Hello & welcome to the finale of Class Pixar Shorts Showcase. Today, we are ending this event with a triple review. Why am I doing this? Well, with the Christmas season coming up, I have a few Christmas blogs planned and that's why, I'm doing it this way. And also because next week, I'll be taking a week off. With that out of the way, let's begin with Partly Cloudy.
The Plot
The plot was a bit simplistic, even if it did make me question what I watched when it was through. The short opens as we watch clouds making babies out of clouds and then we zoom in on Gus, our main character, who happens to be a cloud, who has the job of making cute but no so cuddly baby animals such as porcupines, eels, and anything that doesn't seem too cute. We then see Peck, the stork that delivers the babies that Gus makes. Peck gets injured by these animals and then Peck sees that his next delivery is to be a baby shark. This causes Peck to grow fearful. This causes Gus to feel rejected and causes him to create a thunderstorm. Peck returns now wearing shoulder pads and a football helmet ready to deliver a baby eel. He is in good spirits as he is electrocuted by the eel. All in all, this short was... okay. Don't get me wrong, I like cute things. I mean, I like My Little Pony for Pete's sake but this short almost seemed on the verge of being too cutesy. Don't get me wrong, the characters were likable but this felt like a short that was meant for just young kids.
Characters
Gus
Gus was likable but there really wasn't too much to him as a character. He just made the baby animals and that's it. Though, you could clearly see that he was upset, when he thought that Peck had left him behind.
Peck
Peck was all right but again, there really wasn't too much to him as a character. He wasn't bad and I did feel bad for him, each time, he got hurt by one of the animals.
My Final Thoughts
This short isn't bad, at best, it's.... passable. That's the best way to describe this short, it's not bad but it's not great either. It's just passable. I don't regret watching it but I think it is skippable. Ah well. let's move onto to Day & Night.
The Plot
I gotta admit that this is easily the weirdest Pixar short. And it's less about story and more about visuals. And that actually works well for this short. Now, this short starts when Day comes across Night and the two at first get off on the wrong foot but as they get to know each other, and learn what they both have to offer in how to view the world, they become fast friends. Okay, I have to be honest, when I first saw this one in front of Toy Story 3, my brain could not process what was going on in this short but I will say that I did like the combination of 2D and 3D animation as that worked rather well to tell this story.
Characters
Day & Night
Day & Night played well off each other and this was a great buddy comedy. These two were the polar opposite but I still find it a little odd that this short personified day and night but it was done rather well.
Memorable Moments
Now before we end this review, I want to go over what I call Memorable Moments or my favorite things in this short. Let's begin.
Pool
The pool was so funny because Night saw a woman and basically became a hound and seeing the wolf howl was a great wrap up to that gag.
Vegas
The Vegas had to be my favorite part of this short because it was so cool to see Vegas at night like that and this was so cool and watching Day and Night dancing with Vegas was just really fun.
My Final Thoughts
This is one of the more out there Pixar shorts but I liked it a lot. I think I liked it more in this watch, then I did when I first saw it. Now join me below as we conclude with La Luna.
The Plot
La Luna is a cute short about a young boy that must choose his own path. The short starts out with Bambino, a young boy, who is about to learn what his family's line of work is. He is with Papa and and his Grandpa, two older men, who are both set in their ways. They are out in a boat and the young lad is about to throw an anchor into the ocean but he is informed not to as his Papa pulls out a ladder and they go up to the moon and we learn that his family sweeps stars off the moon to create a crescent moon. That's really cool and it truly seems like something a young child would dream about. While up there, Bambino sees his elders continue to argue about it, and then a giant star land on the moon and Bambino looks at it and then takes a a hammer to it, causing it to burst into little stars. And then the short ends with Bambino's family putting their differences aside and work to get the job done.
Characters
Main Character
Bambino was a likable character and it was clear that you could see that he was trying to find his place and decide, which path, he should follow but in the end, he learned it was better to forge his own path.
Supporting Characters
Papa & Nonno
These two were rather likable and very comical in their arguing. I enjoyed watching them and it was clear that little Bambino looked up to them as role models.
My Final Thoughts
Out of the three, this is perhaps my favorite short. This short has a dream like quality to it and it feels like a lullaby come to life. And the idea of sweeping the moon truly feels like something a child would think and this short I feel encompasses the innocence of youth and childhood.
Thus, end the Classic Pixar Shorts Showcase. I hope that you've enjoyed this retrospective that I honestly only started on a whim. I had no intentions of doing this until the night, I came up with it. There was no pre planning going into this retrospective unlike my other three retrospectives. It was quite an experience to go through and watch all of Pixar's shorts from Wally B. up to La Luna and see they how they have evolved over the years. I may review The Blue Umbrella down the road but I already told you at the start of this, that I would end with La Luna. I hope that you guys have enjoyed this retrospective as much as I have. Peace!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete