André e 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

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.

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.

From 1984, this short film was the first work that John Lasseter, Eben Ostby and Bill Reeves made as a team but it was made when they still were part of Lucasfilm. Basically is just the beginning of all so everything is quite limited. With only one and half minute this short film can't be more than just the very important and fantastic beginning of something. Is great to hear the commentary of the Blu-ray and now is fun to hear the fact that Lasseter and pals could only made geometric designs with their program. Still the could create two nice characters that are the protagonist of a "one joke" story and with that they could not only show a project that was new in matters of technology but at the same time they could put to it soul, they made that their colleagues didn't care about the fact that when the short was showed, in a very known event by them, was not even finished. It was something new, something different.

This is the kind of stuff that if -TODAY- you are going to show to your girlfriend, for example, and she doesn't really know about it you really have to explain her everything behind it, make sure that she will not judge it just for how the animation looks or how funny was the story, make sure that she appreciate everything behind because and after all it is just a must-see important piece of work and for me it was absolutely great to finally watch it.

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.