Top 5 Pixar Shorts (For www.dorkosphere.com)

In 1984, something was created that from then on would cause an overwhelming feeling of excitement in each and every person when they went to see a Disney Pixar film. That something was “The Adventures of André and Wally B” – Pixar’s first short (well sort of). John Lasseter made groundbreaking work involving the short tale of the cute characters of André and Wally B, using incredibly emotion and charm from a computer at the time. From then on, Lasseter played a huge focus to Pixar’s success and with now around 20 shorts, each evolving into something greater, more entertaining and completely original each time, they’re a big part to our cinema-going experience every time we set out to see a new Pixar film. “Day and Night”, the latest of the little features has an immense amount of work gone into every detail making it possibly the most memorable and most appealing to audiences. Taking this out, I have explored the different shorts and come up with a top five which you must watch in order to gain the real satisfaction of the artwork these films use.


5 - “Lifted” was the short for “Ratatouille” and sees the adventure of a naive alien practising using all the wonderful buttons on the spaceship in which he lives. The way light and dimensions in this is used is particularly interesting to watch. And the fact that adults can relate to the almost driving test appeal it gives means it’s entertaining for all ages. That is what Pixar does best!


4 - “For the Birds” really shows off this animation company’s ability to create humour on a mildly sadistic level but keep it heart warming and enjoyable to watch throughout. It was the short for “Monsters Inc”. which in itself was revolutionary for the way in which Sully’s fur moved. They took this level of perfection on the bird’s feathers in this short which makes for a very realistic watch.


3 - “Geri’s Game, made for the first Pixar film “Toy Story” was of course so unique and original at the time. No audience had seen a film with this level of computer animated imagery, and to see a completely different story as an introduction to the film with compelling characters and almost a tear jerking storyline all in under 4 minutes was something you’ll never quite forget watching for the first time.


2 - Seen before “Up”, “Partly Cloudy” really shows off Disney’s ability to imagine up a truly original piece of work with characters you can’t help but feel a huge connection with. To even imagine that you could personify a cloud and capture children’s hearts with the tale of the stalk carrying a baby is just so clever.


1 - "Luxo Jr.", of course! It had to be. That jumpy little lamp isn’t just before every Pixar film we see bouncing on top of a letter; it has its own feature which was shown before “Toy Story 2″. This short takes everything into account; the incredible animation, the adorable characters, the quick but impacting storyline and the charm that comes along with every single one of these shorts.

I did this article for www.dorkosphere.com - You can read it here: http://dorkosphere.com/2010/08/07/guest-article-top-5-pixar-shorts/