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Well, get over yourself, bub. Those shorts are not designed for you, there are designed as examples and tests of cutting edge computer animation technology. You know, films like Toy Story and Cars don’t just spring up out of nowhere- the hardware and software used to produce them has to be created from scratch, and design and implementation has to be tested and evaluated. You have to have something to gauge your progress, and something to show to potential buyers to prove that what you have to sell is worth the cash. So you produce shorts, and eventually, you have gained enough fame and your shorts have become so good that they get slapped onto a disc and sold to the masses. The Pixar Short Films Collection gives you everything, from the first short done by the Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Project (later spun off as Pixar Animation Studios) called The Adventures of Andre and Wally B., to the latest, included with the film Ratatouille, called Lifted. A period of over twenty years of computer graphics animation is represented here, and from start to finish, you get to see a visual evolution of cutting edge technology, and how Pixar went from a small division of Lucasfilm experimenting with computer animation, to the multi-billion dollar powerhouse producer of hit films that it is today. In fact, as great as watching the shorts is, I would loved to have seen more about the company Pixar itself. Granted, I am a total geek, and probably have more interest in that stuff than the general public, so I can understand why the history of Pixar was not shown in greater detail. However, as the total running time of the shorts is under an hour, a full length documentary about Pixar would have added some value to this disc, as the asking price is the same as that of a feature length film, and in my opinion, it is too much for the content provided. Considering that this compellation was over twenty years in the making, it will likely be a long time before an honest volume two can be offered (by honest I mean real shorts, such as those on this disc, and not a bunch of stuff Disney pumps out to make a volume two for the sole purpose of cashing in) and I will most probably be dead before it is released, so waiting is not really an option, and an in-depth history of the company on this release would have been perfect. Unfortunately, I’ll have to be content with the short history that is provided on this disc, and while it is informative, I know there is much more that could have been said. If you are a die hard fan of Pixar stuff, you will want to add this disc to your collection. If you are merely interested or curious, rent it first, and see if you think the price is worth what you see. While the shorts themselves are indeed entertaining, it is what they represent- the history of the development of computer animation- that is a far more interesting story, and one this release almost completely misses. -Ed-
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