Pixar Short Films Collection – Volume One (Blu-ray + DVD-Video)

 

Picture: B+/B-     Sound: B/B-     Extras: B+     Shorts: A-

 

 

Pixar Studios has been a powerhouse from the very beginning and this spectacular collection is a fine example of their accomplishments.  Now available on DVD is the Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1.  We as an audience expect nothing less than the best from the studio that brought us such instant classics as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monster’s Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille; and that is exactly what they deliver.  The collection includes all 13 original shorts created by Pixar Studios from 1984 to 2006, the picture and sound quality being remastered to an extent on some.  It is a great collection that is full of humor and creative brilliance.  Pixar Studios has become such a household name that it would be hard to imagine the animation world without them now.  Inspired originally by Walt Disney’s simplistic but captivating film Steamboat Willie starring Mickey Mouse, the animators of Pixar have managed to take a concept that worked 80 years ago and build and morph it into something completely new.

 

There are two reasons to own and love this collection.  One, the shorts are nicely compact into this single DVD to pop-in anytime you want forever.  Two, the shorts in an indirect manner exemplify the evolution of Pixar Studios and their brilliance.  It is obvious that animating these shorts was not always the easiest, but there was always a striving to do better.  Before your eyes in this collection the audience gets to observe the history and evolution of Pixar Studios.  Whereas the old shorts do little to thrill this reviewer it is, however, awe inspiring to jump from 1984 to 1986 to 1987 and observe how the animation style had advanced by leaps and bounds with each new short.  Pixar makes great creative films that are family friendly, funny for all ages, and just superbly animated.  And at the same time, it is comforting that the studio has not forgotten their roots, by continuing to do what made them who they are today.

 

 

The shorts featured on this set include:

 

The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984)

Luxo Jr. (1986)

Red's Dream (1987)

Tin Toy (1988)

Knick Knack (1989)

Geri's Game (1997)

For The Birds (2000)

Mike's New Car (2002)

Boundin' (2003)

Jack-Jack Attack (2005)

Mater & The Ghostlight (2006)

One Man Band (2005)

Lifted (2006)

 

 

The collection of 13 shorts found on this single DVD release are nicely presented in picture and sound, but at some points show the limitations that the original creators had while making the shorts.  Sometimes it is just difficult to clean up such primitive digital work without destroying the integrity of the film. The picture on the shorts is presented in its original 1.33 X 1 format, with the picture quality clearly getting better and better with each newer short.  The brief clip of the classic Steamboat Willie in a documentary is impressive.  Too bad the whole short was not included.  The older 1980s shorts have a bit of a blurred and browny quality that obviously comes from the original limitations, but the newer shorts are colorful, crystal clear, and just superb overall.  The sound is presented in a choice of either PCM 24/48 5.1 or 2.0 on the Blu-ray only, or lesser standard Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 on both discs.  The quality on the sound is nice and whereas Pixar shorts were never big on lots of dialogue, the sound that does exist ‘POPS’ in all the right places. 

 

The extras are honestly sparse, but (BIG but here) quality reigns over quantity.  Frequent readers of this site will know that this reviewer believes studios are too lax with what they slap on as ‘DVD Special Features.’  This Pixar Short Film Collection is a perfect example of how you don’t need flashy games or special effects featurettes to have good extras.  The extras presented on this include very interesting and insightful commentaries on all shorts (except ‘Jack Jack Attack’), additional bonus shorts that originally appeared on Sesame Street, and best of all a featurette entitled ‘The Pixar Shorts: A Short History.’  This particular featurette is a documentary that chronicles Pixar studios from beginning to end; from hole in the wall to an animation powerhouse basically.  This reviewer found the documentary captivating and incredibly interesting.  It does a brilliant job of displaying the struggle Pixar had in getting off the ground at its beginnings and the perseverance that led to the success they have today.  A company that started as a few closet (literal) nerds and grew into an empire that placed support beams under a floundering Disney.

 

This is a truly nice collection.  And as far as this reviewer is aware it covers all the current shorts that Pixar has ever produced (excluding the recent DVD exclusive short found on Ratatouille).  Though by its title of ‘Volume 1’ you can bet the groundbreaking animation company has some gems up their sleeve.  The shorts are interesting and insanely creative.  If you already own all of the Pixar DVD/VHS releases, you have most likely seen every short, but this is a definitive collection as of 2007 of the Pixar mastery of work.  To have all 13 original shorts plus a few bonuses in one place is just a nice edition to any collection.  Though this reviewer would say this DVD set is more directed toward collectors and super fans, no one will feel shorted by this collection.

 

 

-   Michael P. Dougherty II