PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION VOLUME 1 [2007 / 2006] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
PIXAR’s Short Animation Films in One Brilliant Blu-ray Package!
Disney and PIXAR invite you to discover these masterpieces of storytelling from the creative minds that brought you ‘Toy Story,’ ‘Monsters, Inc.,’ ‘Finding Nemo' and many more now on Blu-ray Discs for the ultimate high definition experience!
With revolutionary animation, unforgettable music and characters you love, these dazzling short films have changed the face of animation and entertainment and are sure to delight people of all ages for years to come. Experience them now in remarkable clarity that boasts six times the picture quality* and spectacular audio enhancement. Plus, you will get to experience and enjoy the pure Disney and PIXAR magic in Blu-ray High Definition! *May vary with some of the animated cartoons viewed.
FILM FACT: ‘Tin Toy’ won the 1988 60th Academy Awards® for Best Animated Short Film; the first time a computer animated film had won in that category. ‘Geri's Game’ won the 1997 70th Academy Awards ® for Best Animated Short Film. ‘For The Birds’ won the 2002 74th Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film. ‘Mike’s New Car’ was nominated for the 2002 74th Academy Awards® for Best Animated Short Film. ‘Boundin' was nominated for the 2004 76th Academy Awards® for Best Animated Short Film. ‘One Man Band’ was nominated for the 2006 78th Academy Awards® for Best Animated Short Film. ‘Lifted’ was nominated for the 2007 79th Academy Awards® for Best Animated Short Film.
Directors: Alvy Ray Smith, John Lasseter, Jan Pinkava, Ralph Eggleston, Pete Docter, Roger L. Gould, Bud Luckey, Brad Bird, Andrew Jimenez, Mark Andrews, Dan Scanlon and Gary Rydstrom
Producers: John Lasseter, William Reeves, Karen Dufilho, Karen Dufilho-Rosen, Gale Gortney, Osnat Shurer, Darla K. Anderson, Mark Nielsen and Katherine Sarafian
Screenplay: Alvy Ray Smith, John Lasseter, Jan Pinkava, Ralph Eggleston, Pete Docter, Jeff Pidgeon, Roger L. Gould, Rob Gibbs, Bud Luckey, Mark Andrews, Teddy Newton, Bosco Ng, Andrew Jimenez, Joe Ranft, Dan Scanlon and Gary Rydstrom
Composers: David Slusser, Bobby McFerrin, Bob Peterson, Riders in the Sky, Randy Newman, Bud Luckey, Michael Giacchino, Bruno Coon and Brad Paisley
Cinematography: Jesse Hollander (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1, 1.66:1, 1.85:1 and 2.39:1
Audio: English: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Spanish: 5.1 DTS-HD Audio
Spanish: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Spanish [Catalan]: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
English: 5.1 Uncompressed Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, English and Spanish
Running Time: 51 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: PIXAR Animation Studios / Walt Disney Pictures
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION VOLUME 1’ brings you good things that come in this brilliant cool collection of PIXAR animated film shorts that have won hearts and lots of Oscars® for their creativity. PIXAR Animation is the geniuses behind ‘TOY STORY,’ ‘Finding Nemo’ and other wonderful animated favourites that have now brought their talent to these wonderful funny and hilarious 13 short animation films. The Volume 1 anthology features ‘The Adventures of André and Wally B.’ [1984]; ‘Luxo Jr.’ [1986]; ‘Red's Dream’ [1987]; ‘Tin Toy’ [1988]; ‘Knick Knack’ [1989]. It also includes the Oscar-winning shorts ‘Geri's Game’ [1997]; and ‘For the Birds’ [2000]. We also get to view other PIXAR animated film classics as ‘Boundin' [2003]; ‘Jack-Jack Attack’ [2005]; ‘One Man Band’ [2005]. While a certain beloved truck from ‘CARS’ makes an appearance in ‘Mater and the Ghostlight’ [2006] and Monster's Inc.'s Mike shows up in ‘Mike's New Car’ [2002], and finally we get to see the brilliant ‘Lifted’ [2006]. This is now a great chance to see these brilliant and very inventive people who have produced the following amazing PIXAR animated shorts both old and new on this Volume 1 Blu-ray disc.
The Adventures of ANDRÉ and WALLY B. [1984] [1080p] [1.37:1] [1:53] This PIXAR animated short involves a character named André being awakened in a forest by a pesky bee named Wally B. André distracts the bee so that he can run away. Wally B. chases André and eventually catches up with him, and strikes with the stinger. A collision occurs off-screen and a dizzy Wally B. reappears with a bent stinger. Shortly, Wally B. gets hit by André's tossed hat as a last laugh. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with John Lasseter, Eben Ostby and William Reeves.
