Pixar Review 17: Lava

June 17, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Today I got the chance to see the new Pixar movie Inside Out and I was not in the least disappointed. You’ll hear more about that in the next post. But let’s not let my enthusiasm for Inside Out allow me to forget the delightful little short they had before the feature film called Lava.

Directed by James Ford Murphy Lava is a simple short that is a love letter to Hawaii and Hawaiian music (you know I will love that!). The artwork in Lava is gorgeous. We get wide swooping shots of both the Hawaiian mountains and the beautiful ocean. We see whales jumping up out of the water and everything sounds so peaceful and serene.

As we dive in closer we see that the volcano has a face and we learn he is singing a Hawaiian song. The volcano named Uku is voiced by Kuana Torres Kahele and the song he sings is a sweet plea to the Island Gods to allow him to find the love he see’s all around him. I love Hawaiian music so that was great!

I like that the volcano looks like a jolly old soul but he kind of reminds me of Jabba from Return of the Jedi!

Luckily his song is heard by another volcano but it is buried deep in the ocean. The female volcano is named Lele and she begins singing her own song to Uku. It’s a peaceful lovely duet.

Like I said this isn’t one of their more groundbreaking shorts but I did enjoy it. Anytime I can look at Hawaii, hear Hawaii, think about Hawaii I’m a fan. It’s a sweet little love story. Can’t go wrong with that.

Overall Grade- B

Pixar Review 10: For the Birds

May 27, 2015May 27, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

We come to the next of our delightful Pixar shorts, For the Birds. This short was done entirely so they could work on feathers for the technology of Sully’s fur in Monsters Inc. Indeed the texture they were able to achieve on the birds is really quite remarkable. They were also able to get different personalities on each of the cute birds. That’s pretty good considering all they do is chirp!

A big bird comes to spoil the party and the little birds think he is a real nerd. They don’t like having him around one bit but he just wants to hang out. Like all the Pixar shorts For the Birds is basically a silent movie bit. I love how happy the big bird is. He’s having the time of his life.

On the audio commentary they talk about the feathers as “pringles” and that it was the first time they could move such details around and manipulate them. It really is quite remarkable when you look at the big bird and all those layers of feathers.

The pay off at the end is very funny and the music by country band Riders in the Sky is just right (same band who does Woody’s Roundup theme).

For the Birds won Pixar another Best Animated Short Oscar in 2000 which was well deserved. It’s so likable, colorful and sweet. Check it out. I don’t have any criticisms on this one.

Overall Grade- A+ (I told you guys there would be a lot of those if I reviewed Pixar)

Pixar Review 8: Geri’s Game

May 12, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

After the release of Knick Knack in 1989 Pixar took a break from their animated shorts to make feature films, Toy Story and A Bug’s Life. This worked because the same crew which had grown up on the early shorts was ready to do longer films. However, by the end of the 90s they had recruited a lot of new talent who they wanted to test out so they reinstated the animated shorts.

Their first short back is called Geri’s Game and it was designed to push their limits for creating a human being. Nobody can deny that Geri looks a million times better than the humans in Toy Story who were used minimally so it worked but this is a whole another level.

It’s a simple silent movie style story like most of the shorts but it is so charming. It’s about an old man named Geri who is playing chess but with who? With himself! The thing that makes it so charming is as he moves from one side of the table to the other the film creates an illusion of 2 players and Geri gives both characters personality. The player with the black pieces is feisty with a wicked sense of humor, and the other guy is more soft spoken and cowers in fear.

It’s a delightful little short and it is directed very well with neat perspectives where you capture the chess pieces from one angle and Geri from another. It’s great stuff!

Geri’s Game was released in 1997 so it won Best Animated Short in the 97 Oscars but it was shown to most of the public with the release of Bug’s Life. This would become the 3rd Oscar with their special award for Toy Story and Tin Toy for best short in 1987.

It’s neat that Pixar has found a way to not only entertain us with their shorts but to nurture new talent and it is perhaps that reason that at least to me they haven’t made a terrible film. You can feel the unique new voices coming out in shorts like Geri’s Game and it is a complete delight. Also keep your eye open because Geri appears in many a future Pixar feature film including our next review Toy Story 2.

Overall Grade- A+