I recently watched and ranked all the original theatrical Pixar shorts but there are many more shorts from the studio out there. In this article, Iâm taking a look at all the short films and TV series that relate to existing Pixar properties. Rather than rank and individually review this copious material, I thought Iâd use each separate franchise as a heading under which to discuss all the supplemental material that relates to it. In some cases, such as WALL-E and Brave, there is very little extra to discuss, while the likes of Cars and Toy Story have vast amounts of bonus stories to explore. So letâs dive in to the extended Pixar universe.
Luxo Jr.
Before any of the feature films had even been made, the first Pixar production to get a series of spinoff shorts was a short itself. The popularity of Pixarâs iconic little lamp Luxo Jr. led to the creation of four educational shorts for Sesame Street: Light & Heavy, Surprise, Up and Down and Front and Back. As you might expect, thereâs not a lot of new ground to be broken with this character. The shorts, only one of which breaks the minute mark, serve their purpose in using Luxo Jr.âs easy charm to teach preschoolers the meaning of their titular words, but only Pixar completists will want to seek them out. The curious are advised to try Light & Heavy, the longest of the shorts, as it has some nice animation of Luxo Jr. attempting to push a heavy object and pushing himself backwards instead. Ultimately though, after this neat little side gig it was time for Luxo Jr. to take his iconic place at the head of every Pixar release. You show that âIâ whoâs boss, Luxo!
Toy Story
Given the enduring popularity of Pixarâs inaugural franchise, itâs hardly surprising that Toy Story has a considerable amount of spinoff shorts and series. Itâs also unsurprising that this fertile creative source spawned most of the best movie-related shorts. If I were to rank the Pixar movie-related shorts (who am I kidding? I already have!), 90% of the top 10 would be Toy Story films. But before we get to the really good stuff, letâs deal with the disappointments and anomalies. In terms of the weaker material, there are three educational shorts called Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs, in which Buzz recounts to Rex and Hamm his journey into space with NASA. This was based on an actual event in 2008 when a real Buzz Lightyear toy spent 15 months orbiting the International Space Station as part of a joint Pixar/Nasa educational initiative. The Mission Logs, subtitled Blast Off, International Space Station and The Science of Adventure, are a little bit tedious and have a scrappy feel to them. Although Tim Allen, John Ratzenberger and Wallace Shawn all reprise their roles, they are mostly heard in voiceover, with images of the Nasa mission and more basic educational animated inserts taking prominence. As a DVD extra, the Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs might prove diverting to kids interested in space travel but otherwise theyâre a bit of a slog to get through, even at just three and a half minutes apiece. Still, Iâd rather watch them on a loop than subject myself to the two short episodes of Fluffy Stuff with Ducky and Bunny again.
Part of the Pixar Popcorn series, in which characters from various Pixar films star in very short adventures, the Fluffy Stuff shorts feature my two least favourite characters in the whole Toy Story franchise. Voiced by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, who I generally quite like, Ducky and Bunny always felt like an awkward fit for the franchise. Their interactions, especially in this pair of shorts, feel like the sort of improvisations that amused the actors at the time but should never have made it any further. Though I suspect the majority of their Toy Story 4 dialogue was scripted, I wouldnât be surprised to learn that the Fluffy Stuff shorts, subtitled Love and Three Heads, were entirely ad libbed. Most of the Pixar Popcorn episodes are dialogue-free but the Fluffy Stuff episodes are basically nothing but dialogue, with the titular pair blathering on in an unfunny manner about who is more lovable and why Bo Peepâs sheep appear to be a three-headed creature. Itâs pointless to get too worked up about what amounts to minutes of screen-time but amidst the generally uninspiring bucket of Pixar Popcorn, the Fluffy Stuff shorts are the bits they found under the cinema seats. A third Pixar Popcorn episode, To Fitness and Beyond, is scarcely better, featuring a short exercise routine by Buzz in which a few of the other toys become involved.
