Las aventuras de André y Wally B.

'André And Wally B. (1984)' is a pioneering 3D animation from the people who would go onto become Pixar. It represents a myriad of firsts for the technique and is generally considered to be the first 3D animation with a plot. Needless to say, it's an important movie. However, it isn't really entertaining. The environments all looks surprisingly good but the characters can't match it. Their actual animation is stiff and dull, too. The plot itself is so basic that it's difficult to call it a story, really. Still, these elements can be forgiven if one views the piece in its proper context. It's basically just an experiment. I know that it's brilliant for what it is but it simply doesn't hold up. 5/10

I gotta admit that if you watch this film today and don't understand the context for it, then you will most likely not be particularly impressed. It's such a very simple animated short and one that seems amazingly ordinary--something you could easily make today given the right rendering software and a home computer. However, think back to 1984. People rarely had home computers and those who did had systems that had major compatibility issues--with not much more power than a modern calculator (less in some cases). There were no hard drives--those that did exist were minuscule. Macintosh computers were yet to come and IBM compatible computers used primitive versions of DOS and many were using Commodore and other simple computers. And, most importantly, most games were either text only or had very, very rudimentary graphics. In this context, ANDRE AND WALLY B is absolutely amazing and breathtaking. The Pixar folks were not yet a big company but just a few individuals doing work on huge computers and they had to design all the software themselves!! And, in spite of all this, the graphics were lovely and the story of a cute bee quite watchable--even though it was really more an experimental film than anything else. Oddly, while this film is not terribly exciting today, I still prefer it to a couple of the later Pixar films (such as RED'S DREAM). A great start.

This is a short from Pixar, their first, I believe. It looks it, too. The animation is good, but there's not much here to speak of and it looks more like test footage than a full, coherent cartoon-a dry run, if you will. They did much better work with later efforts. Not bad, but nothing special here either. Worth seeing.

This is an extraordinary and historic film, however viewers should not assess this film by the standards of current animation, but rather in its (truly ground-breaking) historical context.

This film is the CG animation equivalent of the first flight of the Wright Brothers (which lasted only 12 seconds). Much like that famous first flight in 1903, this 1984 film paved the way for all that has followed.

It is not the first CG animation ever made, but it is the first to feature a plot, characterization and expression, motion blur, and deformations (eg stretching, squashing). When it was demonstrated at the 1984 SIGGRAPH there was a crowd response bordering on hysteria, as nothing even close to this had ever been done before.

So watch this film with appropriate awe and reverence, for it is the birthing of an entire new art form which we completely take for granted now.

It was proof that motion blur techniques and complex 3D objects could be used against a partially rendered background. This was the birth of the greatest animation studio currently working today. The seed that enabled The Graphics Group to form, what is now known as, Pixar. Therefore automatically assigning this animation short as an important part of animation history. A refreshing new method into filmmaking, especially back in 1984. Colourful 3D shapes conjoined together to create models. Unfortunately though, its conceptual proof does not make for an engaging story...or anything engaging for that matter. A man/creature/thing gets chased by a bee. Simple. Totalling at less than two minutes long, it contains no characterisation, interactivity or memorability. Nearly a third of the short itself is introductory and closing credits, consequently leaving approximately one minute to establish some sort of entertainment. Too bad it fell flat. The primary focus for innovation meant that its actual purpose as entertainment was lost. However I appreciate the technical prowess and astute innovation, acting as a stepping stone for the pinnacle company of animation that we know and love today.