To paraphrase another diminutive Lucasfilm creation: judge films by their size, do you?  You soon won't after watching the massively enjoyable PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION: VOLUME 1, now available on DVD and Disney Blu-Ray high definition discs. From its humble but ambitious beginnings as a digital filmmaking experiment under George Lucas' ownership in the mid-1980s to becoming its own brand-name powerhouse of computer animation, Pixar started small like these films and grew to push the limits of both cinematic technology and entertainment. Mirroring the birth of motion pictures itself, animator John Lasseter and the brilliant computer gurus working on the Pixar project yearned to exploit the full dramatic potential of the new digital filmmaking medium far beyond the uninspiring research test reels which passed for early computer animation circa 1984. Applying classic hand-drawn animation skills and storytelling to the cumbersome calculations of computer graphics, simple geometric shapes were modeled and rendered into primitive film characters.  Pixar's early attempt in this burgeoning artform finally engaged emotions while wowing audience's eyes at the digital marvels created. Two decades later and counting, Pixar Animation Studios continues leading the entertainment industry in CG storytelling, and this invaluable DVD set takes audiences back in time to see how it all began.

THE ADVENTURES OF ANDRE AND WALLY B (1984) Witness the birth of Pixar animation in this 90-second short which debuted (nearly completed) at the Siggraph convention, wowing computer graphics experts and geeks alike. In this early era of computer graphics, most digital animations were merely test reels for the latest effects: surface composition, reflective filters, shadowing, etc. While the latest innovations were impressive to technicians, the resulting "films" themselves quickly became tedious, boring loops to watch. The inclusion of former-Disney animator John Lasseter's hand-drawn skills and character development changed the future of digital animation, as he and his Pixar compadres yearned to test the technology's ability to tell a simple, emotionally engaging story beyond the mathematical rendering of geometric shapes. THE ADVENTURES OF ANDRE AND WALLY B was the brainchild of that experiment, and just the opening moments of the short had Siggraph screening audiences cheering.

Bill Reeves designed and rendered the forest environment which resembled an impressionist painting: a simple layout background but offering visual depth and beauty as Andre fled from his bumble bee pursuer. Lasseter animated the two characters, modeled on simple teardrop, ball and box shapes which the Pixar system could render while allowing then-maximum range of moment and emotional expression. Tom Duff and Eban Ostby programmed the 3-D rendering system and Alvy Ray Smith directed the film. This final result may be crude by today's standards, but it's easy to see the visionary promise of what Pixar animation would later become — especially as an early example of Pixar's insistence that the latest CG technology should never overshadow good storytelling.

By showing off Pixar's ability to render moving light sources and diffused shadows, the scenic layout couldn't even feature a background — it was left black to conserve computer processing power and time devoted to tracking the light beams and shadows across the wooden floor, rubber balls and characters.

Again, none of these silicon-based limitations ever constrain or weaken the simple but effective story of a parental lamp and its playful little tyke. Thanks to its heart and character-based humor, LUXO JR. holds up as well today as any of the Pixar feature films created after it.

RED'S DREAM (1987) As John Lasseter says in the featurette documentary Pixar Shorts: A Short History, he always wanted to do a short with a sad ending — and jokingly he boasts, "The European's love Red's Dream!" While the technical abilities of character animation, virtual cinematography and image rendering grew considerably since LUXO JR., this short is much less successful gaining and keeping audience interest or sympathy.

This might result from the choice of a unicycle as the main protagonist to hold attention for over 3 minutes, given the object's inherent lack of anthropomorphic features to exploit in animation. Aside from a tilting seat for a head and a pedaled wheel for movement, the unicycle by nature is a reduced, simplified form obeying little beyond its function. The pedals simulate and imply footsteps of a sort, but the wheel base can only work in a cycle motion which offers no variation other than speed or direction -- no chance for Red to leap, jump or stumble as an expression of emotion, just round and round motion which loops identically.

In the end, this short is more of a tone poem long on moody lighting design, but lacking in enough comedy or pathos to make Red or his rather illogical dream endearing to audiences.

