This DVD is THE definitive history of Pixar's evolution into today's masters of computer animation.  Just in time for the release of "Wall-E", it documents the team's ascent to the pinnacle of animation excellence.

Pixar originated as a company selling animation computers and was nurtured by Lucasfilm in an effort to modernize animation and 3D special effects.  This was some time after the first "Star Wars" movie in which effects were created with models and on-film masks and mattes.  This new animation group developed a computer and software that would later morph into Renderman, one of today's more popular CG rendering tools. In its early days, this technology was alien to movie producers and Pixar had difficulty selling their animation computers.  So, the group began creating demonstrations of the technology, short films that would become famous for being absolutely astonishing in their day.  Pixar's cute characters and witty action grabbed the attention of reluctant movie studios and the age of computer animated films was born.

This DVD begins with Pixar's earliest demo, a short called "The Adventures of Andre' and Wally B."  What really impressed me is a mention in the credits, a thank-you for the use of a Cray super-computer!  This is how far the limits of computer technology were pushed at the time.  In 1984, IBM PCs still used 5 1/4 inch floppy disks and ran text-mode word processors.  Fast-forward to today and the home user can pick up a store-bought personal computer that can crank out animations like this with ease.  Younger viewers who grew up in the age of photo-realistic computer animation may not appreciate the tremendous achievement "Andre' and Wally B" represented or the utter amazement of the audience seeing it for the first time.  I may be dating myself here but I do remember when this one first came out.  We KNEW we were looking at something that would revolutionize the entertainment future.  It was... WOW!!!

Pixar originated a new genre of films - the CG Cartoon.  In bringing _life_ to toy-like objects and cartoonish characters, the group has defined a look and style that connects with viewers old and young.  Pixar's modeling and animation evoke a lively expressiveness that flows beautifully to convey emotion and action.  I am sometimes reminded of old "Tom and Jerry" cartoons by Chuck Jones, where characters could flex and bounce with a quality of movement that was appealing.  Today's CG animators are free to model realistic-looking objects then exaggerate their actions just enough to captivate us in willing suspension of disbelief.

I played each of these shorts a second time with the audio commentary on.  The information is fascinating to someone interested in CG movie making and also contains a lot of historical insights into the obstacles that drove the advancement of CG software.  Even the non-geek should find the commentaries funny.

Pixar defined an enduring look and style for computer animated movies - beginning with the first short film on this DVD... 

THE ADVENTURES OF ANDRE' AND WALLY B. - 1984

Andre' is a cute little round-headed character (probably French, judging by the hat and the name), dozing on an autumn day.  He awakens to the sight of an approaching bee with a big stinger.  The bee stares Andre' right in the eye and Andre' knows he is in trouble.  The following action is definitely 'cute' and good for a chuckle.

This short was Pixar's first demo, shown at SIGGRAPH in 1984.  It wowed the audience with a style of cartooning that had never been seen before and kick-started 3D computer filmmaking.  Most impressive was the depth and quality (for the time) of the 3D world, best revealed by camera moves through the environment, something not easily done in traditional cell animation.  The curved shapes and 'squishiness' of the characters, along with motion blur, were revolutionary for computer animation and made this short film visually appealing.

LUXO JR - 1986

Luxo is a desk lamp just hanging around, doing nothing, until a little ball rolls into frame.  Luxo 'kicks' the ball back, connecting with whomever is out there in the world of 'off-frame' and in comes Luxo Jr. a smaller desk lamp.  They play ball.  Luxo Jr. is full of energy - a bit too much for the ball to handle.

The audio commentary reveals fascinating details about the challenges faced by the animators due to the primitive state of computer animation software at the time.  As Dan Lasseter explains it, there he sat, in front of all those expensive computers, using a hand calculator to figure out the rotation of the ball as it traveled across the frame.  Lasseter also reveals the origin of the lamp for this animation - a drafting desk lamp that he mimicked to learn how to do 3D modeling.

