
I think Pixar movies are fantastic, and their shorts are even better. They've got a lot of the older ones on here two, so it's fascinating to see the progression in the technology of computer animation and what they could do. The first couple shorts of course look like crap compared to what we are used to, but it's interesting when you realize they were made on computers with less processing power than your cell phone. It includes a nice "history of Pixar" thing that explains a lot of that. Also, computer animations (the recent ones anyway) offer easily the most noticeable upgrade in visual quality between BluRay and DVD. Often DVDs look just as good as BluRay for real live action (at least on my 32" 720p Samsung), however good computer animations like Pixar's post Toy Story work looks much better in BluRay. Highly recommended.

5 Stars Pixar does not disappoint
As usual, Pixar did it again!. They put an incredible collection of its shorts into one packed DVD. The Blu-Ray disc is worth it, note however that not all of the shorts are in wide screen Blu-Ray, but the quality is incredible. This is a must-buy for anyone who owns the Pixar movie collection.

3 Stars Pixar DVD
Wasn't quite what I expected, a lot of filler inbetween video clips, but generally entertaining regardless.

Buy/More Info