Luxo Jr. [1986] [1080p] [1.58:1] [2:11] Two balanced-arm Angle poise desk lamps, named Luxo Jr. [small] and Luxo Sr. [large], are playing with a small inflatable rubber ball. When Luxo Jr. tries balancing on it, but the ball eventually deflates due to excessive jumping. As a result, Luxo Jr. is admonished by Luxo Sr., then finds and plays with an even larger ball. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with John Lasseter, Eben Ostby and William Reeves.
RED's DREAM [1987] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:14] This PIXAR animated film is about a red unicycle named Red, who dreams of becoming the star in a circus act. In his dream, a clown called Lumpy is seen riding Red and juggling. He almost drops one of the balls, but Red bounces it with one of his pedals and gives it back to Lumpy. Lumpy then gets off of Red and continues juggling until he suddenly disappears, at which time Red begins to juggle the balls, and when he finishes, the crowd cheers. Lumpy starts to bow, and then soon wakes up, realizing it was just a dream. Sad, Red slowly goes back to the clearance section of the bike store, and he falls back to sleep. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with John Lasseter, Eben Ostby and William Reeves.
TIN TOY [1988] [1080p] [1.76:1] [5:11] A small toy named Tinny tries to escape from Billy, a baby who wants to play with and dribble on him. When Tinny tries to walk, his musical instruments on his back play notes, he then begins to run, but is chased by Billy, who pursues him. Tinny soon finds cover under the couch, and when he looks up, he sees that there are several other toys hiding, also afraid of Billy after learning the same experience. But then while walking and trying to find Tinny and the other toys, Billy falls down on the hardwood floor, but bangs his head, and begins to cry. Tinny, feeling sorry for himself and the baby, tries to go and cheer him up. When he does, Billy manages to cheer up, but then just ignores him and plays with the box Tinny came in. Mad, Tinny tries to follow Billy to get his attention, but is still ignored. Near the end of the credits, other toys hiding under the couch come out from underneath and begin to play. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with John Lasseter, Eben Ostby and William Reeves.
knick knack [1989] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:37] On a bookshelf filled with summer vacation-themed souvenirs, a snowman named Knick Knack, who is the cousin of Frosty the Snowman, according to the audio commentary, who resides in a snow globe, and wants to reach a "Sunny Miami" because knick knack sees a girl lounging in a blue bikini. knick knack tries several unsuccessful methods to exit the globe: ramming it with the igloo backdrop, using a hammer and his carrot nose to chisel through, attacking it with a jackhammer, using a cutting torch and detonating explosives. As the globe eventually falls over the shelf's edge, knick knack notices an emergency exit in the base and frees himself just before Knick Knack and the globe fall into a fishbowl. Here knick knack sees a pretty mermaid souvenir from "Sunny Atlantis" and runs toward her, but before he can reach her, the globe settles to the bottom and traps him for the second time, leaving Knick frustrated. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with John Lasseter, Eben Ostby and William Reeves.
Geri's game [1998] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:53] An old man named Geri plays a game of chess in the park against himself. He starts off playing as white, but then hoists himself up, and lumbers over to play as the black opponent. He quickly dominates the game as the black side, although he is his own opponent. But just when the game's nearly over, White Geri (the one with the glasses) fakes a heart attack to outsmart Black Geri (the one with no glasses), and falls to the ground. This alarms Black Geri, and in turn, he tests his own pulse. While he is doing this, White Geri looks up, and flips the board around, inverting the players to their teams. He checkmates Black Geri, and makes him hand over a set of dentures as the prize. The animated film ends with him giving a toothy grin, and the camera backs out, revealing that there is only one Geri. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with Jan Pinkava.
for the birds [2001] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:48] Fifteen blue birds land one-by-one on a power line, and soon they encounter a huge and goofy-looking bird. They mimic and tease him, but he goes on the cord anyway. The little birds start pecking on him. They successfully get him off, but when the big bird falls off, the birds are flung away into the sky. When they come back down, we see that they have all lost their feathers, making them the goofy-looking ones now. The short ends with the big bird laughing hysterically as the other birds hide behind him. The first four small birds to land on the power line are named Bully, Chipper, Snob and Neurotic. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with Ralph Eggleston.