Realistic images are all about how light is cast and reflected.  The Pixar crew embodied this notion with Luxo.  It could project a light beam that would cause objects to cast shadows with fuzzy 'penumbra' edges... this was yet another revolution in rendering quality making the image even more convincing.  Luxo has remained Pixar's mascot ever since.

What amazes me is that, through simple motion, the animators could bring so much 'character' to these two lamps.  They have anthropomorphic personalities even without faces to convey expression.  This is yet another key to the success of Pixar's CG animations - even a simple desk lamp can be made into a 'person' to entertain the viewer.

RED'S DREAM - 1987

It is a dark and rainy night in the gloomy city.  In a bicycle shop, a little red unicycle slumps in a corner, unwanted, a "50% off" tag dangling humiliatingly from its seat.  But Red has dreams of performing in the circus, of stealing the spotlight, of winning ecstatic applause.

This is a sad piece, moody, displaying environmental fill lighting and capturing a film noir look along with 'wet' reflections.  The rain effect is new for the time.  Very cool.  Sad bluesy saxophone music completes the mood.  This is a demo piece using Pixar's rendering computer.  The clown's organic facial shape is the next evolution beyond the teardrop head of Andre', using controls to distort the shape for expressions.  I got a laugh at the sight gags when Red performed with the clown.

TIN TOY - 1988

A tin toy 'one man marching band', recently unpackaged (from a bag with the Pixar logo on it), surveys his new home for the first time.  Along comes his new playmate, a baby, which looks promising until the shocking revelation that the baby likes to stick his toys in his drooly little mouth and fling them on the ground with destructive force. The tin toy tries to sneak away from his impending doom but his musical instruments are geared to his feet.  The noise attracts the baby and the toy must flee for his life.  He discovers that he is not the only one.  The audience gets a hilarious glimpse of _why_ toys end up hidden under the couch!

I think the action in this short is timelessly funny.  Even the credits, when read carefully, are good for a chuckle.  This piece may well be the foundation for "Toy Story", with plenty of similar thematic elements such as the toy wanting to be recognized and valued while its owner is interested in other things.  I recall that upon first seeing the baby, I realized it was only a matter of time before CG characters and faces might replace the real thing.  It was a first, animating an organic-looking human character rather than geometric-shape objects.  Now, films like "Final Fantasy - Spirits Within" have come close to completely and realistically replacing the human actor as foreshadowed by this baby.

This was the first computer animation ever to win an Academy award.

KNICK KNACK - 1989

Opening with a foot-tapping touristy island tune, a collection of knick-knacks are jammin' to the groove by Bobby McFerrin.  They're all from the casual, sunny places where tourists lounge about in sunglasses on beaches.  Pan across to the table to a snow-globe with a frozen, crabby little snowman inside, all by his lonesome, separated from the rest of the folks by his imprisoning glass dome.  A particularly cute and blonde sun-bathing decoration beckons to him to join her and the snowman is energized into action.  He tries desperately (and hilariously!) to get out of his snow-globe to join the sun-bathers, to no avail.  The action picks up in a Wile-E-Coyote sort of way with a hilarious punch line.

This was Pixar's first stereo-3D movie, when viewed with the right equipment.  In the commentary, Lasseter mentions that he and his crew had just seen "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" which inspired the Warner Brothers cartoon style of motion and action.  Also debuting is Pixar's first use of particle animation to move the snowflakes around inside the snow globe.

GERI'S GAME - 1998

A little old man sets up his chessboard for a game in an Autumn park.  The game begins and we see that he is playing against himself, laboriously walking to either side of the table.  As the walks are edited out, it is as if he is two different people carrying on a challenging game, reminiscent of Smeagol in "Lord of the Rings" carrying on a conversation between his two selves.  This guy isn't out to get his precious back but he sure makes for a tough chess opponent, one personality being young and sprightly and the other old and wily.  Determined to win, the old fellow demonstrates that age and treachery are key to success!  But he who laughs last laughs best and this endearing old geriatric fellow gives that honor to the audience.

