Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"The Pixar Shorts: A Short History" is a pretty good title for this short documentary as it summarizes very well what it is all about. In slightly over 20 minutes you will see scenes from Pixar shorts and see and hear interviews with some of the company's big names, such as Oscar winner John Lasseter etc. This is a video release from late 2007, so of course you won't find references about any short films (and films in general) by the company that came out past this year. But that doesn't mean, it isn't a relevant film today as Pixar of course keeps releasing successful new short films frequently like also for example the very short one about the dog and the skeleton that was an okay appetizer for their (then) upcoming Coco. And of course, there are also many short films that don't have references to other Pixar films and take place inm their very own universe perhaps hoping their characters will enter feature film territory at some point too. If there is any criticism I got here, then it is maybe that I would have liked this one to pay more specific focus to the exact short films this is about, but I can see why that is virtually impossible given the running time we got here. And maybe people are right when they say the subject could not have worked convincingly for a 1.5-hour (or so) full feature film. Still I am not sure I'd agree, but I can see where they are coming from. But at this actual runtime it is working and we get an insightful, interesting and relevant little work. I give it a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out, especially if you love or at least like Pixar films and honestly, how can you not? Go watch it.
