For the Birds (2001)

This Pixar short is only three minutes long and won an Oscar for best short animation.It has a simple message. Do not judge a book by its cover and might had been inspired by a Dr Seuss story,Some small birds are sitting on a telephone line when a large bird wants to join them. Thye make fun of him because he does not look like them and try to force him off the line. In short treat him like an outcast.The large bird gets the last laugh as his size means their feathers are more than ruffled.

I've seen this short several times and the first time I saw it at the cinema before 'Monsters Inc,' I found it absolutely hilarious. When my father purchased the 'Monsters Inc' DVD, I also found it funny the second time around but when I was shown this in assembly at school with my fellow pupils, nobody really laughed to my Head of Year's surprise. After having seen this for the first time in several years upon renting the first volume of Pixar shorts on a DVD, I laughed just as much as I did on my first two viewings.The small birds are adorable and the big bird is a hoot. The funniest parts were the little birds seeming to argue when they stood on the wire of the telegraph pole, the honking sounds they make whilst puffing out and the moment the wire flung them up in the air when they were trying to peck the big bird off it. It was also funny when the bids realised their feathers were missing, covered themselves as if they had privates and hid behind the big bird followed by the splat of bird poo on the ending card. The animation has impressive use of the squash and stretch principle, the birds are coloured in a lovely shade of blue and the musical score is reminiscent of those used in 'Luxo Jr' and 'Red's Dream.'Overall this is one of Pixar's funniest and most straightforward shorts. 9/10.

Maverick Pixar can do so many things in three minutes. It can present a contemporary view of the society- teeming with snobbish, truculent, neurotic, vindictive people or in this case birds who show no mercy to outcasts and unite to bring them down the wire the moment the outcast wants to be included in the society. Big birdie over here looks stupid and dim-witted to the bickering birds who are appalled at the sight of their new companion. However, it is big birdie who gets the last laugh.The wonderful thing about Pixar is that its films are dear to it. Therefore, FTB is referred to not only in Finding Nemo but also in Cars. And it's very well made short indeed. 8 out of 10.

This is a wacky little short that is about one big and dumb bird and his dealings with lots of mean little birds. The big guy just wants to be friends, but the nasty little guys want him to go away and don't care what they have to do to make it happen--leading to a very funny conclusion where the little jerks get theirs! Think about it...for the category of Best Animated Short Film for the Oscars for 2002, you have several independent productions made on shoestring budgets...and this WHOPPING production made by the pioneering geniuses at Pixar Films! It's a definite case of "David versus Goliath", though in this case Goliath definitely wins! Pixar couldn't help but win--the graphics were, as usual, superb, the writing was spot on and brilliant and it was just so gosh-darn cute and entertaining. So for the "little guys", it's definitely a huge struggle to beat such a great combination. This film definitely earned the award, but you gotta wonder how tough it must feel to be one of these other filmmakers. Perhaps, in an odd way, this film might be a metaphor about this struggle.