For the Birds (2001)

Fresh and Exciting

Captivating movie !

A Disappointing Continuation

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

"For the Birds" is a three-minute movie from 15 years ago and therefore one of Pixar's shortest and earliest efforts. It won an Oscar in the Animated Short Film category and fittingly the director behind it is named Ralph Eggleston, who also worked as a voice actor here. Surprisingly, after his Oscar win, Mr. Eggleston changed from animation department to art department in the animation sector for most of his following projects. We see a group of restless angry small birds who seem to peck after everything and everybody that annoys them, so after attacking each other, their focus is quickly on a big blue bird that makes another noise than they do. They quickly hunt him away, but he still hangs in. Too late the little fellows understand what him letting loose means. This moment of realization is possibly the funniest part of the film. So you probably know who finally has the last laugh. It's an entertaining three minutes, but I would not say it is Oscar worthy, at least not in terms of the story. Still certainly worth a watch. Recommended and I wonder if the big bird is going to get his own film at some point. Probably not.

Pixar remind us how versatile the short film is as an art form in this hilarious, somewhat silent short that serves to illustrate how the studio would later go on to succeed in shaping the equally serene opening act of their 2008 release 'Wall-E', another consecutive box-office hit for Pixar despite the brave lack of dialogue, which polarises mature viewers as much as it does youngsters.Displaying great craftsmanship in its cinematography with a flawless choice of angles and shots, 'For The Birds' is a perfect example of classic comedy in its simplest form. Less is more.10/10

I remember that "For the Birds" preceded "Monsters Inc." in the theater. I laughed out loud as those ornithological dopes thought that they owned the world until the big guy unintentionally taught them a lesson! It just goes to show that Disney may have hit a big slump throughout the '80s and '90s - turning classical stories into overstuffed musicals - but their alliance with Pixar has produced some really neat work.All in all, this is one that you're sure to love. Among other things, it reminds us that birds are a most unique kind of animal (even when portrayed in cartoons). Really good.

I saw For the Birds when I first saw Monsters, Inc. in the theater. It was alright, but I don't think that the humor was the best part of it. For me, the complexity of the animation was what I enjoyed the most. The incredible detail of each individual feather had to (and did) take years to perfect. If you can look past the attempts to be funny, For the Birds was an excellent example of computer animation, and it deserved to win an Oscar for Best Short Animated Film.