Of the remaining Toy Story spinoffs, the anomalies are the Toy Story Treats and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. The former are a collection of short bumpers aired between shows in ABCâs One Saturday Morning cartoon block. Although thereâs a certain eerieness to seeing a lower budget rendering of Andyâs room and hearing most of the characters voiced by different actors (Jim Hanks, Tomâs brother, voiced Woody, as he would on several other occasions), these ultra-brief inserts are genuinely a treat and watching them all together back to back gives them a delightful sketch show feel, a pile of plaything punchlines! The continuity is off, with Buzz still apparently unaware that he is a toy despite the toys from Sidâs room being present, suggesting these sketches take place after their liberation from Sidâs reign of terror, although they never actually ended up in Andyâs room at all. Still, these non-canon snippets werenât made to be nitpicked in such a fashion, they were made to be enjoyed by kids who would like seeing the characters they recognised flash across their screen for an amusing few seconds. For Toy Story fans, the Toy Story Treats are well worth seeking out.
The other anomaly, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, is one I canât really talk about with great authority, having only seen a handful of episodes. This is partly because the series is not readily available, which some attribute to the rumour that John Lasseter hated it and wanted it suppressed. Whether this is true or not, you can see why Lasseter might feel that way given how tonally different it feels from his own work with the Buzz Lightyear character. For one thing, the series is traditionally animated, with Pixarâs contribution being a short opening segment that establishes the notion that the series is a TV show that inspired the Buzz toy and which Buzz now watches with the other toys in Andyâs room. Thatâs a similar premise to Pixarâs later film Lightyear, only Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is much more convincing as something that might inspire young boys to covet a specific action figure. From the limited number of episodes I viewed, it seemed passably funny and engaging, and perhaps if it were available on Disney+, as many have called for it to be, I might have had a chance to let it grow on me more. Despite it being comparatively forgotten, a lot of hope was pinned on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, with the opening few episodes being consolidated into a straight to video movie. Patrick Warburton, who voiced Buzz in the show, had his lines redubbed by Tim Allen for that special release. Again, itâs an interesting, if not wholly successful piece, with blurry continuity which suddenly suggests that the Pizza Planet aliens are part of the Buzz Lightyear universe, a link never previously hinted at. Still, as a Walt Disney Television Animation production with only small contributions from Pixar, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is rarely considered canon.
For those like me who felt that Woodyâs transition from Andy to Bonnie at the end of Toy Story 3 was too quickly followed by Bonnie having grown tired of him at the beginning of Toy Story 4, the theatrical Toy Story Toons series and the pair of longer TV specials that came out in the interim go a long way towards filling in the gaps in that story. Though none of these shorts focus on Woody as the main character, just having seen stories in which he is involved that are set in the Bonnie era makes Toy Story 4âs narrative seem less in a rush to move things along too quickly. The Toy Story Toons trilogy premiered before the theatrical releases of Cars 2, The Muppets and Finding Nemo 3D. The first, Hawaiian Vacation, focuses on Barbie and Ken and their attempts to enjoy a makeshift break in Hawaii staged by the toys after their attempt to stow away in Bonnieâs backpack for a real holiday goes wrong. The second and best short, Small Fry, sees Buzz accidentally abandoned at a fast food restaurant where he becomes part of a support group for franchise tie-in toys given away with the meals. And the final short, Partysaurus Rex, finds Rex fashioning a new identity for himself as an irresponsible party animal when he is left in the bathroom after a bathtime play session with Bonnie. All three Toy Story Toons are great, with the ingenious notion of Happy Meal style toys harbouring inferiority complexes standing out as the smartest concept (interestingly, the miniature Happy Meal Buzz actually debuted over a decade earlier in a spot gag in the Toy Story Treats bumpers). The twenty-five minute TV specials, Toy Story of Terror and Toy Story That Time Forgot, are even better. Given the time to stretch out and tell a longer story, they also give a couple of supporting characters a chance to shine. Trixie the triceratops plays the lead in Toy Story That Time Forgot, a prehistoric adventure in which a playdate becomes a dystopian battleground in the intricate world of the Battlesaurs playset. And anyone who was upset by how thoroughly marginalised Jessie was in Toy Story 4 will find succour in Toy Story of Terror, which explores her PTSD from having been abandoned in a box for years on end. There are some slight issues with the TV specials. Toy Story of Terrorâs identity as a Horror parody gets knocked off centre halfway through when it becomes a more straightforward thriller instead, while itâs villain, a motel manager who steals toys and sells them to collectors online, is a tad too reminiscent of Al from Toy Story 2. The Battlesaursâ obliviousness to their status as toys is also to some extent a replay of Buzzâs arc from the original film. Still, if you can get past this mild sense of deja vu then the Toy Story TV specials represent the best of Pixarâs movie-related short content, and if you string them together with the Toy Story Toons you basically have an anthology film you can watch between Toy Story 3 and 4, which enhances the overall experience. Toy Story 3 and a 1/2, if you will.