Mike's New Car [2002] [1080p] [1.37:1] [3:48] Mike is obsessed with his new six-wheel drive car, and insists on showing it off to his pal Sulley. Unfortunately for Mike, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Sulley plays with the ultra-adjustable seats until an annoyed Mike asks him to stop. Mike starts the engine and the seatbelt reminder tone sounds. He finds his seatbelt stuck and accidentally locks himself out of the car while trying to be helpful but confused by the massive amount of buttons on the dashboard, pops the hood open. When he closes it, he ends up trapping Mike in the engine compartment. Mike shouts, "Don't touch anything!" and pushes a button that launches the entire car into chaotic malfunction, such as conga music playing loudly. by the massive amount of buttons on the dashboard, pops the hood open. When he closes it, he ends up trapping Mike in the engine compartment. You have unfortunately the bonus of an Audio Commentary with Leo Gould [son of Roger Gould] and Nicholas Docter [son of Pete Docter]. Please Note: Do not listen to this audio commentary, as this has got to be the two most ghastly American children and the most obnoxious ones I have ever heard in my lifetime and should have been banned from this audio commentary, as they were totally useless and most of the time you cannot understand a word they are saying and is totally incomprehensible and should never of been allowed near the microphone.
Boundin’ [2004] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:42] This short animated film features a sheep that lives in the American West whose elegant dancing is popular with the other animals. One day the sheep-shearers arrive and shear him for wool. Having lost his coat, the other animals laugh at the sheep and he becomes shy and loses the confidence to dance. It is whilst in his bare state that a benevolent jackalope comes across the little lamb and teaches him the merits of "bounding" rather than. The sheep is converted and his joy in life is totally restored. The sheep's wool eventually grows back in the winter, only for it to be cut again, but his pride is now completely unshaken and he continues to "bound." It is also implied that the jackalope has helped other animals before the sheep to make life well worth living for. Narrated by Bud Luckey. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with Bud Luckey.
JACK-JACK ATTACK [2005] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:44] This short PIXAR animated film shows Rick Dicker, a government agent assigned to aid "supers" in maintaining their anonymity, giving Kari an interview about what happened when she was babysitting Jack-Jack. Kari calls Mrs. Parr to assure her that she can take care of Jack-Jack, but is cut off by the plane being fired upon. Thinking nothing is wrong; Kari asks Jack-Jack if he is ready for some "neurological stimulation." She puts on Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 for him, which has the result of Jack-Jack having an epiphany about his latent superpowers. To calm Jack-Jack down, Kari tries showing him flashcards. This works well until she shows him a card of a campfire, at which point he suddenly bursts into flames. Horrified, Kari picks up Jack-Jack with a pair of tongs and takes him to the bathroom, where she douses him in the bathtub. The short shows us that, adding to his lead, fire, and monster powers, Jack-Jack also has the ability to create portals in solid objects as he touches them, anti-gravity, and laser vision.
One Man Band [2006] [1080p] [2.35:1] [4:32] The story begins with a man, named Bass, playing multiple brass instruments, and tries to get a little girl to tip him a coin, but soon meets another musician, named Treble with orchestral instruments. They both instantly become rivals and fight over the girl's coin until she accidentally drops the coin, which falls into a drain. The girl starts to cry and is then angered by the two musicians causing her to lose it, and demands the two one-man-bands for a replacement coin, but they reveal that they are poor and broke. She takes one of the violins from the orchestra one-man-band, re-tuned it, and played an unexpected tune. A rich man, pleased by her performance, gives her a big bag of coins, and the girl eagerly picks it up. Before leaving, she takes two coins for the one-man-bands and tosses them into the top of a fountain, where she was originally going to put her coin in for a wish. After the credits roll, the two musicians work together in an attempt at reaching the top, where the two coins remain. The music during the credits is Pablo de Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with Andrew Jimenez, Mark Andrews, and Michael Giacchino.
MATER and the GHOSTLIGHT [2006] [1080p] [1.78:1] [7:09] The PIXAR animated short film opens with Mater playing pranks on the other residents of Radiator Springs. This sequence culminates with Mater teasing Lightning as if he had seen "the Ghostlight," a Route 66 legend recounted to PIXAR by Dean Walker of the Kansas Historic Route 66 Association. Sheriff admonishes him for mocking the urban legend, and then tells the tale of the Ghostlight. The rest of the gang say goodnight and turn off all the store lights, leaving a nervous and scared Mater all alone in the dark. During the body of the short, mayhem ensues as Mater is pursued by the Ghostlight, ultimately revealed to be just a lantern affixed to Mater's towing cable by Lightning and Guido. The other residents of Radiator Springs watch as Mater drives around frantically with the "Ghostlight" on his tail, before Mater tires himself out and the cars tell him it was all a prank to pay him back for all his pranks he played on them. Sheriff gently tells Mater that the only thing to be scared of on Route 66 is "his imagination." Doc jokingly adds that all Mater really had to fear was "The Screaming Banshee" before they all leave Mater, alone and frightened once again. In a post-credits scene, Mater actually sees The Screaming Banshee but, not realizing it is him, warns him of the Banshee, leaving the monster truck confused. You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with John Lasseter and Dan Scanlon.
