Presto (2008)

it is the first word. not the most inspired because Pixar ambition remains to transform all in magic. and in this case the case is solves. a magician, a rabbit and a carrot. and the show is complete, seductive, nice, hilarious, bitter and perfect. tricks, allusions, the poor man, the clever rabbit the final scene. all as pieces of a crazy run for success. the air of circus, the nice story, the details. and Wall - E the best second side. because it is only a story about need of success and illusion, about feelings and innocence. and, sure, about friendship. a lovely short animation who could remembers the hours of childhood. just a show, mixture of imagination and impeccable technique. that is all. or, maybe not. but for discover that , it is useful to see it .

This short was nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Short. There will be spoilers ahead: This is an exceptionally funny short from Pixar which points up the perils for a magician who neglects to feed his rabbit before the show. There's no dialog in this intensely visual short. If you blink, you'll miss something. This one is reminiscent of Tex Avery. The only way the magician survives this short is the fact that he's a cartoon character! There's a moment in here which will cause roughly half the audience to reflexively flinch and cringe. The lesson here is to let a very determined rabbit eat breakfast or you'll suffer the consequences. The end of this short has the act with significantly different billing.This short is available on DVD both as an extra on a Pixar feature and on the Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2. The short is well worth watching. Most highly recommended.

I first saw this short when renting 'WALL-E' a few years ago and like 'BURN-E,' it was mostly forgettable to begin with but I vaguely remembered the scenario of the magician and his rabbit.While Presto is bumbling in an appealing way, Alec is adorable and hilarious at his attempts to grab a carrot. Some of the music matches the actions very well although the drum rolls and 'ta-dah' fanfares are repetitive but I suppose they need to be for a short set at a magic show. The electricity bolts look cheap but the animation is up to Pixar's usual standards and I like the old-style opening and closing credits that make me think of earlier Disney cartoons. The tricks are amusing, especially the egg in Presto's face and the long ladder coming out of his hat as is the standing ovation when Presto falls from the ceiling along with moon, star and sun-shaped props.Overall this is a humorous short that is on par with the film it theatrically preceded despite the fact that I never saw this nor 'WALL-E' at the cinema. 9/10

Pixar shorts have long established themselves as not only gorgeous eye candy and funny but also clever and intelligent. I have always found it incredible how short films (whether they are animated or not) seek to tell a story in a short space of time. The very best do so in such a way that you have become connected with what you watch. In this sense I find short films to be much more remarkable than full length features as the most poignant of them have to overcome the limited time slot allocated to them. And Presto does just that. How can a magician and a little rabbit cause so much hilarity and mayhem in just a few minutes while also making you actually care for both characters? It is beyond me but that's what Pixar delivers. Presto lends homage to many of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons and is a roller coaster ride of enjoyment for both young and old. Following on from the equally magnificent "Lifted", "Bounding" and "One Man Band", Pixar has cemented themselves as not only the masters of creative story telling on the feature-length screen but also the short-length one. Combine that with the ever amazing (and now taken for granted) techniques used in their animation and you have an animated package that you will want to watch over and over again. Bugs would be so proud...