This inaugural SuperPOST™ installment will start where I left off, with Geri's Game and ending with Bao.
Geri's Game (1997) is about an elderly man who plays chess against himself for a day. This short film really resonates with me, since I was in a chess club in middle school, and when I didn't have an opponent to play against, I'd play against myself. I also appreciate the jumpcuts between the "players", each being Geri himself. I also enjoy how each Geri has a different personality, one being a shy player, while the other having a competitive attitude. The French accordion music fits with the autumn-set park background. I really enjoyed the animation quality, even though it's slightly stiff. It's not as stiff as Tin Toy, but it's still noticeable
For The Birds (2001) is about a bunch small little birds sitting on a telephone wire, mocking a bigger bird that wants to sit next to them. This short was extremely funny, since the small birds (who sound like squeaky toys, lol), were trying to thwart the big bird (who sounds like a muted trumpet), by mocking it, alongside trying to poke the bird's talons off the wire, not knowing that the bird's heaviness would shoot them up into space. After they get spaced up, we see the now-naked birds in shock, while the big bird laughs. This is a good moral. Making fun of someone may be funny to some, but can have its consequences. These small birds, with feathers, can be seen in the CGI-Flexing and Iconic "Life is a Highway" scene in 2006's Cars.
Boundin' (2004) is a musical short about a dancing sheep. At first glance, it reminds me of Paramount and Nickelodeon's underrated classic Barnyard. But after a nice first watch, I seen more influence on Home on the Range than that. Also the sheep character is such a cute, yet charming character. One thing I think is that buck teeth make a character even cuter. And a lot of these characters have 'em. I also enjoyed the classic country sound of the music, with the steel guitars, banjo and soft harmonica. It's like a Johnny Cash vibe that fits with animals. I also enjoy the mild moral about racism and the ups and downs of life. I really enjoyed the animals, especially the jackaloupe. He's a good role model.
One Man Band (2006) is a 5-minute short, set in medieval times, about a young girl smack dab in the middle of 2 musicians, both being one-man bands, hence the title. These musicians go all out 1-Up'ing each other, until they go on a full on musical duel! This duel overwhelms the poor little girl, who wanted to give one of them a coin. The coin accidentally falls, but she gains a violin after starting to cry. All of a sudden, after 2 sour notes, she plays really good. She tricks the new musical friends of hers by tossing 2 coins from a bag of coins they gave her into a tall fountain. I thought this was an excellent short, which gives off Horton Hears a Who vibes, in terms of animation, which is ironic, considering that film is now owned by Disney. The score was done by legendary film composer Michael Giacchino, who later on did the fanfare for the 2012-present Paramount logo. Wait a sec, that's 2 Paramount references in this review! Giacchino's themes made this short even more of a fun time, and it's totally worth the 5-minute runtime.
Lifted (2007) tells the story of a young alien learning the ways of abduction. The best thing about this short is the animation, the lighting, and the music, again composed by Michael Giacchino. The animation is very cool, like how the aliens look like they're made of gummy candy, the lighting is exceptionally good, especially when the abductor beam grabbed the redhead guy set to be abducted, you can see where his shadow is refracting, and the score gives it that sci-fi feel. I also think that if the controls were a D-pad and 2 buttons, it would be easier for the alien-in-training to control the beam. I also loved the transition from the Pixar logo, to the moon in the sky. The intro gave off heavy Courage the Cowardly Dog vibes, and I can't state that fondly enough. The ending where the man falls, uttering an echoed Wilhelm scream is really funny as well.
Presto (2008) tells of a magician named Presto DiGiotagione, who forgets to feed his rabbit one too many times. Out of annoyance and hunger, Alec Azam, Presto's rabbit pulls little tricks on Presto, like snapping a mousetrap on his index and middle fingers, and doing the classic Three Stooges eye poke. This kinds reminds me of the rabbit from The Secret Life of Pets, who is also a good rabbit gone wild. It also makes the rabbit cuter by giving him buck teeth. But ALL cartoon rabbits have 'em so yeah. He's cute but crazy! It also kinda indirectly reminds me of child labor/slavery, like the kind of stuff Nestlé is known to use. It kinda makes me wanna see a kid working for Nestlé do that stuff to their boss, so they'd have the food they'd want. But I digress. I also don't get why tobacco depictions would be a problem for age ratings. I wouldn't smoke ever, nor would I if it were shown in a movie or show.