This computer-generated breath of life puts the Tin Toy in immediate comedic conflict with the baby of the house, who appears as a giant, destructive menace at first. The toys, balls and stuffed animals cowering under the couch, out of harm's way, also foreshadow the theme of toys fearing their less-than-playful owners. TIN TOY's story is very simple to understand and enjoy, shifting Pixar's efforts to the quantum leaps made in layout, complex character design and richer rendering abilities. Pixar's ambition paid off as TIN TOY won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

KNICK KNACK (1989) John Lasseter's return to shorts as pure cartoon, KNICK KNACK was conceived strictly as entertainment and not a Pixar technical showcase. After years of tiring innovation and hard work, the Pixar crew wanted a break and to produce a film just for fun. So this short features simple geometric characters made mostly of plastic (easy to render), and focuses on silent physical humor woven through a one-line plot: a glass-globe snowman wants to break out of his watery dome and join the party held by other mementos on his shelf. A vocal score by Bobby McFerrin provides the underscore audio track.

Lasseter opted for a Tex Avery style of toon humor — the snowman inexplicably produces a jackhammer, blowtorch and dynamite to bust out of his dome — which seems at odds with Pixar's track record of more organic, character-driven laughs. Despite the snowman's efforts, ultimately the laugh is on him in the short's finale which turns the thin plot full circle again. KNICK KNACK is enjoyable to watch, but the humor wears thin in repeat viewings.

Note that in TIN TOY, the baby's diaper was an immobile shell around his body, since the ability to make the diaper cloth fold and crumple around the legs took a decade to perfect. Geri's face also gained a vastly wider range of expression than previous Pixar characters — as put to the test while Geri and his alter-ego match wits and attitudes across the chessboard.

The story line of GERI'S GAME is simple, almost existential, allowing the fun of this imaginary contest to play out from the opening moments. Basing the short on one character simplified the herculean task of representing a realistic human as a technical feat, yet allowed animators to maximize emotional expression and character range all from the same model source. This film was an ingenious showcase for Pixar Animation upon its release, and it remains one of their most solidly entertaining productions today.

FOR THE BIRDS (2001) Another for-fun production, FOR THE BIRDS actually began this story as a film school project years before it became a Pixar production. As director Ralph Eggleston puts it in the audio commentary, "I just didn't have the heart to draw all those feathers." Indeed the computer controls make the multitude of feathers look and behave realistically, but its another subtle advancement which takes a backseat to character expression and storytelling.

FOR THE BIRDS focuses simply on the comic situation of one large goofy bird disrupting the telephone line pecking order of a flock of tiny birds who snub the newcomer. It's the classic battle comedic foils as the plot raises the stakes until the final punchline payoff, a cartoon staple which never fails.

BOUNDIN' (2004) Following the more narrative trend of the previous short, writer/director Bud Luckey weaves tale of a Montana lamb living the high-country life until a farmer shears him. The saddened sheep is cheered up by a jackalope who brightens up the dreary scene and shows the lamb that he's more than just his wool.  Despite getting sheared and jeered at, sometimes bounding along through life's ups and downs is the key to happiness.

BOUNDIN' is a blend of story and song celebrating a carefree attitude and appreciation for what one has in life. While enjoyable to watch, the narration and song drive the story much more than the characters who appear more as types, differentiated by species more than personalities. Well-animated to be sure, this stands out as the least Pixar-like short in the collection, borrowing the Studio's distinctive visual style but lacking the heart and ingenuity boldly displayed in the previous films.

Kari gets more screen time but has little room to expand her character, and beyond displaying Jack-Jack's nascent super-abilities at random, it's tough for him to hold the lead in the story either. Thus the short relies solely on a string of physical and special effects gags for comedic content, which lack the sustaining strength of more character-driven humor. And frankly, no matter how much Jack-Jack enjoys his ability, I found watching an animated infant burst into flames and run around the room starting spot fires just a little too creepy for my cartoon taste. Not a true short film in either content or intent, this is the weakest entry in the collection.