I particularly liked the cinematic developments in the animation technique. Instead of camera movements, depth of field focus variations added realism to the scene.  Newly developed software adds cloth dynamics, making the old man's jacket very convincing as real fabric.  The old man is very expressive and lively, a believable character with soulful eyes.

FOR THE BIRDS - 2001

Opening to a jazzy tune, we pan along wires strung between telephone poles.  Birds begin alighting on the wires, getting into a sqawking and squabbling match over elbow room.  Their grumpy social interaction is interrupted when a large, goofy, gawky bird attempts to join them.  Now they all have an outsider to gang up on.  The outsider, however, just wants to hang out with them, much to their annoyance.  The squabbling little clucks soon learn the hard way that it doesn't pay to pick (or peck) on others.

This is a cute story about group dynamics, with the ridiculed but good-natured outcast getting the last laugh.  Cartoonish characterizations of the grumpy little birds are terrific.  Rendering is now up to the quality for which Pixar is famous.  The feathers are particularly well done, especially when ruffled.

MIKE'S NEW CAR - 2002

Mike, the little green one-eyed guy from "Monsters, Inc.", shows off his fancy new six-wheel-drive car to his buddy, Sulley, but is unprepared for the technical challenges it poses.  As Sulley and Mike explore its features, they find themselves at the mercy of its uncontrollable whims.

The audio commentary is done by the approximately eight year old sons of the animator and director.  These two kids try to explain the computer animation process with the understanding suitable to their age and they say the darndest things!  We've heard enough from Lasseter and the other Pixar filmmakers, now the target audience gets to weigh in, giving us the benefit of their insight.  Their interpretation of this short is highly imaginative.  I got a laugh when one of the kids explains that it's hard to do water with computer animation because computers don't do blue on the screen very well.  Uh... yeah.

I recall hearing that there were a series of knock-offs from "Monsters, Inc." using the main characters.  Heck, the work that went into them made them look so good, especially Sulley's fur, that it would have been a waste to leave them in the digital archives after just one movie.  Besides, the kids seem to enjoy further adventures with characters they've come to like.

Noticeable improvements in rendering include fur, surface reflections (ray tracing) and shine (specularity).  Very good looking animation.

BOUNDIN' - 2004

Open on a western Rockies scene with critters bounding along to the tempo of a cowboy telling a range tale.  This is a musical, in a sense, about a lamb whose remarkable wooly coat is the source of his strutting pride.  Until, that is, the day he is shorn.  Deprived of his coat, he falls into a funk and his former admirers now ridicule him.  Along comes a Jackalope who gives him a healthy dose of old-fashioned conservative wisdom - what you look like don't matter, it's what you do, so stop cryin' about your misfortune.  That sort of thing.  He tells the sheep to pick himself up and learn to rebound no matter what gets him down.  The sheep takes the advice to heart, picks himself up and gets back in his groove.

This romp features a cool Western musical and lyrical track by Bud Luckey.

I am more impressed by the visuals of every new Pixar film.  "Boundin'" features some advanced rendering techniques, especially very well done ray-traced water surfaces.  Is this a response to the kids' comment about water in "Mike's New Car"?  The flying camera reveals the 3D modeled scene in its entirety that, along with the environmental lighting, is an impressive work of art.  Attention to small details really brings this scene to life, from the subtle movements of the characters, the farmer's tan on the sheep after he is shorn (you know, tan where the sun hit, pale where it didn't) and even subtle water reflections on the rocks above the waterline.  I watched this piece several times, seeing more on every pass.

JACK-JACK ATTACK - 2005

Looks like "The Incredibles" got a baby-sitter for their little tot, Jack-Jack.  Big mistake!  The sitter is prepared for a fun evening of providing mental stimulation to the cherubic infant with flash cards and puzzle games but Jack-Jack quickly gets control of the situation.  If you've seen "The Incredibles", you know this kid has some super powers.  Starting with a bit of levitation and teleportation, the toddler's antics soon drive the sitter to panic.  Who does a brief cameo to take the terror-tot off her hands?  Syndrome!

This short has no commentary track.

