For the Birds (Ralph Eggleston, 2001): USA

Reviewed by Danae Thomas. Viewed on DVD.

For the Birds (Ralph Eggleston, 2001) is a highly entertaining Pixar short that is one of my favorites because it is very amusing and I love that each bird has their own personality.  This Pixar short is also an Academy Award Winner Best Animated Short Film. Pixar shorts are brilliant because they are funny for kids and adults, I remember watching this short in theaters and everyone was laughing. It is hard not to laugh as we watch these birds try to find a peaceful spot on a telephone wire.

Watching the commentary on this short we learn from the director Ralph Eggleston that the first bird that lands on the wire is Bully, 2^nd is Chipper, 3^rd is Snob, and the last one is Neurotic. When all the rest of the birds land on the wire they all become one personality according to the director. All of a sudden we hear a loud hawk sound, and all the little birds stop chirping and hitting each other, turn their heads and we see a big goofy looking bird with huge eyes. The goofy bird waves to them and wants to join them on the wire, the little birds respond by making fun of him instead of letting him join. This doesn’t stop the big goofy bird though he flies over and sits himself right in the middle of them all. This doesn’t make the little birds happy and they try and peck the big bird’s feet that are dangling from the wire off. All of the other birds are cheering them on when they suddenly realize this is a bad idea and they try to warn them to not kick the big bird off the wire. It’s too late though and the big bird lets go of the wire and the little birds are sent flying up in the air with all of their feathers left floating mid air. The big bird is sitting on the floor and blowing at the feathers around him when a little bird lands next to him and is featherless. The big bird starts laughing and gives the other bird a feather and the rest of the little ones land featherless and hide behind the big bird who can’t stop laughing.

Watching the little birds make fun of the bigger goofy one is extremely hilarious because Bully the bird who starts making fun of the big bird makes a funny face and perks his feathers up to look like him and makes a loud squeak noise and the rest of the little birds start laughing with him, and imitate him. It is extremely difficult to not laugh during this scene because the faces the little birds make are so goofy and silly.

Pixar is well known for their incredible animation and detail skills, this specific short is successful in both areas especially the details of the feathers. Ralph even mentioned in the commentary that each bird has a gazillion feathers and when the birds got shot out of their feathers was the first animated shot. This is a Pixar short worth watching so don’t miss out on it!