The Chubbchubbs!

'The Chubbchubbs!' is a nice animated short that won the Oscar in its category. I have to admit it is pretty funny. There are a lot of references to science-fiction films. Obvious references are Darth Vader, Yoda and Jar Jar Binks from 'Star Wars' and we see E.T. in a bicycle. Harder to find but also there are references to 'Alien', 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' and 'Lost in Space'.

So the short is fun because you can spot the little references, but without those things it is quite good anyway. The animations are very well done, the story has a nice little twist and simply said, it is funny. Most animated short films have the biggest laugh in the end, 'The Chubbchubbs!' is no exception, but there are quite some good moments before that as well.

This 5 minute, 41 second computer-animated short can be found on the second disc of the 2-DVD special edition of "Men in Black 2". And at such a short running time manages to be much more enjoyable then the main feature. The cartoon deals with an alien janitor named Mupps, and his dreams of singing in the intergalactic bar that he works at. A bar inhabited by a great many recognizable patrons. When he find out the Chubbchubbs are coming, he tries to warn everyone with comical consequences. I won't give away any more except to say this cute short deserved the two awards that it won from the Academy.

My Grade: B+

This short movie won the makers the Best Short Animation Oscar in 2003. I agree with it. This is a funny, beautiful and unique story with merry songs. The main character is a tender alien who likes singing a song and longs in be a singer. However, it does not seem to come true. One day, big enemies attacked the town, what does he do then? In the film, there are various unique and cute aliens including Yoda who is in a StarWars. So, the person who love alien like me may really enjoy it. In addition, I also like the music. Their singing and dancing are strange and funny, but very cute. However, I don't recommend watching for young children. It's totally cute, but the scenes of the fight are too frightened. If you are not too easily scared, you should watch right now and then go to karaoke! It's only 5 minutes and their visuals and music are fantastic!

I saw this as an added extra on the DVD Special Edition of Men In Black II. The movie was thoroughly forgettable, but The Chubbchubbs was worth the price of admission alone! Only about five minutes in length, but packs in quite a bit for such a comparatively short piece. It has the best bar scene since Star Wars (check out the "cameos"), unusual renditions of "Respect" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?" and some truly side-splitting one-liners! If Men In Black II had one-tenth the charm, wit and creativity of this little thing, it would have been worth watching. The Chubbchubbs was nominated for, and could well win, the Academy Award for Animated Short. That would suit me just fine. Highly recommended.

The reason I saw CHUBBCHUBBS! is not at all typical. I never saw HAPPY FEET (which was bundled with CHUBBCHUBBS! when released) but saw just this short film because I read a review on IMDb for THE CATHEDRAL--a picture that lost to CHUBBCHUBBS! for the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2003. This reviewer thought THE CATHEDRAL "was robbed" and they hated CHUBBCHUBBS!--and this encouraged me to see for myself if they were right.

From the onset, CHUBBCHUBBS! was an entirely different film than THE CATHEDRAL--having all the charm and polish you'd expect from a large CG studio, whereas THE CATHEDRAL looked more like a cut scene from a video game or an experimental film. While I strongly want to encourage young film makers, the quality and polish and completeness of the CHUBBCHUBBS! production was obvious--telling a first-class story in a manner that will not only impress film snobs but families as well. In fact, of all the Oscar-nominated films that year, the best short of the year probably was still THE CHUBBCHUBBS!, but I was surprised as how wonderful and original DAS RAD was--it sure was better than THE CHUBBCHUBBS in several ways, though I think THE CHUBBCHUBBS is definitely more the crowd pleaser.

Because other reviewers have discussed the plot, I'll just wrap it up by saying while this is far from the best short I've seen in recent days, it is very enjoyable and is good for a nice laugh. I particularly liked all the references to previous sci-fi films, such as STAR WARS, E.T. and FORBIDDEN PLANET.