Official Synopsis
From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes the Short Film Collection, an extraordinary new collection of award-winning and beloved short films featuring Disney’s Frozen Fever, starring Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Sven and Kristoff, and the Oscar®-nominated Lorenzo.
There’s a nice bevy of animated shorts in this collection, even more so than the last release from Pixar (Pixar Animated Short Collection).There’s a good mixture of hand drawn animation and computer-driven Pixar-esque constructions, so you’re getting about every type of animated style that you can think of with this Short Films Collection. And there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of old school/new school diversity.
What’s also impressive about this collection is the amount of imagination that went into it. Having only a small amount of time to get a message across is what makes these so beautiful to watch in motion. Selling your viewer humor, emotion and/or morals is tough to do when you’re limited to 10 minutes at max. These artistic teams pull it off perfectly, though, which makes this collection a treat.
Anyway, here are the shorts included:
John Henry: Disney put together a John Henry cartoon way back in the day. It carried the same message as this one – believe in yourself, your cause and you’ll be set free to do the impossible. If you’re not aware of John Henry’s story, and my kids weren’t, this goes along the same lines as the original cartoon from Disney. John Henry is a railroad worker that goes up against a machine that does his job (smashing railroad stakes into the ground) faster and supposedly better. To save his family and friends, Henry takes it upon himself to outperform the machine and prove that the handwork of men cannot be replaced by mere machinery. A passionate story that is done right and ends like the original cartoon, as well as the original story. This had my son in tears (he is a sensitive lad).
Lorenzo: A story of a greedy, fat cat that meets his match with what can only be presumed as the devil. Incredibly dark for a short, especially at the end, but in true Disney style, skirting the line of dark/tragic, all is pulled back for humor and proper conclusion. Just be forewarned, the ending contains a cat, a tail and a knife. Again, definitely a dark short, but nonetheless the payoff is entertaining. My kids were generally concerned about the cat’s well-being. This one reminded me a bit of Stephen King’s Thinner, though only in attitude.
The Little Matchgirl: If the viciousness of a cat with a knife doesn’t get you, the sad tale of a girl who sells matches on the street certainly will tug at your tragic heartstrings. Again, much like Lorenzo, the story turns out well in the end, but getting there will certainly grip your emotions a bit. Love the animation style, though. It lends well to the message.
How to Hook Up Your Home Theater: All those Goofy instructional videos from the 60s have led up to this moment. In classic Goofy style, he is tasked to do one thing, but ends up messing it up. If you’re familiar with past Goofy cartoons, you’ll appreciate this one. It’s well-done, though definitely the weakest of the bunch in this collection.
Tick Tock Tale: Magical and beautiful. Clocks come alive at night only to be enormously annoyed by a clock with an alarm made up of a German man who drops his pants and makes a squeak sound (more innocent than described). Determined to get rid of the German-man-led clock, the other clocks ridicule and even attempt to break the clock…until the clock saves them from a thief. Tragic in a sense, but great recovery at the end. The message in the short is clear — it’s okay to be different.
Prep & Landing Operation: Secret Santa: Won’t ruin this one. Enjoy it.
The Ballad of Nessie: A touching tale of Nessie that is sung. Nessie finds her loch through various means of soul searching. The narration is the best part, as it harkens back to a 60s era of cartoon animation that sometimes is led by narration or song. It’s a well-done piece with less sophisticated animation than the rest of the collection.
Tangled Ever After: Never give a horse rings, as they have only hooves. Almost no dialogue in this one, but that’s completely okay. You get to see a series of wacky situations in one quest to re-obtain rings that are lost during Rapunzel and Flynn’s wedding ceremony. Probably my favorite of the bunch, as it is led by physical comedy.
Paperman: A love story done in a black and white style (not all of it, though). Much like Tangled, there is no dialogue, but the non-verbal communication between two destined love birds is evident. I remember seeing this in the theater and loving it. That love hasn’t faltered.
Get a Horse!: My second favorite of this collection. The animators took an old Mickey Mouse cartoon and converted it into a fight between eras. Mickey is literally thrown out of the animation cel by Pete, as he kidnaps Minnie, and there is a creative tangle between worlds. The folks who did this one did a great job with it and treated the animation gap between styles pretty darn well. Don’t pass this one.
Feast: Big Hero 6 sported this at the beginning and it’s still very entertaining. Life through the eyes of a dog that relies on his owner’s mood/situation to feed him. The dog is adorable, the story is simple, fun, tragic and redeeming. The end scene is the best, as I know this happens in expanded households quite a bit.
Frozen Fever: Anna and Elsa return, as Elsa is preparing a birthday bash for Anna, but suffering from a fever through the process. Everyone is back for the celebration, even the giant ice monster. I know kids will certainly eat this up, and while it’s not my favorite of the bunch, it certainly offers up a good time with quick bits and lots of humor. Definitely a worthy way to end the collection.
That’s what you can expect from the collection and all of it combined make it worth the money and time. I am especially happy that before each short they have the leads (directors/producers/etc) talking about why/how they made each of their pieces. It makes it all more personal. That was a nice addition to the mix.
On the Blu-ray side of things, the transfer for each short is done perfectly. There are no imperfections or issues with the HD transfer. The animation of each is stunningly gorgeous and something of a visual treat for the eyes. The unique animation styles, even though some are incredibly different than others, is brought over to Blu-ray in spectacular fashion. Disney did a great job with this one.
Lastly, on the special features side of the tracks, here’s what you should expect:
– @DISNEYANIMATION: A SHORT STORY ON SHORTS
The feature here is solid, as you get some good interview footage from some of the animators/producers. The feature is led by T.J. Miller, so that’s a huge bonus. Outside of that, there is a Disney Movie Anywhere feature called Runaway Brain, but nothing else on the Blu-ray.