Quite a few people enjoy the short films that Pixar puts out since they tend to tell a story without using words quite often and they’re usually so well crafted that they don’t tend to offend or even ruffle the feathers of that many people. This has to do with the fact that many of them are life lessons that many upon many people can agree with in one way or another since without trying to put any other meaning into the movies, people can accept them as the moral and ethical lessons that they are and agree that they’re just a fun little blurb that can be seen as the attempt of Pixar and those writing the scripts to deliver another fun lesson on morality laden with imagery that will help people relate to the story and possibly get the gist without too much difficulty. In a lot of ways these short films can be every bit as useful as various PSA’s that have been used in the recent past since they offer up a nice story that doesn’t push various ideas on the consumer or pander to them since these films do manage to deal with enough serious content that they can reach people on various levels.
Here are five Pixar short films you should probably think about watching at one point.
5. Bao
In a way, this almost sounds like another version of the Gingerbread Man, which of course is a time-honored tale that has been told in many different ways. But Bao takes off in its own direction as an old woman dreams of creating a bun-baby that eventually wants to leave, even though she doesn’t want him to. In the end, she eats the bun-baby and is horrified at what she’s done, but upon waking up she realizes it was a dream that has to do with losing her real-life son. As she and her son speak though it becomes obvious that they are working things out and by the time the movie is over it would appear that things have been resolved.
4. Presto
This is almost like a classic Tom and Jerry case, save for the fact that Presto and Alec, the magician and his rabbit respectively, happen to work together and aren’t out to harm one another. That relationship sours just a bit when it’s time to go on for the show and Alec, who hasn’t eaten yet, starts to act up and sabotages the act. Presto grows noticeably angry as Alec starts to use the magical hats that can transport things between them to mess with Presto, who attempts to get back at the rabbit but ends up harming himself instead. By the end, the two of them have come to an understanding as Alec is fed and Presto starts giving his co-performer equal billing for their show.
3. La Luna
Sometimes it’s best to let children show the way since Bambino takes a different approach than either Nonno or Papa have thought of as he breaks up the larger star into a spill of smaller ones that can be swept and raked from the face of the moon so that it can be seen. This is one of those that serve as a lesson that everyone has their own way of doing things and that there’s no right way to do some things so it’s not worth arguing about it. To be honest, people will always argue about how to do anything, but the fact is that with some things in life there are multiple ways to do a lot of things that don’t require an argument.
2. Partly Cloudy
Clouds making babies and other creatures is kind of a disturbing thought from an adult perspective, but when looking at it from an innocent child’s eyes it could be quite amusing and even a little more sensible in some way. But unfortunately for Peck, who is the stork that’s assigned to the gray cloud Gus, he has to deal with a number of different dangerous and aggressive animals that are cute but not exactly cuddly. Peck continues to put on a brave face despite the many dangerous creatures that Gus creates, and somehow soldiers on when others might just give up and fly the other way.
1. Piper
Some birds have to become good at flying and others have to become good at foraging. Watching a flock of sandpiper move to and fro with the tides as they search for food and try to avoid the incoming waves is kind of soothing really but it’s also a lesson to learn for the birds since it doesn’t take much to douse one of them. Unfortunately for Piper after being doused she needs to find a way to forage for her food while negating her fear of water. When she sees a group of hermit crabs digging down to find food she gets an idea, and eventually she gets over her fear.
Short films are great for their lessons and their brevity.
Follow Us
