La Nouvelle Voiture de Bob

Mike and Sully, the two heroes from Pixar/Disney's MONSTERS INC. are back in this short film about Mike's new car. At first, Mike is very, very proud of it, but over time, more and more and more goes wrong--and in the process poor Mike and Sully are bashed to pieces by their overly-gadgeted car.

I saw this film recently in the new DVD of Pixar animated shorts and while it was very pleasant and funny, I was rather shocked to find out it was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Subject--which it lost to the better short film THE CHUBBCHUBBS! Now this isn't knocking MIKE'S NEW CAR--it's well executed and fun. However, it just isn't special enough to be considered much other than perhaps a DVD extra.

See CHUBBCHUBBS!

I saw Mike's New Car not just because it was Pixar but I just love Monster's Inc, finding it very funny and with lots of heart. Mike's New Car is not as good as Monster's Inc, and I do prefer other Pixar shorts like Geri's Game, Presto, One Man Band, Knick Knack and Jack-Jack Attack. The short is short, perhaps too short, so while funny it sometimes lacked the heart of some of Pixar's other work, and I wasn't crazy about the intro, lovely understated jazz music but the miniature versions of Mike and Sulley look odd. The story is simple but at the same time forgettable and perhaps over-reliant on the physical humour. This said, the physical humour is great, very funny especially the ending, and there is some dialogue, and it is witty with the best being the "PUSH THE BUTTON!" exchange . Mike and Sulley are likable characters with an easy-going chemistry, and they are voiced wonderfully by Billy Crystal and John Goodman. The music is jazzy but with a soothing quality, but the best asset is the beautiful animation, like with Monsters Inc I am still impressed at the lengths given to make Sulley look as furry and as real as possible. All in all, nice but I've seen better from Pixar. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is a quick comment about new cars and all the buttons on them. The "message" being sometimes it was a lot better with a basic simple machines of the past.

"Mike" (Billy Crystal) has a new car he wants to show off to "Sully" so he invites him to take a ride. They never get to the ride because "Sully" (John Goodman) either hits a wrong button or does something to stall things, driving Mike nuts. Poor Mike takes a beating. The cartoon also is a comment on the sometimes-annoying noise the car will make if your seat belts aren't secured.

This animated short came with The "Monsters, Inc." DVD and is a fun four minutes. Mike and Sully, of course, were the stars of the feature film.

P.S. The car is very cool.

With the money from his new found fame and success, Mike buys a brand new powerful car to replace his old one. With state of the art gadgets and controls, Mike is eager to show it off to Sully. However this car is a little more complex than his last model.

When I borrowed the Monsters Inc DVD off some friends I was impressed by the sheer number of extras on it, whether the tv spots or the weird Japanese games or the outtakes etc. Of all the things additional to the movie, this short is the second best extra (the best being the musical `Put That Thing Back Where it Came From Or So Help Me').

Although it relies much more on physical humour than the film does I must admit to still being tickled by it. It appealed to the toddler audience a lot more simply because there were no real `over the head' jokes aimed at adults and not at the kids – plus it involved one character being hurt!

Overall I enjoyed this short and, when I watch Monsters Inc with any young relatives, I always make sure that the musical and this short are part of the viewing agenda.

As a little extra on 'Monsters, Inc' Disney and Pixar bring us 'Mike's New Car', a terrific animated short film that was nominated for an Oscar. If you liked 'Monsters, Inc.' I see no reason why you should not like this little film. One of the two main characters of 'Monsters, Inc.', Mike (voice by Billy Crystal), has bought a new car. The other main character, Sulley (John Goodman), joins him for a drive. Sort of.

This film is quite funny, especially the ending is hilarious. As with all Disney/Pixar films the animation is perfect. Especially Sulley seems almost like a real creature the way his hair and facial expressions are animated. If you like other films from Disney and Pixar Animation Studios you should not miss this one.