Der Vogelschreck

"For the Birds" has so much funny packed into its miniscule running time. The birds portrayed are easily the funniest looking birds I have ever seen. Their mannerisms are perfectly hilarious. The way they act as a flock all mimicking each other is great. I loved when they teased the bigger goofier looking bird. I think it is safe to say that "For the Birds" is the funniest short film ever made.

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 ****.

A life lesson about difference, in the first act the birds are fighting each other and then the bigger bird appears, which is a reason for mockery and exclusion from the group, he unintentionally enters the group but the birds that used to fight get together to expel him. Of the group, they just don't realize that it will be bad for them and in the end, who ends up being different is the one who used to be prejudiced.

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

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)