By the time "The Incredibles" was produced, Pixar's animations included tremendous depths of detail, textures, bump maps... all making a super-realistic image yet retaining the cartoonish modeling to keep us in the comedy realm.  I was laughing hard at the baby's antics but Syndrome really made my day with his explanation of the 'S' on his shirt.  I particularly like the characterization of the sitter who is driven rather nuts by the end.

ONE MAN BAND - 2006

It's Dueling Banjos taken to a new realm!  In what appears to be a Renaissance-era Italian square with a fountain in the middle, a one-man band parts his curtain and strikes up a tune.  His empty tin cup remains so - there is no audience.  Until, that is, a little girl walks up to the fountain to toss in a gold coin and make a wish.  The musician wants that coin for himself and gets busy impressing the girl with his musical talents but, just as she is about to drop the coin in his cup, a rival musician across the square jumps into the game.  Competition for the coin between the rival minstrels soon becomes a fray, with the girl caught in the middle.  But she has a few tricks up her sleeve, as the two musicians soon discover.

The one-man band looks like "Tin Toy" in human form!  Commentary by both directors and the musical writer reveals that the idea was based on the music.  The musical pieces drive the characters and the action.  The sound effects and scores, with the implausible but hilarious instrument arrangements to produce them, make for a tremendously fun watch.

The 3D environment is enhanced with volumetric lighting and haze, making the surrounding village into a convincingly large space.  Also, depth of field focus blur has evolved to the point that there are no longer 'layers' of focus but rather a real photographic progressive blur on the models.

MATER AND THE GHOST LIGHT - 2006

A spinoff of the feature film "Cars", this short features Mater going around playing pranks to spook his buddies.  This goes a bit too far when talk of the Ghost Light scares everyone into hiding for the night.  Mater heads home to his junk yard garage, nervous as all heck, when the blue Ghost Light appears and chases him relentelessly!

The commentary track reveals that this story is based on a real incident that Lasseter was told about in his travels to the Midwest.  In Kansas on Route 66, the ghost light drifts around and even follows cars.  It made good material for the "Cars" version of the story.  This commentary track gives good insight into the creative process and some of the people behind the scenes who helped produce this lively short.

The characterizations are just hilarious, with a hippie van, the sheriff's squad car and others taking on distinct personalities to match their vehicle styles.  This short was terrific!

LIFTED - 2007

A lonely prairie farmhouse is visited by an alien flying saucer.  The sleeping resident is bathed in a powerful beam of light, lifting him from his bed, wafting him towards a window... slamming him into the wall.  As it turns out, the alien operating the controls doesn't quite know what he is doing and his repeated efforts at abduction leave his boss making cryptic notes on a clipboard with a frozen scowl.  The poor fellow's repeated failures lead to increasing frustration ... and hilarity!

I got a real laugh out of this one.  I'm an X-Files fan so the alien abduction thing really appealed to me, especially when it gets bungled.  Once again, Pixar's pixel magic pays off!

EASTER EGG ALERT!

In the Short Films menu, just below "Boundin'", I found a hidden special feature. It's the rough 'pencil-drawing' wireframe animation for Luxo, Jr.  Kinda bland without the rendered textures but it does show one of the underlying animations processes.

BONUS FEATURES

"The Pixar Shorts - a short history" uses original footage along with interviews of key Pixar people to give a broad history of Pixar's early days and challenges.  We get to see the original Pixar animation computer, a monster of a machine the size of a VW bug.

Also included are a series of shorts made for Sesame Street in which Luxo and Luxo Jr. demonstrate certain words. This is a clever re-use of the models.  Sesame street could have used its hand muppets but the animated lamps were especially fascinating and popular in their time.

This DVD begins with movie previews including its latest production, "Wall-E".  After watching the evolution of Renderman technology through the short films on this DVD, I can appreciate the convincingly rendered environment glimpsed in the "Wall-E" preview.  This DVD is a terrific promotion for the new flick.  I am going to see it not just for the entertainment value but, for sure, to get lost in the latest and greatest CG world from Pixar.

This DVD is a must-have for those who love computer animated movies!