The remaining shorts are spinoffs from Toy Story 4. Like many, I was a little bit disappointed by Toy Story 4 but I still found it enjoyable nonetheless and its spinoffs, the execrable Fluffy Stuff shorts aside, more than justify its existence. Bo Peepâs return in Toy Story 4 was much ballyhooed but the film was so overstuffed that I felt she was sold short as a protagonist and ended up being marginalised too often. Lamp Life is a corrective to this, following Boâs story from when she was given away by Andyâs family through to her reunion with Woody. Pixar had made several of these gap-plugging shorts previously, including The Incrediblesâ shorts Jack-Jack Attack and Auntie Edna, the Up shorts Dugâs Special Mission and George and A.J. and the WALL-E spinoff BURN-E. Like those shorts, Lamp Life adds extra detail and nuance to its parent film and helps to elaborate on a character transformation that some found hard to buy. The other Toy Story 4 spinoff is the short series Forky Asks a Question. A lot of people had a problem with the character of Forky, finding him too ludicrous and annoying. I couldnât disagree more. Between the fantastic premise of a makeshift toy suffering an identity crisis and Tony Haleâs hysterical voice work, Forky is one of my favourite creations of the whole franchise. In this laugh-out-loud funny series, Forky interviews various different toys and annoys them with his lack of attention span and toddler-like incessancy. His question rarely gets answered to a satisfactory degree but by the end his initial quest has usual been derailed by tangential concerns. The Emmy-winning episode What is Love? spotlights the voice work of veteran comedians Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Carol Burnett and Betty White, whose cameos in Toy Story 4 are vastly expanded upon here. Other highlights include acting lessons with Mr. Pricklepants in What is Art?, annoying British accents in What is a Computer? and an interview with an inanimate mug in What is a Friend? You have to have a particular sense of humour to enjoy or even tolerate this much Forky but the fact that I watched the whole series in one sitting (and in tears of laughter) suggests Iâm right in the sweet spot.
Monsters, Inc.
With A Bugâs Life spawning no spinoff material whatsoever, Monsters, Inc. became the first Pixar feature to be given its own official short film. That short, Mikeâs New Car, also became the only movie-related Pixar short to be nominated for an Oscar. A fun little slapstick piece in which Mikeâs attempts to show off his new automobile to Sully lead to catastrophic and painful results, Mikeâs New Car made a nice addition to the burgeoning franchise but it was surpassed in quality by Monsters University spinoff short Party Central just over a decade later. Iâve never been a fan of the ho-hum Monsters, Inc. prequel but Party Central is a very funny companion piece in which the now graduated Mike and Sully use a couple of borrowed door stations to help their nerdy fraternity brothers steal a party, food, guests and all, from their rival fraternity. The final gag, involving the mother of one of the students, is hilarious and gives rise to some unforgettable imagery.
These two shorts aside, Monsters, Inc. also has its own spinoff series, Monsters at Work, of which there are currently two seasons. It doesnât quite fit my brief as it is actually a Disney Television Animation production with no input from Pixar, but it deserves a mention as not only does it reassemble the majority of the original voice cast and respect the established continuity of the Monsters, Inc. universe, but it is also a very effective and enjoyable workplace sitcom. Set in the immediate aftermath of Monsters, Inc., it follows the awkward transition of the company from a scream harvesting plant to a laugh gathering one. The protagonist is a newly graduated scarer named Tylor Tuskmon who suddenly finds his considerable talents rendered useless. A star-studded voice cast includes Mindy Kaling, Henry Winkler and the returning Billy Crystal and John Goodman, with Mike and Sullyâs attempts to run the company themselves forming a parallel story to Tuskmonâs experiences as a new employee. The series received mixed reviews but at the time of writing Iâm halfway through it and really enjoying it. I hear season two gets even better as well.
