Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
This will be in front of THE INCREDIBLES this fall. This will no doubt be another of Pixar’s insanely great works of animated art. The fact that it is finished and I can’t see it yet makes me want to spit blood. I guess I’ll just have to settle for this review...
Dear Harry, Moriarty, Capone, et al.:
I’m a long time lurker, first time would-be-submitter.
I just got back from a screening of the first “Toy Story” film. It was being shown as a fundraiser for a middle school in Sonoma Valley, CA, and happened to be introduced by director John Lasseter. Mr. Lasseter spent much time talking about the development of “Toy Story” with a focus on the contributions of Bud Luckey. Mr. Lasseter focused on Mr. Luckey because tonight he intended to screen “Boundin’,” the new Pixar short, which Bud wrote and directed. “Boundin’” is set to appear before “The Incredibles.”
Bud narrates the short and provides the voices for all of its characters. His narration takes the form of lyrical, cowboy-style poetry with song (and of course dance) mixed in when appropriate. The music is done by Riders in the Sky, previously responsible for “Toy Story 2’s” “Woody’s Roundup.”
The story Bud weaves with his even voice and old world myth/lore is both entertaining and wise. Its primary character, a young lamb, learns a valuable lesson by short’s end. This lamb is naïve and quite proud of his beautifully white, woolen coat. He is so in love with his coat that he dances for joy; his neighbors (prairie dogs, an owl, a couple of fish, and a rattlesnake) all join in on his exuberant dance. The lamb’s dancing comes to an abrupt end when his voluptuous, pure coat is unceremoniously and unexpectedly sheared off! The poor lamb is left naked in the rain. *frowny* The rain parts with the arrival of the Jackalope, a true shaman if I’ve ever seen one.
The Jackalope wears a look of contentment as he bounds into view. His carefree bounds end with a jerk as he notices the poor lamb’s dreadful appearance and disposition. Upon inquiry the lamb shares his tale and complains of being so pink; he no longer feels the desire to dance. The lamb's neighbors have been laughing at him. The Jackalope reassures him that pink is nothing to be ashamed of, but also recommends that the lamb give up dancing. As a superior substitute the jackalope offers bounding. He explains that life has its ups and downs, but what is important is to keep at it, i.e. don’t let the downs get you too down and don’t let the highs get you too high. The lamb tries it, and loves it! He bounds into the air from rock to rock while his neighbors look on in shock.
Flash-forward to winter and the lamb has grown a new coat. This time, when May (and shearing time) rolls around, he isn’t worried. He allows the ranchers to shear him while he simply smiles with the grace of a Bodhisattva. He knows that it won’t be long before he’s boundin’ again.
Upon completion of the short (and a healthy round of applause from the audience), Mr. Lasseter asked if we wanted to see it again. After a chorus of affirmatives, he complied. What a great guy!
The film was very well done. The animation is as good (if not better) as what we’ve come to expect from Pixar. But, as we all know, cool animation can only take a film so far. What makes this short a winner is the intelligent and artistic writing and performance of Bud Luckey. The piece is essentially a cowboy poem, and it touches on many cowboy themes. The moral of patient endurance as well as the presence of the mythological Jackalope give evidence of the writer’s familiarity with the genre. His calm, rhythmic delivery of the couplets and musical passages are spot on. After viewing, it is evident that Luckey put much of his soul into this piece, and it is that heartfelt openness and honesty that sells this short.
There is a thirty second clip and some additional material on Pixar’s site. I only perused it after tonight’s viewing of the short. I hadn’t seen any mention of “Boundin’” on your site, so I figured I’d pass on the info and my reaction. If you have any questions or need some clarification, please feel free to contact me. If you use this on your site (which would be quite cool), please refer to me as Momaw Nadon.
We ran a link to the initial clip a long time ago, and we’ve been waiting ever since. November sure is close now, isn’t it?
"Moriarty" out.
