A Complete Review of John Lasseter's work

Cast : Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro, Thomas Kretschmann, Bonnie Hunt, Franco Nero, Tony Shalhoub, Jason Isaacs, Bruce Campbell, Vanessa Redgrave

What was it about?
Star race car Lightning McQueen and his pal Mater head overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix race. But the road to the championship becomes rocky as Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.

My two cents:
It is probably the least regarded movie made by Pixar so far but, surprisingly, I found it quite enjoyable. To be honest, I do think that my rating might be too generous and a re-watch might drop it consequently. The point is that the first installment was already poorly received so it seemed a rather odd move to make a sequel. Some argued that it was made in the first place just to sell even more merchandizing which is a pretty nasty thought considering that Pixar has always been synonymous with creativity. Still, since I didn't expect much from this flick, I thought it was actually pretty good or, at least, a slight improvement on its predecessor.

My rating: 7/10

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Cast : Larry the Cable Guy

What was it about?
A routine tow lands Mater in Tokyo, where he is challenged to a drift-style race against a nefarious gang leader and his posse of ninjas. With the help of his friend, 'Dragon' Lightning McQueen, and some special modifications, Mater attempts to drift to victory and become 'Tow-ke-O Mater, King of all Drifters.'

My two cents:
I actually liked this short. I mean, the fact that it was actually the first of these shorts starring Mater that I saw probably did help. Still, I think it was one of the rare occasions that the concept worked because Mater became something that still had some remote connection with him. Anyway, it was still nothing mind-blowing whatsoever but I have to admit that I liked this parody of 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' and I thought it was quite fun, no more, no less.

My rating: 7/10

Cast : Larry the Cable Guy

What was it about?
Mater tells the story of how he became a successful rock star in a heavy metal band with his hit song "Dad Gum."

My two cents:
Well, the one thing that bothered me the most about these Cars shorts, beside the fact that Mater is not really an entertaining character, was the fact they were all so random and this one was perfect example. I mean, sure, the idea of turning Mater into a Heavy Metal star might have sounded great on paper but I thought it was obviously rather far-fetched but above all hardly entertaining after all.

My rating: 6/10

Cast : Larry the Cable Guy

What was it about?
Mater is a professional wrestler who works his way up the ranks from amateur to World Champion Monster Truck Wrestler, wrestling all kinds of characters along the way. When faced with his biggest opponent yet, Mater tags in his "tag team partner" Frightening McMean.

My two cents:
While the idea of turning Mater into a monster truck had some potential, why did they make him a wrestler as well on top of that? As usual, it was seriously random but, at least, there was some kind of plot involved dealing with his rise as a wrestler so it was probably one of the best (or one of the least tedious) of the bunch.

My rating: 6/10

Cast : Larry the Cable Guy

What was it about?
It was the last one of these shorts that I saw and, even though I was by then pretty much done with this concept, I have to admit that this one was actually fairly enjoyable. Indeed, even though the story was again seriously random, this little tale actually did work. On top of that, Mator was a solid character and his relationshiop with Mater was pretty neat which is rather impressive since the whole thing only lasted 4 mins.

My two cents:

My rating: 7/10

Cast : Larry the Cable Guy

What was it about?
Mater tells Lightning McQueen about his former job as a famous bulldozer fighter in Spain.

My two cents:
Well, it was another seriously random tale starring Mater and, by now, I have pretty much stopped to care about the concept.

My rating: 6/10

Cast : Larry the Cable Guy

What was it about?
Mater tells Lightning McQueen about his former job as a daredevil.

My two cents:
This short was not bad but, like the rest of those, it was just too random for my taste. At least, to turn Mater into a stunt-driver was not the most idiotic thing they would find for him to do (see the other shorts above).

My rating: 6/10

Cast : Larry the Cable Guy

What was it about?
Mater tells Lightning McQueen about his previous job as a Fire Truck.

My two cents:
After 'Cars' came out, they made a few short features starring Mater as a main character and this one was directed by John Lasseter himself (in fact, he would direct most of the installments himself). To be honest, I never cared much about 'Cars' which ought to be one of the most underwhelming efforts by Pixar so I wasn't exactly the best audience for these shorts, I'm afraid. The very first one actually didn't even follow the usual template as Lightning McQueen would be involved pretty much right from the beginning. On top of that, Mater was not only a Fire Truck but also a doctor which made this short even more random than usual.

My rating: 6/10

Cast : Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Tony Shalhoub, Michael Keaton, Jeremy Piven, Michael Schumacher, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Billy Crystal, John Goodman

What was it about?
A hot-shot race-car named Lightning McQueen gets waylaid in Radiator Springs, where he finds the true meaning of friendship and family.