Finding Nemo
For such a beloved franchise, the handful of supplementary material that Finding Nemo has received is surprisingly weak. The best and most unusual of the Nemo shorts is Exploring the Reef, a blend of live action and animation in which Jean-Michel Cousteau (son of Jacques) attempts to make a documentary about coral reefs but keeps getting interrupted by Marlin, Nemo and Dory. It is fitfully amusing and novel, although thereâs a running gag involving a musical sting which is thoroughly run into the ground and Cousteauâs acting is distracting poor. Also passably enjoyable is the brief Finding Dory spinoff Marine Life Interviews, a series of talking heads featuring the supporting characters discussing the events of the film. These two decent efforts are, at the time of writing, unavailable on Disney+, leaving just two extremely feeble Nemo shorts. Dory Finding, part of the Pixar Popcorn series, is a fleeting piece in which Dory, silent throughout, finds and experiments with various objects at the bottom of the ocean. Itâs odd to see a character as blabbermouthed as Dory rendered silent, although Field Trip will make you nostalgic for that silence. An episode of LEGO Pixar: Bricktoons, another weak series which presents short films featuring Pixar characters reimagined in Lego, Field Trip is very dull and unfortunately the Finding Nemo episode doesnât feature the original voice cast. While Jesse Harnell does a decent Marlin, Jennifer Haleâs Dory sounds conspicuously different from Ellen Degeneresâs take on the character and this, coupled with the rather tiresome Lego gimmick, pretty much scuppers Field Trip from the outset.
The Incredibles
The Incredibles franchise seems to lend itself pretty well to short films, with its charactersâ fantastical abilities translating well to brief sight gags. This stands it in good stead for the two Pixar Popcorn shorts featuring the Parr family. Chore Day shows how the family pitch in to get the housework done while Cookie Num Num shows a midnight battle over the last cookie. Both shorts play out without dialogue and are clear highlights of the distinctly below-par Pixar Popcorn series. The even worse LEGO Pixar: Bricktoons series also features an Incredibles short, Pizza Night, which is the clear standout. Featuring dialogue this time, and thankfully all the correct voice actors, it finds Violet and Dash taking on Syndrome while an oblivious Bob tries to make pizza. Fitting in nicely alongside these slight novelties, although a good deal funnier, is Mr. Incredible and Pals, a parody of low-budget 50s and 60s animated serials like Clutch Cargo. Pasting live action mouths onto drawn images, Mr. Incredible and Pals is a spot-on recreation of these fondly remembered but undeniably terrible series, right down to its anti-communist plot, its stereotypical depiction of a slang-spouting Frozone and its unnecessary animal sidekick.
The remaining two shorts are essentially the same premise played out with different protagonists, although that change of characters makes all the difference. Jack-Jack Attack fills in the details of what happened when the titular superhero baby was left with teenage babysitter Kari McKeen. This scenario occurs in the first Incredibles film but we only hear Kariâs increasingly desperate answerphone messages and see the aftermath of Jack-Jackâs emerging powers and abduction by Syndrome. This hilarious short shows these events from the other side of the phone. Kari McKeen is one of my favourite minor Pixar characters so I was delighted to see her get her own short and it doesnât disappoint. Auntie Edna, meanwhile, shows what happened when Jack-Jack was left in the care of Edna Mode in Incredibles 2. Though Edna is much more resilient than Kari, it is still fun to see her steely resolve put to the test by Jack-Jackâs emerging powers, and Auntie Edna makes a nice companion piece to Jack-Jack Attack.