LIFTED – Failure Is An Option [2007] [1080p] [1.78:1] [5:02] A young alien, Stu, is in a spaceship taking an examination in abduction. He must snatch Ernie, a sleeping farmer under the watchful eye of his instructor, Mr. B. However, there is an array of thousands of unlabelled toggle switches he must manipulate to get the human into the ship's tractor beam, and he is having trouble. He mistakenly propels the human into walls and occasionally the ceiling and never waking up from his slumber through it all). After repeated failures to successfully lift the human into the ship (he almost succeeds, but forgets to close the door on the bottom of the ship before turning off the tractor beam, Mr. B takes over, returns the farmer back to his room, and cleans up the mess that Stu had made. Ashamed over his failure, Stu starts whimpering, trying to hold his tears back from Mr. B. Mr. B generously allows Stu to launch the space ship back home. Full of glee, Stu takes hold of the joystick and starts to lift the ship into the air, but once again, he fails, and the space ship plummets to the Earth, crushing Ernie's house and leaving nothing but a crater with a tall pillar of dirt in the centre, atop which Ernie is still sleeping soundly in his bed. The ship quickly lifts off again. During the end credits there is the sound of an alarm clock, the farmer waking up, and then a Wilhelm scream as Ernie (presumably) falls into the crater all around him, and finally, a thud. This is the first film directed by Gary Rydstrom, a seven-time Academy Award-winning sound editor and mixer, and the first produced by Katherine Sarafian, who went on to produce PIXAR's animated film ‘BRAVE’ released in 2012. In ‘LIFTED – Failure Is An Option,’ Gary Rydstrom found comic relief in conveying the experience of tackling an impossible task while under scrutiny. Director Gary Rydstrom is a multiple-Oscar®-winner famous for his sound design on films like ‘Jurassic Park’ and PIXARS's ‘Finding Nemo.’ You have the bonus of an Audio Commentary with Gary Rydstrom.
Blu-ray Image Quality – PIXAR and Walt Disney Studios has once again come together and brought us something truly special, with the Blu-ray disc ‘PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION VOLUME 1’ with a brilliant stunning gorgeous 1080p image transfer that further demonstrates PIXAR and Walt Disney Studios commitment to visual quality with regards to high definition. I knew I would have a great time revisiting PIXAR's shorts, but I honestly didn't expect to be wowed by the picture. In reality, most of the short films in the collection are as beautiful as the recent Blu-ray transfers. Colours leap off the screen, contrast is spot-on, and fine details are jaw-droopingly sharp. The only downside in the package is the presentation of some the earliest shorts. Given their age, I suppose it shouldn't surprise that ‘The Adventures of André and Wally B.;’ ‘Luxo Jr;’ ‘Red's Dream’ and ‘Tin Toy’ just don't have the same vibrancy as the digital-to-digital transfers of the other more recent shorts, and are plagued by pixilation and drab colours. With that being said, I can hardly complain. PIXAR and Disney Pixar have given us stunning visual landscape of high definition for the most part, and the ‘PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION VOLUME 1’ is a visual wonder that will simply take your breath away.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – PIXAR and Walt Disney Studios has once again come together and brought us something truly special, with this Blu-ray disc multi audio presentation. Which features a very powerful 5.1 LPCM uncompressed Audio Surround mix that shook the room on several occasions. Music is the key element in the majority of the animated shorts and I'm happy to report that it is not a front heavy affair. The surrounds are used to full effect to deliver an orchestra of treble whines and bass booms across the entire sound field experience. The dancing melodies in ‘Geri's Game’ and ‘One Man Band’ are crisp and light, as are the most striking of the bunch and showcase extremely aggressive soundscapes to great effect, as is the dynamics which are particularly impressive. ‘Knick Knack’ once again receives the benefits of its remaster, but the four opening shorts don't pack nearly the same impact as their more modern animated shorts, especially ‘The Adventures of André and Wally B.’ is easily the weakest of the bunch, as that was one of their first attempt at computer animation. Still, comparing this disc to its standard-definition counterpart, even the early shorts receive a noticeable high-definition audio upgrade, so I can't complain too much. In the end, this Blu-ray disc sound is as good as it is and PIXAR fans will be very pleased to find out how much respect has been paid to this PIXAR Blu-ray Collection of astounding shorts.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Audio Commentaries: As you will have viewed with each PIXAR animated film shorts, apart from ‘JACK-JACK ATTACK,’ it is blessed with a very engaging and very informative audio commentary with each animation short viewed that allows the individual filmmakers and project teams to discuss their work. They talk about the stories, the animation techniques used, and the significance and milestones established by each short film. The only problem I had with this feature is that when you get three people talking about the process of that certain animated short, they tended to start talking over each other and in the end you cannot understand what they are talking about and becomes a blur in the end and I am none the wiser about how that certain animated short was achieved, but with some of the animation I wanted to hear more, but the audio commentaries are limited to the length of each animated short and it was much better when you had only one person doing the audio commentary, and one of them was John Lasseter, but the other audio commentary that really impressed me the most was ‘Lifted’ that was of course directed by Gary Rydstrom, who was utterly fascinating to listen to and was so instructive on how the animation process was done, as well as all the technical aspect of the animation process, to give the look Gary Rydstrom wanted the animation to look a certain way, so top marks Gary Rydstrom.
