With Disney+'s launch earlier this month and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, there's never been a better time to binge old favorites. This week, we're looking back at Disney hits and catching up on movies we missed the first time. Join us for a walk down memory lane.
Pixar may be known primarily for their features, which over the past few decades have established a commercial and creative track record that any studio would envy. But just as essential to its history and identity is its rich catalog of short films, which goes back to before Toy Story was even conceived.
These shorts are where Pixar first built its reputation, where they've experimented with new styles or cultivated new talent. They've won awards and delighted audiences, many of whom rarely see any short films at all beyond whatever Pixar serves up before their latest blockbuster release. They're also, by and large, just plain delightful — bite-sized portions of the signature's heart and humor. And now, thanks to Disney+, they're all available at your fingertips.
But where to start? Below, we've ranked the 20 Pixar original short films to date. (Not counted: Pixar shorts based on existing features, like Jack-Jack Attack, and shorts produced by Pixar's SparkShorts program, like Purl.)
20. The Adventures of André & Wally B. (1984)
Premise: A bee pesters a man in a forest.
The Adventures of André & Wally B. must have seemed mighty impressive in 1984: It's the first short film produced by the studio, then known as Lucasfilm's Graphics Group, and showcases an early example of the computer animation technology that they would eventually take mainstream with 1995's Toy Story. In 2019, though, it's more interesting as a historical artifact than a movie, seeing as it's just a two-minute scene of a bug bothering a dude.
19. Red’s Dream (1987)
Premise: A unicycle dreams of stealing the spotlight from a clown.
Red's Dream had a melancholy streak that's slightly unusual for Pixar, with a rainy nighttime setting and a moody jazz score. And its graphics must have looked cutting-edge at the time, up to and including that creepy-looking clown. Ultimately, though, the tone doesn't quite cohere, and the pacing seems off, making Red's Dream just another dusty relic of Pixar's early days.
18. Lava (2015)
Premise: A lonely volcano dreams of meeting his perfect match.
There's no denying that Lava looks pretty. Maybe even too pretty: This is a movie in which the "male" volcano gets to look like, you know, a volcano, but the "female" volcano has to look like a hot chick. Which might be forgivable if the rest of the film were creative or profound or moving enough to make up for it, but instead Lava relegates most of the narrative heavy lifting to a cloying (YMMV) song that swaps in the word "lava" for "love." No thanks, I'm good.
17. Tin Toy (1988)
Premise: A toy one-man-band encounters a destructive baby.
On the one hand, Tin Toy was a clear precursor to Toy Story, telling a nice story about the relationship between child and toy, and its graphics were advanced enough that it became the first CG film ever to win the Best Animated Short Oscar. On the other hand ... um, have you seen the baby? It may not be the kid's fault that computer animation in the late 1980s was simply not up to the task of creating realistic-looking humans. But that doesn't change the fact that this ostensibly adorable moppet looks like the most terrifying hellbeast ever conjured onscreen.
16. Boundin' (2003)
Premise: A vain lamb is shorn of his beautiful coat, but finds a new positive attitude after a passing jackalope teaches him about the joys of jumping.
Boundin' bounces in with a mildly catchy tune telling the mildly entertaining tale of two mildly adorable creatures on the western frontier, but by the time it bounces back out it's hard to suss out what exactly the point of it all was: that vanity is bad? That a positive attitude is what matters in life? That jackalopes, as a species, are underrated? Whatever it is, it's not enough to make this one stick.
15. Geri's Game (1997)
Premise: An old man plays chess with himself, with dramatic results.
Geri's Game ranks on the lower end because there's not enough there there to push it up higher. Nevertheless, it deserves credit for looking as good as it does: Sure, the 1997 visuals aren't quite up to 2019 standards, but Geri's facial expressions are elastic and nuanced enough to run the gamut of emotions from fear to concern to triumph, twice over.
14. Lou (2017)
Premise: A lost-and-found box teaches a schoolyard bully a lesson.
By far the best thing Lou has going for it is Lou himself. His unusual form — he's a jumble of items left in the lost-and-found box, and can rearrange himself at will — encourages inventive action beats, and allows the Pixar team to show off just how good they've gotten at recreating different textures. On the whole, though, Lou amounts to little more than an anti-bullying PSA that tips over the line from sweet into sappy.
13. One Man Band (2006)
Premise: Two one-man-bands compete for the attention (and money) of a little girl in a deserted plaza.
One Man Band may not be one of Pixar's prettiest shorts — it looks a bit drab, a bit flat. But what it lacks in looks, it makes up for with crackerjack comedy. Like most of these films, it's entirely wordless, but the music (by Michael Giacchino), facial expressions, framing, and editing work in concert to craft a funny little fable with some truly satisfying twists. Take that, grown adult men willing to bully a little girl for tips.
12. The Blue Umbrella (2013)
Premise: Boy (umbrella) meets girl (umbrella).
As a story, The Blue Umbrella is no great shakes — it's about a boy doggedly pursuing a pretty girl he saw once on the street, and it might read as borderline creepy if the characters involved were not inanimate objects. Where this short film shines is in its look. Combining an almost photo-real style with dainty music by Jon Brion, The Blue Umbrella turns a dreary cityscape into a hidden world teeming with friendly faces and helpful souls, if only you know where to look. It's basically Faces in Things: The Movie, and that's more magical than anything the trite romance has to offer.
11. Lifted (2006)
Premise: A young alien struggles to abduct an earthling, in the UFO equivalent of a driver's license test.
Lifted starts out looking like a familiar alien-abduction tale, before taking a sharp swerve into the unexpected. The aliens' Jell-O-like physiques let Pixar have fun with exaggerated expressions of emotion — some of the biggest laughs come from a face turned just so, or a body practically melting in despair. And they're a testament to the studio's ability to make you feel for anything: Leave it to them to drum up sympathy for monsters from space who would do us harm.
