O Sonho de Red

Pixar were starting to experiment. After the success of their previous short 'Luxo Jr', Lasseter attempted to recreate the technicality and wonderment of the animation by introducing new techniques. Imitating geographically complex locations, such as the bike shop, showcased how advanced rendering has evolved throughout the 80s. Lasseter was able to detail several bicycles (include the spokes) and still maintain a consistent frame rate. Still, he managed to convey a story through visually striking methods, this time an unwanted unicycle nostalgically dreaming about its time at the circus. As minimal and weak as the story is, it melancholically portrays depression. A somewhat mature theme for the younger audience, but with enough buoyancy and creativity to keep them engaged. The anthropomorphic objects are consistently animated and uphold a sense of personality, however with the introduction of a human character, highlights areas of weakness in terms of animation. That clown is something else. Absolutely terrifying, and I'm sure many kids bursted into tears. The rigid formation, stiff facial features and essence of inhumanity show that replicating human models was just not ready. Although, an admirable attempt nonetheless. Certain aesthetics have aged well, others have not. Red's Dream certainly is no nightmare, but not the idyllic fantasy Lasseter may have visualised. Certainly ambitious!

Just like Red, waiting abandoned in the corner- This is an undeniable star just waiting to shine. The film is very short and kind of silly, but it's one that takes multiple viewings to get a true appreciation of it. Watch for the expression of total disgust from "Red" as the clown goes on oblivious to what's happening to him. The timing is perfect and hilarious. Good job Pixar!

Didn't anyone else notice the reference to the opening moments of Citizen Kane? (Rain, dark exterior, flashing neon reflected inside?) I agree with the other comments on this site, i.e. that this is an amazing piece of computer graphic animation given the technology available at the time. It is short, but within the four minutes manages to sketch a vignette of Red's existence. The clown (and his accompanying unoriginal circus music) are wooden -- especially the face -- the real expressiveness is left to Red himself, which he manages by wheel (body) and saddle (head) movements which clearly refer to Disney animal characters in the viewer's memory. Red also has the expressive jazzy music.

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 1987. People rarely had home computers and those who did had systems with 8086 or 8088 processors--not much more power than a modern calculator (less in some cases). There were often no hard drives--those that did exist were minuscule. Macintosh computers were relatively new and very simple and Windows was still a vague idea, as IBM compatible computers used primitive versions of DOS as the operating systems. And, most importantly, most games were either text only or had very, very rudimentary graphics. In this context, RED'S DREAM 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 lonely unicycle quite watchable--even though it was really more an experimental film than anything else. Put in this light, my score of 8 seems amazingly low, but I must admit that in an age when we expect so much more, this isn't the most exciting CG animation I've seen. Still, it's a great film.

One of the Pixar shorts from the eighties, this one is directed and written by 'Mr. Pixar' (and director of the upcoming 'Cars' (of which the first teaser sucked heavily, but nevermind)) John Lasseter. It tells the story of the dream of a lonely unicycle, who desperately wants to be in the circus entertaining the people. The constant rain and sad jazzy music help to make this a moody one.

Nice short animation picture, but hard to judge on it's own. But knowing how shorts like this and Knick Knack would eventually turn into brilliant pictures like Toy Story and Finding Nemo (haven't watched The Incredibles yet), this sure was a good sign of even better things to come.

6/10.