Pixar Short Films Collection 2 (2012)

This is the second collection of Pixar Shorts, but the first one that I've seen. I have to admit that I loved the Toy Story films and "UP" was one of my favorites but I've missed "Cars" and it's sequel and the others.

The Bluray at hand contains a dozen shorts, clocking in at 75 minutes. Each can be played with, or without, the Directors' commentaries. (So you get about 2 ½ hours of entertainment in the base package). The other bonus is really neat. It's a selection of seven "Student Films" from the three top Pixar directors: John Lassiter, Andrew Stanton and Pete Doctor. These were made in the late 1980s and each one (they run about six minutes each) is introduced by the Director. Some are just animated line drawings with sound while others are more fully realized and were shown in the Mike and Ike Animation festival. All were new to me and I found them fascinating and fun.

As to the "core dozen", there are both what I'll call "funny" and "serious" shorts and not all use the CGI method of animation. Two are offshoots of the film "UP". The first features Dug, the dog. It's okay. The other "George & AJ" shows that the senior, Carl (Ed Asner) in "Up" was not the only one who wanted to escape the retirement home. I liked that one.

There are two offshoots of "Cars" with the hayseed pickup, Mater, telling "tall tales". Clever.

"Toy Story" has two offshoots too and they are a hoot! "Hawaiian Vacation" does a real job on Barbie and Ken (especially Ken) as they try to leave the toy chest for Hawaii. The other "Small Fry" takes digs at Fast Food "meal deal prizes". Wonder where all those outdated toys from movie tie-ins that failed go? You (and Buzz Lightyear) will find out here.

"Day and Night" is a wordless piece as is "Partly Cloudy" and what I'll call the "serious" ones. This is a case where you'll get more out of it after you hear the commentary track.

While "Small Fry" was close in the "funniest short in the set", the hands-down winner is the opener: "Your Friend The Rat". Two characters from "Ratatouille" present in about seven minutes the "History of the Rat", just like the old Disney Educational cartoons of the 1950s did. Director Jim Capobianco uses 2-D, hand drawn animation as well as other "old school" techniques along with CGI in a short you'll watch a few time just to catch the jokes and clever satire.

As fellow reviewer N. Schoenfeld pointed out in his "review" (actually a "preview" since he had not yet seen the collection) the Bluray set is pricey, but I'm not reviewing price here. The images are sharp even on my 30 year-old standard def TV screen and there is an amazing amount of creativity here. The "Cars" and "Toy Story" shorts will appeal to small children (but they won't get a lot of the "inside" jokes"). They'll probably be bored with the "serious" ones and the less flashy "Student Films" too. But adults who love great animation will find a lot in this set to enjoy!

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.

Steve Ramm

"Anything Phonographic"

If you like Pixar Shorts and want to watch them all in one place without popping discs in and out this is a great deal.

However, there are two ways this falls short of the first volume:

1) The first volume had some Pixar stuff that had never been collected along with specials/shorts from the various title discs. Everything on this disc is found elsewhere.

2) The first volume had a "Play All" option which was great for just popping the disc in and watching. This volume doesn't seem to have that feature which means you have to keep selecting the next short to watch. My kids love watching these and I frequently popped the first disc in while working in the kitchen or on a drive to occupy them and now this is no longer an option for the second volume.

Buy Pixar Short Films Collection 2 (2012) Now

Anyone who has seen Pixar shorts, knows how wonderful they are. The content on this disc is no exception. But this is a product review, so the value of the product as well as the film itself should be taken into account.

Considering this product is the price of a feature film release, and that there are 40 mins of content here, and 50+ mins of content on volume 1, I don't see the value here. It would be better if all shorts up until now were contained on one set, and with a greater amount of special features. (These special features do exist, but unfortunately you have to buy all of Pixar's feature films, along with their shorts, to get them all). I wouldn't be as critical, but Disney is notorious for releasing something, then re-releasing it, followed by a re-re-release a year later.

Read Best Reviews of Pixar Short Films Collection 2 (2012) Here

If you have volume 1 it is the same with 4 shorts added, 2 are Mater. I was disappointed that I spent 20 for 20 minutes of new film.

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I give the videos 5 stars, but...

They made the disc so that each short has to be selected and started from the menu. In other words, there is no "play all" selection. My kids want this video on all the time, but I can't always be there every 5 minutes (literally) to select/start each short. Even when I am sitting and watching with them, I don't like to have to keep selecting each individual viewing.

Epic Fail for whoever came up with this menu idea.

The first PIXAR shorts disc isn't like this. Come on PIXAR! The shorts are the best thing from PIXAR as of late. Now this? I think quality control is slipping.

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