10. Knick Knack (1989)
Premise: A snowman wants to escape his snow globe to hang out with a flirty fellow knick-knack.
There is something admittedly a bit uncomfortable about a story centered on a (snow)man's irrepressible lust for a (plastic) woman, especially knowing what we do now about its director, John Lasseter. That said, Knick Knack might be one of the flat-out funniest shorts Pixar has ever made, as its increasingly desperate protagonist resorts to Wile E. Coyote-level schemes to escape his dome — only to discover that cruel fate has other plans in mind.
9. La Luna (2012)
Premise: A little boy from a family of star-sweepers finds his own way within their old traditions.
La Luna has the feel of a forgotten chapter from The Little Prince, with its bedtime-story premise and gentle tone. It's also, hands down, one of the prettiest films Pixar has ever made: The warm glow of the stars pops against the deep indigo sky, and their soft tinkle is complemented by a lilting Giacchino score. All of which is to say that it builds a dream world we wouldn't mind getting lost in, even if the actual story here doesn't run all that deep.
8. Presto (2008)
Premise: A rabbit gets his revenge on the magician who's neglected to feed him.
If Pixar ever made a Tom and Jerry episode, it might look something like Presto. Crisp animation, sharp comic timing, and one very good gimmick (a pair of hats that function as a sort of mini-wormhole) make Presto a hilarious exercise in escalation, as Alec the rabbit comes up with increasingly elaborate ways to torment the magician who's forgotten to feed him. Unlike a lot of other Pixar shorts, this one isn't reaching for poignancy or profundity — it's content with just being very, very funny, and that it pulls off with flying colors.
7. Bao (2018)
Premise: An empty-nester raises a sentient dumpling as her son.
Bao is proof positive that a short film doesn't necessarily mean a lesser film — this one serves up an entire feature's worth of emotions, themes, and plot twists in just eight minutes. True, the metaphor it's built around takes a shocking (and low-key horrifying) turn around the emotional climax. But the beauty lies in the details of this tender piece, from the culturally specific settings of the story to the richly textured foods and fabrics.
6. For the Birds (2001)
Premise: A big, friendly bird tries to befriend a bunch of small, unfriendly birds on a power line.
There's not a lot to For the Birds, but what there is is deeply satisfying. Not only is it extremely adorable, featuring a big, bright bird who looks like a cousin of Kevin from Up, it's relatable: Who among us hasn't felt like the ungainly weirdo trying to hang with a tight-knit clique? And who, in that situation, hasn't kind of wished for some mild revenge against the jerks who rejected us?
5. Partly Cloudy (2009)
Premise: A storm cloud makes scary monster babies for his poor stork partner to deliver.
Cotton-candy clouds and big-eyed baby animals make Partly Cloudy an especially pretty piece, even by Pixar's sky-high standards. But this one centers on the rejects in their midst — an insecure storm cloud and a battered-looking stork — to spin a tender tale of friendship and acceptance. Monsters need love, too. Leave it to Pixar, the studio with a proven track record of making audiences cry over literally anything, to be the one to give it to them.
4. Day & Night (2010)
Premise: Polar opposites meet and become friends.
Day & Night employs a mix of animation styles to tell the story of two very different beings who initially regard each other with suspicion and hatred before finding common ground in their mutual love of ... bikini-clad women? Okay, so that part's not great. But the sights and sounds of Day & Night comprise some of Pixar's most innovative work ever, and its ultimate message — of embracing, rather than fearing, the unknown — is one that should never go out of style.
3. Luxo Jr. (1986)
Premise: A little lamp plays with a ball, to a bigger lamp's chagrin.
If Luxo Jr. is anything to go by, Pixar's "What if [thing] had feelings" formula was perfected years before Toy Story was even out in theaters. These lamps feel like fully realized characters with distinctive personalities and emotional expressions, despite having no faces or voices and only bending in ways a real task lamp would. (In fact, it probably helps that these are firm, predictably shaped objects — as Tin Toy shows, Pixar wasn't exactly up to the task of animating humanoid creatures at this point.) It seems only right that Luxo Jr. and its ball endure to this day, as part of the studio's instantly recognizable production logo.
2. Piper (2016)
Premise: A baby bird learns to face its fears.
Piper may not be intended to look completely photo-real a la The Lion King or The Jungle Book, but its pleasures include surf bubbles so vivid you half-believe you could pop them, and teeny-tiny bird feathers so delicate you may catch yourself reaching out to smooth them, and characters so sweet-looking you'll want to pluck them right off the screen and take them home. As if all that weren't enough to make it one of Pixar's best shorts ever, the story it tells is a resonant and timeless one about screwing up one's courage and stepping outside one's comfort zone.
1. Sanjay's Super Team (2015)
Premise: A little boy imagines a superheroic battle between Hindu deities and a demon.
Sanjay's Super Team understands that entire worlds can separate two family members sitting just a few feet apart — or serve as the bridge uniting them through a small but significant gesture of understanding. Sanjay's living room looks cut from the same cloth as other recent Pixar settings, like Bao or Lou, but the fantasy world he's transported to looks like nothing else the studio has ever produced before, all elegant 2D lines and dazzling flashes of light.
Combined with the sharply observed details of Sanjay's real life with his dad — a well-worn calendar here, a disappointed slump of the shoulder there — this daydream paints Sanjay's story with a vividness that a more straightforward telling never could, and by the time we reach its heartwarming end, the film has earned the tears leaking from our eyes. With its creative premise, unique style, and emotional heft, Sanjay's Super Team exemplifies the very best of what a Pixar short can be.
