Bunny

An elderly rabbit, widowed after many years of marriage, lives alone in her house. One evening she is baking when she is continually bothered by a moth in her kitchen. However is the moth only there due to her bright light and open window or does it have another purpose?

The Oscar winner from a few years back for best animated short shows today what huge leaps have been made in the field of animation. That is not to say that it is poor but it certainly looks dated despite being only a few years old already.

While the animation may not stack up it is still effective and it is easy to forget you're watching an animated rabbit. I'm not suggesting it looks realistic, only that it is given sufficient character to allow the viewer to forget the technology involved in creating her. The plot is a little sombre but quite thoughtful and encouraging. Given that it is on the Ice Age (I think) DVD viewers may expect it to have that sense of humour, however it is more clever than funny.

It doesn't make a great deal of sense but it is quite nice and it still looks good unless you're expecting it to compete with the most recent CGI creation – in which case it can't and won't. However an interesting short that shows how far the field has come so quickly.

First of all let me say that this short film had some of the most impressive computer animation I've ever seen in my life. Truly impressive and mesmerizing.

I do have one major complaint though. The story is friggin' stupid! I'm sorry but my personal belief is that an animated short film should NEVER try to be dramatic, stick to pure comedy and cuteness. Maybe it's just that I was expecting something else having seen "Ice Age" before "Bunny", but I was just waiting for something funny to happen and it never came. The whole oven/portal thing was lame! Maybe it's just my ignorance, but if it wasn't for the commentary on the "Ice Age" dvd I wouldn't have understood what the writers/animators were trying to say at all.

I'm sorry, but I thought the story was just boring and stupid, but the animation was excellent. I will say this though, the little moth was pretty cute (and extremely well done). In any case, I would definitely still recommend seeing this short film (despite my dislike for the story), due to the animation and it's extremely short length. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading.

-Chris

This is a lovely example of computer generated animation--especially for 1998. While during the last few years, CGI has been so common that even novices can make nice films thanks to readily available rendering software, for 1998, this was a pretty spectacular film. Remember--back in 1998, the ONLY game in town for this type of animation was Pixar--this was three years before Dreamworks released Shrek. So hats off to some lovely animation--it must have involved a lot of hard work.

Now as for the story, I saw the film and read many of the reviews and I am left feeling that I must be a pretty shallow person. I could have cared less about the significance of the film and the oven scene--I just wanted to laugh or care about this film but didn't. For some, this is fantastic symbolism. For me, it's just really nice animation.

FYI--This film won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.

In the world of computer animation we often see very visually impressive feats but it is very rare we see stories just as impressive. Bunny is a simple and touching tale of love and loneliness. When I first saw stills I assumed it was stop motion because the character was so warm and real. Quite an achievement.

I saw it on video, and it was impressive - very sweet & funny, and the animation is unbelievable. I can't wait to see it in a theater- its coming to Film Forum in New York City in May. I loved it.