M.R. Dinkins
November 22, 2012
HDTV Solutions

The compilation of 12 short films presents the opportunity for extended families to sit on the sectional together for a shared spud experience - not that every couch tater's taste will tolerate each viewing equally.

Your Friend the Rat is a perfect example. The movie Ratatouille hatched this battle between two formidable species - us versus this insidious, indomitable, invasive rodent.

To be upfront, the short was my favorite. It's the educational film that no one took the time, talent, money or humor to make for our classrooms. (Occasionally something comparable turned up on educational TV.) But the content is also somewhat alarming: that rats gnaw their way through steel, squeeze through infinitesimal fissures, eat 10% of their weight per diem, spread deadly disease, and, yikes, multiply way faster than a bevy of banging bunnies.

All the funny bits were beastly bits. And any kid (or adult) old enough to appreciate the film might also grasp how vulnerable we are. Especially in the dark. Eeek!

I loved the cartooned fact-anchored history: each era describing the migration and proliferation of those damn rats is illustrated with an entertaining animated artistic style derived from the historic period. Kudos.

Like this one, most of the shorts were inspired by big-time award-winning Pixar/Disney feature films like Up, WALL-E, Toy Story and Cars, so your family can identify lots of the characters. Others have the production company stamp since the artists all participated in creating the feature films.

With the exception of my creepy fave, the independent shorts were, for me, more appealing for their unique style, vision and voice - each one reflecting the artists' wacky originality. La Luna (seen in 3D on the Brave Blu-ray DVD), and Partly Cloudy are inventive musings of an Italian and a Korean childhood memory.

Day and Night, is an ingenious concept where a sunny-day encounters a moody-night. My words fail where this clever cartoon triumphs. Of course I learned much of this from the directors' commentary where artists shared their secrets.

For the more adventuresome and hardcore audience, watch the Bonus early films by such famous animators and Academy Award winners as John Lasseter (Toy Story), Andrew Stanton (WALL-E and Finding Nemo) and Peter Docter (Up). These young artists were destined for success. Proof is in their creative student films.

Studio: Pixar Animation Studio

Director: Various

Cast: Various voices

Length: 12 Shorts, 75 minutes total

Rated: G

Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

Audio:
English:
  Dolby TrueHD 7.1 or 5.1
French:
  Dolby TrueHD 7.1 or 5.1
Spanish:
  Dolby TrueHD 7.1 or 5.1

Subtitles:
English SDH, French and Spanish