Cars
Although it is one of the more frequently maligned Pixar franchises, the Cars series boasts by far the most spinoffs. Like the films themselves, the Cars shorts range from wonderful to terrible, although there are a great deal more that fall into the latter category. One of the main reasons for this is that the majority of them are from an era when Pixar seemed convinced that Mater was the key to the franchiseâs popularity, and that the way to make it even more popular was to push him into the spotlight and make him louder. So we got Materâs Tall Tales, the first strand of the Cars Toons series, featuring no fewer than eleven Mater-centric shorts. The premise is simple: Mater tells Lightning McQueen a suspiciously elaborate story about his past, which we see in flashback. When McQueen questions it, Mater replies âWell, you oughta remember. You were there!â We then see Lighting McQueen incorporated into the fantasy. Just when everyone has written the whole thing off as a lie, a final occurrence seems to validate what Mater has been saying all along. Without those final beats, the Materâs Tall Tales films actually feel vaguely astute on the psychology of compulsive liars, with Mater so convinced of his own fantasies that he can boldly incorporate the person to whom he is telling the lie into the story itself. However, once the story is validated by the unlikely arrival of a character or element from it, the whole thing stops making sense. If Mater is telling the truth, does that make McQueen delusional in not remembering the part he played in the story or is Mater supposed to be partially delusional and partially truthful. Whichever way you look at it, the Materâs Tall Tales series undermines the credibility of the Cars franchise by introducing things like aliens and time travel into its otherwise grounded world. Time Travel Mater is especially egregious in that respect, given that the fantastical elements occur in real time rather than as a far-fetched flashback. Quite apart from anything else though, these shorts are just tediously repetitive. The same premise and punchline played out again and again inevitably loses impact, with only a couple of the shorts changing the formula. I enjoyed the ending of Mater the Greater, in which Mater actually incorporates McQueenâs own death into his anecdote before driving off and leaving him agog. By far the best of Materâs Tall Tales is Tokyo Mater, as casting Mater as a Tokyo Drifter allows the film to lean into a racing scenario, always the Cars franchiseâs strongest suit. This was the only one of Materâs Tall Tales to receive a theatrical release, as the supporting short to Disneyâs Bolt.
An earlier Mater-centric short, Mater and the Ghost Light, was released as a DVD extra on the Cars disc, and it is better than the majority of the subsequent Mater shorts, itâs spooky storyline given longer to play out and develop. Mater was also a key player in the LEGO Pixar: Bricktoons Cars short Trust Yer Olâ Pal, Mater, which proved to be one of the highlights of an admittedly lacklustre series. Elsewhere in the Cars world, a second short series of Cars Toons subtitled Tales from Radiator Springs featured a collection of brief, underwhelming narratives. In contrast with Materâs Tall Tales, these shorts aimed to capture very small moments in the daily lives of the vehicular protagonists: The gang trying to cure Lightning McQueenâs hiccups, Red battling with a pesky insect, Guido practicing his sign spinning skills. Itâs mostly quite humdrum stuff, although the final short, The Radiator Springs 500 1/2, is a little more ambitious and features a lengthier story about an off-road race that is a vast improvement on the other inconsequential snippets. Owen Wilson returned to voice Lighting McQueen in this short, after Keith Ferguson filled the role in the other Cars Toons.
The other Cars shorts are barely worth a mention. Miss Fritterâs Racing Skoool, a very brief spinoff from the excellent Cars 3, is a faux-commercial for the psychotic school busâs titular establishment, while Unparalleled Parking and Dancing with the Cars are two dialogue-free Pixar Popcorn episodes which just involve a bit of driving and dancing about and little else. The final Cars series is of some note, however. Cars on the Road is a nine-part series about Lightning McQueen and Mater heading on a cross-country road trip to Materâs sisterâs wedding. Their various stops along the way form mini-adventures which spoof various films and genres. The short eight minute episodes build up into an episodic 72 minute whole which is a preferable option to Cars 2. The original voice cast return for Cars on the Road and so does the inspiration, with each mini-adventure being a delight. One thing worth noting about Cars on the Road is that it can be pretty full on. Many parents complained that their preschooler children had nightmares after watching Lights Out, a trippy homage to The Shining which features antifreeze spilling out of elevator doors and a genuinely terrifying chase sequence with a shrieking demon vehicle. Other episodes also feature intense moments, especially the paranormal spoof The Legend. Opening episode Dino Park has a great Ray Harryhausen tribute with some potentially frightening dinosaurs, Road Rumblers is a Mad Max homage, and Salt Fever features Materâs actual death, although it is sadly impermanent. Actually, having said that, Mater is entirely tolerable in this series, with Cars 3 having already demonstrated that he can be a decent character if used correctly and not just reduced to a pile of yee-haw bumpkin clichĂ©s. Cars on the Road, then, proves to be one of Pixarâs most enjoyable spinoff series yet.