ONE-MAN BAND (2006) A hilarious highlight of the DVD set, ONE-MAN BAND is a prime example of expanding beyond the typical animation and design styleS of previous Pixar shorts while upholding the Studio's fine tradition of clever comedy. Co-directors Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews storyboarded this short with composer Michael Giacchino who provided the instrumental 'dialog' as two one-man bands battle for the coin of a little girl intent on making a wish in a fountain.

Save for Giacchino's character scoring, the story itself is told in the best silent film traditions of Chaplin and Keaton, revealing personalities through expression and action alone. How these two competitors continuously raise the comedic stakes in their game snowballs into heartier laughs as the musicians play more feverishly to impress the little tot. The final twist in the battle yields a topping laugh perhaps unequaled in the entire Volume One collection.

ONE-MAN BAND is a tour-de-force of comic pacing, timing and character study, reminiscent of the classic Warner Brothers Bugs and Daffy short "Rabbit Season" yet utterly original and delightful on its own merits. After fully enjoying the laughs after a few viewings, please take note of the beautiful, lush background layouts of this idyllic village: this short boasts some of the richest lighting, texture and coloring effects of any Pixar production. Certainly it's one of if not the best short on the DVD.

John Lasseter and Dan Scanlon co-directed this story based on a Route 66 ghost story, wrapping the story kernel around the cast and environment of CARS for inclusion on the film's DVD release. Mater's fellow vehicles turn the table on the prankster tow truck after he's played gotcha on all his friends.

It's a tough assignment to imbue automobiles which easily identifiable personalities, considering how un-human cars appear and behave even when animated -- a hurdle which I never quite got over in CARS theatrical release either. But the short still plays well and the animation is every bit as full and successful as it was in its feature length father.

LIFTED (2007) Seen in theaters as the cartoon prelude to Disney/Pixar's RATATOUILLE, director Gary Rydstrom's short about a teenage misfit alien having trouble abducting his first human subject is another prime example of Pixar mini-productions. Stu, the hapless E.T., attempts to beam up the human under the glaring eye of Mr. B, his gelatinous instructor, and the results are a hilarious disaster.

Rydstrom's background is in sound design at Skywalker Sound, having mixed the amazingly dense audio tracks for many of Lucasfilm's biggest hits including the latest STAR WARS episodes. Thus Stu's UFO operating panel duplicates the mind-boggling collection of identical switches found on Rydstrom's sound mixing board. Stu's ineptitude plays out the elevation of the director's 'day job' to nightmarish proportion and comic effect.

LIFTED is another solid example of the simple strengths which can be found in the short film format, and how such a confined medium can deliver full-size enjoyment. Rydstrom's first directing effort demonstrates promise for his storytelling aptitude, and LIFTED caps the PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION: VOLUME 1 on a high note.

BONUS FEATURES

As noted earlier, the bonus features include THE PIXAR STORY: A SHORT HISTORY, an informative, entertaining documentary recapping Pixar Studio's birth and string of successes in animated shorts. Interviews with John Lasseter and the initial team of technicians who started it all offer personal insights into the development of computer graphics animation from the ground up — and just like their short films, the stories of the crew members balance technical discussion with human experience well.

Also included are four short-shorts starring the two Luxo lamps, demonstrating simple lessons which appeared on the Sesame Street television series. While navigating the various DVD menus, keep a sharp eye open for two hidden easter egg features: one an early pencil test animation of LUXO JR., the second a 1986 color test of animating waving flags above the rolling surf of a sunset beach (techniques fully exploited two decades later in FINDING NEMO).

Of great interest are the filmmaker audio commentaries on twelve of the shorts enlighten viewers (just as briefly) about more of the people and inspiration behind these animated gems. Certainly DVD viewers should watch the entire collection first without the commentary, but this added bonus feature enhances our appreciation for the filmmakers' final productions.

The PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION: VOLUME 1 will be enjoyed by moviegoers of all ages who marvel at the Studio's artistry in their hit feature films. Learn as much or as little about the development of these animated delights as desired, this DVD will get lots of repeat play in your family as these shorts run very long on quality entertainment.