My two cents:
It is pure and simply the worst movie made by Pixar so far (though I'm not a huge fan of 'A Bug's Life' either) and that's why it is rather dubious that they decided to make a sequel for this. Still, it doesn't mean it is actually bad whatsoever. Indeed, Pixar hasn't made a real stinker yet. In this case, the animation is still way too gorgeous and the whole thing is still mildly entertaining. The point is that, this time, it was clearly aimed towards very young children and the rest of us didn't really care about the whole thing. Still, it has more charm and wit than many other animated features you can find on the market nowadays.

My rating: 6/10

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Cast : Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer

What was it about?
When Woody is stolen by a toy collector, Buzz and his friends vow to rescue him, but Woody finds the idea of immortality in a museum tempting.

My two cents:
Even though the guys at Pixar are clearly focusing on sequels nowadays (which is something really disappointing), their very first sequel was actually really amazing. Personally, I would have a really hard time to choose between this movie and its predecessor which one I actually prefer. Obviously, they improved the animation but, story wise, they are both great. The best part is that it was supposed to be a direct-to-DVD release (like all the inane sequels made by Disney...) but the producers thought it was so good, they deemed it worth a theatrical release. Thank God for that.

My rating: 8/10

Cast : Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hayden Panettiere, Denis Leary, Bonnie Hunt

What was it about?
A misfit ant, looking for "warriors" to save his colony from greedy grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe.

My two cents:
Personally, I never really cared about this flick. I should probably re-watch it some day but I'm not really optimist. Back in those days, DreamWorks released their first CGI animated feature and it happened to be about bugs as well so there was a big debate about which one would be the best. Apparently, Pixar's effort was slightly more successful but, personally, I preferred 'Antz'. Indeed, this 2nd full length feature by Pixar was a little too childish for my taste. Still, the animation is solid and the whole thing is definitely entertaining enough.

My rating: 6/10

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Cast : Tom Hanks, Tim Allen

What was it about?
A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's room.

My two cents:
So, that's where it all started. Of course, Pixar was working on CGI animation for more than a decade but it was their first full length feature, the first time they reached a broad audience. It was obviously a huge success and, eventually, it became a major milestone in motion picture history. Indeed, suddenly, hand-drawn animation which was mercilessly ruled by Disney was dropped and everyone, virtually every single studio, started to make CGI animated features with various success. Coming back to our game changer, I had the pleasure to see it in the theater when it was released (like most of Pixar features) and it was quite mind-blowing. Back in those days, it was something completely new and even though it does look a little bit old today, it was really impressive when it was released. Above all, their masterstroke was to not only blew us away technically but also to provide an entertaining, touching and rather deep story with some great characters which would be an enduring trademark in Pixar's work.

My rating: 08/10

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What was it about?
A snowglobe snowman wants to join the other travel souvenirs in a hot party, but the glass dome that surrounds him gets in his way, despite all his efforts.

My two cents:
As a matter of fact, I have re-watched it recently and it was a great reminder about how much I love this short. Indeed, it is probably one of my favorites made by Pixar. Of course, the animation doesn't look as amazing as nowadays but, back in those days, those guys from Pixar were still experimenting and it was quite impressive in my opinion. Above all, I just think the whole thing is really hilarious which is something I have been missing in the more recent shorts produced by Pixar.

My rating: 08/10

What was it about?
A tin one-man-band toy tries to escape a destructive baby.

My two cents:
It is another pretty good short and, obviously, the inspiration for 'Toy Story'. Obviously, even though back then it must have been quite impressive, nowadays, it doesn't look really good, especially the baby looks quite awful. However, since the baby was some kind of monster, it fit the story quite well. It also explains why they decided to focus first on toys, bugs, fishes and monsters instead of humans because those looked terribly ugly. It is not before 16 more years with the release of 'The Incredibles' that they would finally dare to make a feature with humans as main characters.

My rating: 07/10

What was it about?
With a sale tag hanging from his seat, propped up in the corner of a bicycle store on a rainy night, Red the unicycle dreams about a better place.

My two cents:
Well, to be honest, I didn't care much for this short. I mean, the concept was not bad but, in my opinion, it was too similar to what they did in 'Luxor Jr.'. However, the biggest issue was with the clown though. Of course, I understand that they were just starting at the time to make such CGI animated features and this guy was actually their first organic character. So, it was quite a milestone but, I'm sorry, this clown was just ugly and he made the whole thing quite cringe-inducing to behold. It is still worth a look though but, in my opinion, it is definitely a minor effort coming from Pixar.

My rating: 06/10

What was it about?
A larger lamp watches while a smaller, younger lamp plays exuberantly with a ball but doesn't pick up the knack of correct handling.

My two cents:
Of course, we are all familiar with this lamp since it has been showing up in the Pixar logo for all those years. Even though it is almost 20 years old now, it hasn't lost any of its charm. From a technical point of view, it is a marvel, a pioneering effort in the CGI technology. It is also amazing how much personality they managed to give to those supposedly inert objects which were obviously ancestors of the little robot in 'Wall-E'. Anyway, it was a great experiment and the start of one of the most successful and inspiring studios in Hollywood.

My rating: 08/10