Ratatouille
Ratatouilleâs sole short Your Friend the Rat is an anomalous educational piece that drones on for eleven minutes about the importance of rats in human history. Combining computer animated inserts of Remy and Emile with traditionally animated sequences to illustrate the points of their lecture, thereâs a reasonable level of invention here, although the suggestion that a good relationship between humans and rats can be evidenced in the latterâs use a laboratory test subjects is a harder sell than the notion that a rat could control a human chef by yanking clumps of his hair.
WALL-E
WALL-Eâs one and only spinoff short BURN-E focuses on the minor character of a maintenance robot who gets accidentally locked out of the ship in one of the few visual gags I actually enjoyed in this acclaimed film that Iâve always found tedious. For a non-WALL-E fan like myself, BURN-E is a bit too tied up with the original film to work as a standalone. We see lots of WALL-E and EVEâs space dance playing out alongside BURN-Eâs narrative, as a way to show exactly when the events of the short occur. Other Pixar shorts like Jack-Jack Attack and the subsequent Dugâs Special Mission were able to tell stories that ran parallel to events in their parent films without relying too heavily on replaying moments and I think BURN-E mightâve worked better if it had not inserted so much of WALL-E and EVE into the mix. Nevertheless, BURN-Eâs simple comedy of workaday headaches is something I enjoy more than its source feature, largely because BURN-Eâs hapless working stiff persona is more appealing to me than WALL-Eâs cloying, please-love-me whimsy.
Up
The supplementary features to the grand adventure of Up are a curious collection. One of them, the low-budget George and A.J., focuses on the two nurses from Shady Oaks Retirement Village, who come to pick up Carl Frederickson on the day he lifts his house aloft with thousands of balloons. With very limited animation, George and A.J. plays out like a glorified storyboard for a short film proposal, and perhaps thatâs what it actually was. Somehow though it became an official Pixar short, and it is quite funny. It plays fast and loose with Upâs preposterous premise, supposing that Carlâs airborne adventure inspired a spate of geriatric rebellions of an increasingly elaborate nature, but the filmâs significantly different art style makes it easy to consider it as a fanciful imagining rather than a canon story fragment. By contrast, Dugâs Special Mission is clearly meant as a canon addition to Upâs main narrative, ending where Dugâs introduction in Up begins. The backstory it provides for Dug is negligible, with the film opting instead for a series of Looney Tunes inspired slapstick gags, so this vaguely entertaining trifle can easily be disregarded as offhandedly as George and A.J.
The rest of the Up spinoffs are part of a series called Dug Days, which follows Dugâs domestication as Carlâs dog in their new suburban house. In contrast with Upâs grandiose narrative, Dug Days aims for a quaint, small-scale appeal. Its stories are set within the confines of the house and garden and dwell on the minutiae of Dugâs new, settled life. The sweet domesticity of Dug Days is captured quite well but honestly Dugâs antics become a bit dull when deprived of a bigger canvas on which to play out. With its recreation of basic canine behaviour, Dug Days probably plays best for dog lovers, which I am not. I prefer flying balloon houses.
Brave
Brave has never been among my favourite Pixar films so its pair of modest spinoffs are of scant interest. Still, The Legend of Morâdu at least does a decent job of expanding upon the lore of the parent film, with Julie Waltersâ witch recounting the story of the evil prince who was turned into the titular ferocious bear. The Legend of Morâdu uses brief computer animated inserts of the witch with basic traditional animation that recalls the storyboard-like style of George and A.J., albeit with a bit more dramatic gravitas. Itâs not a bad little addition to the Brave universe, although the LEGO Pixar: Bricktoons short Patience is a Bear is best avoided. It uses a conspicuously different voice cast to tell a pointlessly slight tale very badly, and is the worst short in a sadly poor series.
