Ein Schaf ist von der Wolle

I wish Bud Lucky could have directed a couple of more shorts, or even a feature film. Because I an utterly charmed by this short. It's cute. It's uplifting. It has some clever writing in keeping the meter and rhythming going. The western setting, the jackalope and the optimism all add up to a slice of Americana.

Bounding (which has a cut viewable on Pixar's web page), is another clean cut example of why Pixar is what they are, successful. In a segment of ninety seconds, they showcase stunning visuals that can intrigue the eyes of young and, and churn a story out of American lore (see also: The Jackalope). It's stunning what they do and that they do it so right, don't be surprised if in the future "Pixar" is added to the line-up with mom, apple pie and baseball.

-True Sag

Luckey not only directed this sweet little animation, but he also wrote it, narrated the script, provided a voice for the jackalope and composed the music. Suffice to say, Boundin' was his spring into animation glory. A dancing sheep that remains popular with the other animals, one day becomes sheared. Now the laughing stock of the rock they reside on, the sheep loses all confidence. A benevolent jackalope then approaches and teaches the sheep to "bound" rather than dance, allowing him to restore his confidence and overcome his fear of shearing. A delightful message for younger viewers to adhere to, with a variety of musically tuned animals to enhance the accessible entertainment. The animation was excellent with a nice attention to detail for the environment, such as tumbleweeds blowing in the distance. The character models were well rounded and clearly differentiate each animal. The musical narration, whilst doing its best impersonation of Johnny Cash, was unfortunately forgettable and lost the buoyancy of its message. A more upbeat tune would've suited the narration, considering it's a story about "bounding". However the lyrics remain poignant and are simple enough for children to acknowledge. Still, another consistently slick short animation from Pixar that ranks among the upper echelon of their canon.

This is about as a nice a message as I have ever seen presented in a cartoon, and it's presented in a beautiful manner. This is just plain fun to watch but even better to hear. The message is sung and the rhyming in the lyrics is just tremendous, really enjoyable.

In less than a handful minutes, we are shown and given a wonderful mini-sermon, if you will, on how to handle bad situations and life in general. There also is a plug for skin color making no difference in your attitude, either.

This might be the only cartoon I ever watched, and then replayed it a few minutes later. It was so good, I wanted to hear/see it again. There are some profound words of wisdom in this, sung in a catchy ditty.

The animated short is offered as one of the features in the DVD of "The Incredibles."

Unlike the last reviewer, I'm actually going to review Boundin', not the movie that follows it. First of all, let's keep it in perspective here. This comes before a family animated film. Pixar know their audience and this one is as good as any short they have made, and I have seen them all many times. It has a Dr. Seuss-like rhythm & style but they throw a little cowboy poetry flavor in there, as well. (I am guessing that Mr. MIT reviewer probably hasn't heard of cowboy poetry.) I thought it was a good combination and it had a good moral that needs to be heard a little more these days, which is "take what you have and find a way to be happy with it" But finding that way isn't that the sheep in the story goes on the new "reality" TV show, "Extreme Sheep Makeovers." What lesson is learned there? Not any lesson worth learning. Enjoy this one the way it is meant to be enjoyed, with a light-heart and an open mind.