Partly Cloudy is a 2008 short about a race of sentient clouds that bring babies to life by sculpting clouds like clay, so that storks can deliver 'em. This is my first watch, and I really liked the idea. It looks like the predecessor to Storks by Warner Animation Group, which is really interesting, and I think that the idea of storks delivering babies to their mothers and fathers is such an interesting concept, and has always been a great thing to make animation from. Again, Michael Giacchino delivers a brilliant score.
Day & Night (2010) is a seamless mixture of CG and 2D animation, telling about the uncommon friendship of two personifications representing Day & Night, aptly named after their respective personifications. This film's mix of 2D characters shadowing 2 different environments is extremely genius, and Michael Giacchino's music gives the film such a jazzy feel. This 8-minute production also perfectly describes the harmony between day and night in such a great way, with the radio station saying that people should enjoy the mysterious.
La Luna (2012) is a coming of age story of a young Italian boy who starts to work alongside his father and grandpa, moving stars that light up on the moon into a crescent moon shape. These stars might have been used to test model instancing (appearances of a single model, used instead of copy-pasting said model). With a score by Michael Giacchino, an Italian-American, that totally fits the mood, you can't deny that this is one of the most underrated Pixar shorts ever made.
The Blue Umbrella (2013) is a romance story involving 2 umbrellas, one red and one blue, that fall in love during a busy, rainy evening commute. I really enjoyed the Steadicam-style camera, alongside the city landscape having faces plastered here and there. The vocal music is cheery, and the romance element, alongside the umbrellas, with their cute faces, kinda reminded me of the usual Apple commercial. I just think that it makes some sense, since Steve Jobs used to be a Pixar higher-up.
2015's LAVA is another romance film about ocean volcanoes. It kinda has an Asian/Pacific Islander-style vibe to it, and I'm all in for it, considering my step-family is full of AAPI individuals, such as my cousins Scott and Jacob, and my Uncle Al, and Grandpa Varney. They are really nice people, bu I digress.
Lava's main volcanoes are voiced by Hawaiian singers, and contains a cheesy, yet beautiful song about 2 volcanoes in love (their love is measured as lava, tacky, but creative), the last bit, with their harmonization, almost made me shed a tear. It's that good.
2015's Sanjay's Super Team is a short "based on a mostly true story" about an Indian boy named Sanjay who loves comics and cartoons. He likes to daydream about Hindu gods in a Saturday morning superhero cartoon setting, which combines his love for comics with his father's Hindu traditions. This is also Pixar's first PG-rated short, for some scary imagery. The writer and director of this short is the actual Sanjay from the short itself. The animation in this kinda gives off The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker vibes, which makes sense, since modern Zelda games are somewhat inspired by Hinduism and its gods.
Piper, from 2016, is a short about a young sandpiper leaving her nest for the first time, digging for food, underneath some 'scary' waves. This film uses a similar photorealistic style to The Blue Umbrella, but it's a beach instead of a city. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a BBC nature documentary, without any narration. It's that good.
2017 gives to us Lou, the story of a toy thief named J.J. that ruins recess for a bunch of children, stealing a football, a Nintendo 3DS-like system, and an American Girl-esque lunchbox. This short reminds me of the penultimate act from Toy Story when the toys come to life in front of Sid. Pixar self-plagiarizing Pixar. XD. But I digress. If I were one of those kids, I wouldn't let a bully take away my Nintendo Switch, and as such, would keep it home. But it turns out J.J. was bullied by a toy thief himself, because Lou, the blob of lost & found items that comes to life, shows J.J. a toy he lost when he was younger. He smartens up and changes his ways. Because of this, a little blonde girl gave him a hug after giving her back a stuffed toy. After giving everyone back their belongings, he plays football with the kid who brought said football with him to recess. I'd recommend this short to people who want to remember the fun of outdoor recess, and those nostalgic times in elementary school.
And finally for tonight, 2018's Bao, by Domee Shi, tells the story of a Chinese mother is upset because of her son growing and leaving home. For some reason, when she was making some dumplings, one of them springs into life, becoming a young little Dumpling-Boy named Bao. Through the short, Bao grows up quickly, leading to the moral that nothing can stay small and cute forever (except for characters with buck teeth, lol). But I digress. This short has some great traditional Chinese music, from the Guzheng and Erhu instruments. This short film was so heartwarming, as it shows the little dumpling growing up, and it turns out that the dumpling was similarly growing like her said son. The dumpling looked exactly like the lady's son, complete with glasses! That was a great fantasy story that sounds like it could be a modern day Chinese fable. I'd give it 5 dumplings!
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