Inside Out
Inside Out is one of my favourite Pixar films but it really doesnât lend itself to the short form medium. The emotional complexity explored so beautifully over feature length is pared down to basic, stereotypical gags about overbearing parents and spaced out teens. Thatâs what we get in the disappointing Rileyâs First Date, in which the encounter between Rileyâs father and the visiting friend of whom he is suspicious playing out like a bad standup routine. Elsewhere, thereâs a bizarre fifteen minute short known as Inside Out: Mind Candy. I struggled to find much information about this odd pile of offcuts and was in two minds as whether to include it as it feels like something hastily assembled by a YouTuber. It appears to be made up of animation tests, advertising material and fragments of deleted scenes, just thrown together haphazardly. Watching Mind Candy is an oddly disconcerting experience, like something has disconnected in your own mind and left it struggling to make sense of the ragbag of odds and ends that have been hurled at the screen.
Coco
Coco is a film I connected with much more strongly on a visual level than an emotional one. Therefore the supplementary material, which necessarily pares down the visual grandeur of its parent film, was always likely to fall short for me. Still, itâs pretty slight stuff by any estimation. Do we really need a short about Dante the dog chasing a bone? Thatâs as thrilling as it sounds on paper, perhaps the reason why Danteâs Lunch remains one of the few Pixar shorts not currently on Disney+. The other two Coco shorts are unfortunately part of those lacklustre series Pixar Popcorn and LEGO Pixar: Bricktoons, and both A Day in the Life of the Dead and Family Bands Together add little to the world and drift unremarkably by. Without the glorious atmosphere achieved by the original filmâs sprawling afterlife, thereâs nothing here to recommend.
Soul
Soul was a film that, for me, fell short of its own philosophical ambition and part of the problem was its inability to reconcile its mainstream comedic flippancy with its aspirations to something more lyrical. Interestingly then, the two Soul shorts take one of these characteristics each. The comedic 22 Vs. Earth focuses on the titular soul and her unsuccessful attempts to form a rebel alliance to prevent souls travelling to Earth. Itâs a pretty flaccid short and it adds little to Soulâs world, perhaps even detracting from it by strongly highlighting the tonal elements that clashed with its stronger underlying themes. By contrast, the Pixar Popcorn short Soul of the City comes much closer to the sort of impressionistic anti-narrative that characterised Soul at its best. It is a series of brief, simple moments from different locations around the city, set to a piece of music that it is finally revealed is being played by Soul protagonist Joe Gardner. The only problem with Soul of the City is that, in keeping with the Pixar Popcorn brief, it is not even two minutes long, which doesnât give it enough time to make a real impact. Had it been worked up into a longer piece, it mightâve achieved the emotional resonance of the 1920s City Symphonies subgenre.
Luca
Luca is one of the hidden treasures in the Pixar canon and the short film Ciao Alberto continues its simple but effective pleasures. The majority of the Pixar movie-related shorts prioritise comedy over emotional resonance but Ciao Alberto follows up on Albertoâs abandonment issues resulting from his fatherâs neglect by focusing on the budding relationship with his new parental figure Massimo. The short mines both laughs and tears from their dynamic, cramming the emotional journey of a Pixar feature into an eight minute timeframe. While some of the movie-related shorts add very little to their parent films, Ciao Alberto provides a follow-up that continues in the same satisfying emotional register and, rather than serving as a mere epilogue, suggests there is more to be mined from this world.
Turning Red
Using the limited animation style previously seen in The Legend of Morâdu and George and A.J., the Turning Red short 4*Town: 1 True Love focuses on the supporting character Tyler and shows the story of his secret boyband fandom set to a faux-music video by the titular boyband. With the same quirky edge that made its parent film an interesting prospect, this brief addition to the Turning Red universe makes a nice companion piece to that idiosyncratic movie.
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