Presto

For the theatrical release of 'WALL•E (2008),' Pixar Studios continues that lovely time-honoured tradition of preceding the main feature with an amusing animated short. Not only that, but they've developed one of their best, second only to the mini-masterpiece that is 'Geri's Game (1997).' A hilarious throw-back to the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons – such that we can almost envision Bugs in a starring role – 'Presto (2008)' concerns itself with the art of magic. When an uptight stage magician, Presto DiGiotagione, neglects to feed his hungry rabbit, Alec Azam, the malnourished pet mischievously decides to exact revenge on his owner, with the help of two magic hats and no shortage of dangerous backstage implements. Each time Presto attempts to pull the rabbit from his top hat, his hand emerges clutching all sorts of painful contraptions, from mouse traps to live electrical wires to an entire ladder. His performance already in tatters, the red-faced magician tries even harder to convince the rabbit to cooperate, his every action only making matters worse.

'Presto' was directed by Doug Sweetland, a long-serving animator at Pixar, in his directorial debut. Entirely wordless, as most of Pixar's shorts are, the film relies on terrific visuals and sound effects to provide the humour, though this effort is notably less reliant on sound effects than the previous 'Lifted (2006)' {which, appropriately, was directed by sound effects whiz Gary Rydstrom}. Working with a simple scenario, 'Presto' begins with relatively minor sight gags, gradually upping the ante until all hell breaks loose on-stage, and the hapless magician finds himself strung high above the ground. Obviously, the audience finds all this utterly magnificent, and Presto – however battered and bruised – is only too happy to accept this gracious applause. Some may find all this to be rather mean-spirited, but certainly no more so than Bugs Bunny when he got Elmer Fudd in his sights, and children will definitely find the rabbit's hilarious antics to be uproariously entertaining. This is a delicious cinematic appetiser from the best in the business.

Pixar is the new Disney (as in the good Disney of old). They continue to make quality stories, push boundaries of visual design capabilities and, above all, charm audiences young and old. The same holds with Presto, the team's latest short cartoon which played before each screening of Wall-E. In it, a hungry rabbit, upset his magician owner will not give him the carrot promised to him, decides to sabotage the show in a variety of increasingly humorous ways until he gets it. What makes this simple premise shine is the clever slapstick gags, great characters and the overall sweet tone throughout the film. It's just pure and simple cartoon fun that sets the right tone for the film after it. The absence of dialogue actually makes the whole thing funnier, as their are no corny lines to ruin the enjoyment like in most non-Pixar cartoons. I highly recommend buying it on iTunes or seeing Wall-E just to make sure yo get to experience it.

To go with Pixar's most perfect movie, we're treated to a 5 minute short before the picture starts. Presto is beautifully animated, looking just as good as a full length animated picture would, and also, like the movie it was shown with, Wall-E, it has no dialogue, yet still comes off brilliantly. It induced more laughs than any other full length film I've seen this year.

Presto is a magician. He's late to work and forgets to feed his rabbit who he's about to use for a trick. Presto has a hat where anything that goes into the hat comes out of another hat. Rebelling against Presto, the rabbit refuses to be pulled from the hat and tries to make the magician look bad. Chaos ensues, as do many belly laughs, which have never been produced in me to this magnitude from a cartoon.

This was one of Pixar's best shorts. It was the perfect length with the perfect amount of jokes, mostly slapstick, which caused some real laughter from me, and the entire audience. The animation was vibrant and colorful, and the way it had a nice glow to it, similar to the way Ratatouille looks (I don't know how to explain it). Never has a crotch hit been more expertly thought out, and never have I laughed harder at an animation as I did with this little gem.

My rating: **** out of ****. 6 mins.

A magician, his magic top hat and his desperately cute and hungry rabbit.

PRESTO is a Pixar featurette before WALL-E and has brought back the classically hilarious "short," popularized by Warner Bros. and Bugs Bunny cartoons all those decades ago.

The protagonist, being a rabbit, made me feel somehow like a person from the 40s or 50s might have felt when that other cheeky rabbit careened across the silver screen for the first time, with that sense of amazement and wonder at watching something so guttingly funny.

Presto the Magician is onstage for his act, but his rabbit wants to be fed, so refuses to be pulled from Presto's magic hat until he gets his fix of carrot. The myriad ways in which he confounds Presto's attempts to drag him from the hat are – once again, when speaking of Pixar – absolutely ingenious.

wildly entertaining. very cute. and very exciting. all with no dialogue.

the quick story is really clever too.

again, a very very funny short film. kids will love it, and so will adults, and so will you.

it will win an Oscar. you'll see.

gotta love Disney and pixar. they always provide. and keep getting better. Presto really upped the scale for future DP short films.

i thought that presto was just the perfect appetizer for Wall E. it really gets you in the mood to laugh at the very charlie chaplin humor.