For the Birds

For the Birds is a short and cute animated Pixar film about small blue birds underestimating a bigger blue bird. It's for people who like funny short films and would be perfect for kids of all ages!

In this flappy little film we arrive at a telephone wire, where several little birds land and begin jostling and fighting for space. The camera zooms out and we see a big goofy bird (played by Ralph Eggleston, also the director) who tries to make friends with them. The little birds begin mocking the chunky bird, but the big bird flies over anyway and lands right in the middle. The little birds begin pecking, and try to get him off the wire, but karma finds them, with hilarious results!

I loved the animation in this film. It's amazing that we can tell so much about what the characters are thinking without any dialogue! The birds speak only in tweets, squeaks and honks which leads to some funny misunderstandings, especially between the big bird and the little ones.

I also loved the energetic, jazzy soundtrack which made the film feel upbeat and fun. It even matches the action, like when the wire bends and we hear a glissando slide on the guitar as the birds sink towards the ground.

There is also great visual comedy, like when the birds realize too late what is about to happen!

The animation wasn't amazing by today's standards, but for the time it came out this would have looked pretty impressive. It would have been nice to see a little more colour though. One fun fact is that For the Birds originally played before the release of Monsters Inc. In theatres, all the way back in 2001!

Overall, this is a fun film and it only takes up three minutes of your life! I would recommend it to anyone, especially younger children, who are looking for a short funny dose of movie magic.

The message here may be muddled and a bit heavy-handed (I mean, the small birds wouldn't have fallen, if that goofy bird hadn't perched on the wire in the first place), but the film is really has more than meets the eye. The film is obviously about prejudice. It tells us that different doesn't necessarily equal inferior. That we should adapt to others who look different from us. And that sometimes we really need to be different. But I really liked the hidden message in this one, which is about tolerance. The goofy big bird is totally indifferent to all the rejection and harassment he gets from the small birds. I don't know whether he is tolerable, confident or simply naïve, but I liked how he insisted to stay among them despite everything.

(8/10)

A group of small birds nestle comfortably on a telephone wire. When a large bird wants to join them they treat him with contempt and make fun of him. However when he joins them on the wire they learn a very harsh lesson about accepting others.

Shown before Monsters Inc. this short helped make for a longer running time and give a feeling of more value for money. It is a very simple short, with no dialogue. The little birds are really cool with great facial expressions and manage to be really likeable. The big bird looks real goofy and it's easy to join the little birds in mocking him. I suppose that is good because it makes their lesson our lesson.

The animation is superb, the backgrounds are bright and colourful and each feather on each bird looks really realistic. The short is very funny - funnier than it sounds, the little birds are really funny, kids will love it because all the comedy is visual, adults will love it because it's not too childish. It feels better than it is because it is a one-joke short, if they'd had to make this longer I think it would have suffered. However as a short it manages to be short and sweet, it's not very memorable but it is a funny joke.

Overall it is by no means the funniest 5 minutes of my life (!), but it is a very good one-joke short that is funnier that Monsters Inc (but lets not forget that MI actually needed a better story!). Funny, warm but ultimately forgettable.

Okay an hour, if like me you watch it twenty times, and then watch it again. I recommend copying it from the DVD onto your hard drive, keep it handy.

"For The Birds" is another slick, colourful vignette from the wonderful Pixar animation studio, a delightful moral tale, and simply essential viewing for anyone following their remarkable output.

A masterwork of lightening fast character sketching and feathery CGI texture work, comic at every turn, and still laugh-out-loud funny after two dozen viewings or more. Watch out, most of the best action happens at the left hand side.

The sort of thing you could imagine some Pixar genius tossing off over lunch-break, just for fun, except it probably took months to create and weeks to render. But sure worth every single CPU cycle.

Will get a belly-laugh even from problem children.

-mu

To appreciate a small miracle like For the Birds, see it with children. Observe them as they watch, understand, empathize and laugh out loud to a quirky short with no dialogue. When a director can combine a visually joyful piece that is poignant as well as entertaining to anyone of any age, an Oscar is deserved. For the Birds ranks with its Oscar Winning predecessor Geri's Game as a tiny slice of genius. Bravo. let's hope it ends up on the Monster's Inc DVD. **** out of ****.