Special Feature: The PIXAR Shorts: A Short History [2007] [1080p / 480i] [1.78:1 / 1.37:1] [23:32] The story of PIXAR's early short films illuminates not only the evolution of the company but also the early days of computer animation, when a small group of artists and scientists shared a single computer in a hallway, and struggled to create emotionally compelling short films. This is a wonderful featurette that only disappoints when the credits roll. It could easily have been a feature length documentary. The PIXAR animator’s appear in interviews and archive footage that track the development of the PIXAR studio, and its technologies, and its brilliant inventive animation. Contributors include: Jim Blinn [Member of Technical Staff at NASA/Jet Propulsion Labs], Eben Ostby [PIXAR Animation Group], Craig Good [PIXAR Animation Group], Loren Carpenter [PIXAR Animation Group], Ralph Guggenheim [Producer: ‘Toy Story’], John Lasseter [PIXAR Animation Group], Ed Catmull [President of PIXAR], Alvy Ray Smith [Former Executive VP of PIXAR], Bill Reeves [PIXAR Animation Group], Tom Porter [PIXAR Animation Group] and Deirdre Warin [PIXAR Animation Group].
Special Feature: Sesame Street Clips: In 1991, PIXAR made four CGI animated shorts vignettes produced for the TV series “Sesame Street.” The animated shorts illustrates different weights and directions starring Luxo Sr and Luxo Jr. in the following titles ‘Surprise’ [1992] [480i] [1.37:1] [0:25]; ‘Light and Heavy’ [1990] [480i] [1.37:1] [1:03]; ‘Up and Down’ [1993] [480i] [1.37:1] [0:38] and ‘Front and Back’ [1994] [480i] [1.37:1] [0:46]. “Sesame Street” producer Arlene Sherman recalled how the shorts came about, because with PIXAR, I was helping to train their animators for ‘Toy Story.’ They needed to gear up a lot of people, so the PIXAR people and I had a mutual feeling about the show and sensibility, and so I would never know when I was getting another animation. I would approve the storyboards, and then I would get these packages in the mail, with these wonderful ‘Luxo Jr.’ pieces. I've had to work a lot with relationships, and use the good feeling that “Sesame Street” is promoting. Working as a producer is a real advantage there, because people want to work for the show. These were an Sesame Street excerpts provided courtesy of Sesame Workshop [New York, New York].
Finally, the ‘PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION VOLUME 1’ is that all too rare treat, of a totally niche titled produced with the same care and attention that we have come to expect from the blockbusters like 'Cars' and 'Ratatouille.' This Blu-ray edition features an excellent image transfer, apart from the older video samples, but overall this Blu-ray disc is a very confident and awesome audio track, and a very nice offering of supplemental material. PIXAR is to be commended for their studio "business model" outlook. Not only do they continue to push the boundaries of current computer technology, but their dedication to the art of animation, as well as simply telling a good story, is totally phenomenal. And the finished products of these efforts have been highly enjoyable and especially using a shorts programme concept to develop brand new techniques and PIXAR are always breaking with traditional animation especially compared to some of other less-experienced studio animator’s animation around. This one is definitely worth picking up for enthusiastic fans of PIXAR animated films in general and that includes me and is perfect to add to your ever increasing PIXAR Blu-ray Collection. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
