I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

It's magician Presto DiGiotagione and his Hat of Wonder. The top hat is actually connected to a wizard's cap. His rabbit wants a carrot and is not willing to cooperate in the teleportation trick until he gets that carrot. Presto keeps trying but rabbit outsmarts him at every turn. It is a non-stop string of slapstick hijinx. Presto's failures only make the audience laugh even more. This is a lot of fun. There is no dialogue and these are not known characters. This is a fun five minute skit. It's a Pixar short that hearkens back to the best of the old Looney Tunes cartoons. The animation looks great. It's not the most complicated thing but these characters are worthwhile to have more done with them.

I am a bit surprised that this is one of the highest and most frequently rated Pixar shorts on here, not only because it doesn't have a reference to one of their feature films, but also because I thought there wasn't really that much to it. Sure, the animation is nicely done as always, especially the rabbit, and here and there, there's even some wit to the duel between him and the magician, but all in all it was a rather disappointing 5 minutes sometimes even mounting in pointless over-the-top hubbub, especially towards the end. Still, I'm curious if Doug Sweetland, who did everything here, directing, writing and voicing, will ever get to direct his own feature. He hasn't worked for Pixar in the 5 years since this short, so it may not look too likely.In any case, I don't think this film was quality-wise on par with the Japanese more melancholic entry, to which it lost the Oscar. "Presto" is, in contrast to lots of other Pixar work, only one for younger audiences.

The newest animated short from Pixar is something of a cross between a Disney cartoon and Wile E. Coyote one. Although Disney has a reputation of softening more mature content (hence the term "Disney-fied"), that doesn't happen here. "Presto" is wickedly clever, and the madcap hijinks are guaranteed to have the viewer convulsed with laughter.This is a five minute short, so the story is simple. A magician forgets to feed his rabbit (that he pulls out of a hat), so when he goes to perform, the rabbit enacts his revenge.The key to the humor is the magician's magic hats: put something under one, and you can pull it out of the other. The short gets a lot of mileage out of this, but the short never repeats any of the gags.It's a given that a Pixar film is going to have great animation, and "Presto" is no different. But director Doug Sweetland is a master of slapstick comedy, and with no dialogue (like all the Pixar shorts), he manages to get everything he can out of each gag.If you want to laugh, see "Presto!" It's hysterical.

Like last year, I went to a special showing of the Oscar-nominated animated short films. However, unlike last year, in addition to the nominees, several "commended films" were also shown. In this review I'll make my predictions, though if it's anything like last year's choices, I'll probably once again pick the wrong shorts as my favorite for the award.PRESTO is a cute little short about a rabbit who is hungry yet his master, a magician, is unwilling to let him eat. After all, the show must go on and it's time for them to be on stage. But, being so very hungry, the rabbit decides to use a bit of prestidigitation himself and soon a battle ensues between bunny and magician--with hilarious results. In many, many ways, the film looks like a CGI version of an old Tex Avery cartoon--with lots of good old fashioned violence and silly mayhem.Overall, this was probably my second favorite of the nominated films. I loved the artwork (not surprising, considering it's a Pixar film) and the film was cute yet violent (a great combination if you ask me). There certainly wasn't much depth to it but you can't fault the Academy for selecting it as a nominee--it's state of the art and clever.Unlike the four other shorts that were nominated, this one actually received a very widespread release--being shown before the full-length film, WALL-E. Because of this sentiment and because the CGI is unbeatably good, it's probably the odds on favorite to win the Oscar. It's my second favorite of the nominees, as I slightly preferred THIS END UP--though I must admit its animation wasn't quite as good as PRESTO's. The reason I prefer this other film is because it had a very sick sense of humor and seemed much more creative--taking many risks. PRESTO, on the other hand, is a very typical Pixar release--a real crowd pleaser instead of an innovative or risk-taking film.UPDATE: LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES was the winner this year. Not surprisingly, I got this one wrong but at least saw the film as a strong contender.