Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection (2015)

Number Rolled: 18

Movie Name/Year: Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection (2015)

Tagline: None

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Length: 89 minutes

Rating: TV-G

Production Companies: Walt Disney Animation Studios

Producer: Steven Keller, Baker Bloodworth, Roy Edward Disney, Jean-Luc Florinda, Don Hahn, Tamara Boutcher, John Lasseter, Chuck Williams, Kathy Bond, Dorothy McKim, Makul Wigert, Jennifer Magee-Cook, Aimee Scribner, Kristina Reed, Michele Mazzano, Roy Conli, Peter Del Vecho

Director: Mark Henn, Mike Gabriel, Roger Allers, Kevin Deters, Stevie Wermers, Dean Wellins, Nathan Greno, Byron Howard, John Kahrs, Lauren MacMullan, Patrick Osborne, Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Writer: Shirley Pierce, Broose Johnson, Tim Hodge, Mike Gabriel, Joe Grant, Hans Christian Andersen, Roger Allers, Ed Gombert, Kevin Harkey, Mark Walton, Ralph Zondag, Kevin Deters, Wilbert Plijnaar, Stevie Wermers, Dan Abraham, Josie Trinidad, Burny Mattinson, Dean Wellins, Regina Conroy, Nathan Greno, Byron Howard, Mark Kennedy, Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson, Clio Chiang, Kendelle Hoyer, Lauren MacMullan, Paul Briggs, Nancy Kruse, Raymond S. Persi, Nicole Mitchell, Patrick Osborne, Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Marc Smith

Actors: Alfre Woodard, Geoffrey Jones, Carrie Harrington, Corey Burton, Bill Farmer, Dean Wellins, Betty White, Dave Foley, Derek Richardson, Sarah Chalke, William Morgan Sheppard, Billy Connolly, Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Alan Dale, Paul F. Tompkins, John Kahrs, Kari Wahlgren, Jack Goldenberg, Jeff Turley, Walt Disney, Marcellite Garner, Russi Taylor, Billy Bletcher, Will Ryan, Raymond S. Persi, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Chris Williams, Paul Briggs

Blurb from Netflix: This collection of 12 short films from Disney includes “Frozen Fever,” the Mickey Mouse short “Get a Horse!” and Oscar winners “Paperman” and “Feast.”

Selina’s Point of View:

I grew up with Disney and I can only think of a handful of their many, many films that I don’t like.

None of those films are part of this collection.

Each short film in this collection had a life and message of its own, and they were all great. John Henry delved into his legend and the truths of those times – without getting too dark (which is very difficult considering it was during slavery). The Ballad of Nessie went into the story of the creation of the Loch Ness and had a nice message for kids. Feast featured an adorable French Bulldog being adopted by a guy and then helping him out when he gets depressed. Paperman made me wish magic was real and Tick Tock Tale showed that the littlest and most different of us could make a huge difference.

Sure, you had the more well-known stories that expanded on the characters from Tangled (2010) and Frozen (2013), but even those were fun to watch – even if they were not entirely unique.

There were also a couple of shorts that really paid homage to classic Disney: How to Hook Up Your Home Theater and Get a Horse!. The latter even featured the archived voice of Walt Disney himself.

The worst of the them was probably Prep & Landing Stocking Stuffer: Operation: Secret Santa and, quite frankly, I’d sit through a full-length version of it, happily.

I loved all the films I got to see, my one issue is that a G rating simply doesn’t feel accurate to me. Sure, for shorts like Feast and Tangled Ever After, a G rating was absolutely fine. Lorenzo, however, was pretty dark for a generalized audience. It could easily scare younger children, because the darkness is understandable enough for even a five-year-old. The Little Match Girl also got dark, but a young child wouldn’t really get the darkness in the end. It was more geared toward adults and teens in that way… so it just looks like a story about imagination to a young child.

I may very well sit through this entire collection again, just for the hell of it.

I might skip The Little Match Girl, though. Not because it was bad, it wasn’t. Just because it absolutely broke me – even with my knowing where it was going.

Cat’s Point of View:

This was a really phenomenal endcap for my week. One thing’s for sure – this collection of short films offers insight and entertainment for the whole family. Most are hilarious and heartwarming, but there’s also a pinch of heartbreak.

I’m having a hard time picking which short I liked the most.

There’s a little something for everyone represented here, and I really enjoyed how the range of shorts that encompass this collection highlighted different styles of animation and storytelling. Sure, there are some of your standard pieces such as Frozen Fever and Tangled Ever After that fit in with an established Disney franchise; but the majority of these shorts stood alone.

There’s also a little introduction to each short film by its production team. I loved how they gave a peek behind the scenes of the making of each and both inspiration and process of bringing their ideas to life.

There are some classic Disney characters involved, too. Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy romp through a couple of shorts that throwback to yesteryear while embracing today.

A couple are a bit on the dark side, but none of them are so weighty that they’ll drag you down. The overall feeling taken away from the collection is an uplifting one.

This might be something ideal to watch during the Holiday Season when kids are out of school due to the particularly Christmas themed one featuring North Pole elves, but otherwise the collection doesn’t pin itself in any particular seasonal niche.

While I was looking up information on the individual shorts, I found the page at movies.disney.com for this film collection. There’s a section on the page with fun activities that feature some of the shorts. Some seem to be designed to work interactively with the films, such as a Frozen Fever scavenger hunt.

I would certainly recommend this collection to animation fans of any age, and I’ll probably be watching this again soon!

Languages

Speech Available: English, Spanish

Subtitles Available: English, Spanish

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None

Metascore – None

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 7.7/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 5/5

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 5/5

Trust-the-Dice’s Parental Advisory Rating: PG

Movie Trailer: