Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) Oh yes I did. "LOU" is a 7-minute animated short film from this year and it is certainly already now among the most seen and most successful short films of 2017. This has to do with the fact that it is another collaboration between Disney and Pixar and as such a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the Best Animated Short Film category at the Oscars 2018. The writer and director is Dave Mullins and he has worked in the animation department of quite a few Pixar films already, but this here is the moment of truth for him as the man in charge. Voice actor Jack Bright is also not new to the Pixar universe. Now the story here takes place at a school yard and we have the kids having fun until they are disturbed by a bully. The title character though is once again for Pixar not human, but the lost and found boy standing nearby that seems to possess some kind of spirit or artificial intelligence inside as the contents in there keep becoming all kinds of creatures in leading the bully kid back to the path of kindness. The inclusion of his favorite stuffed animal when he was way younger is where Pixar delivers emotionally as always, even if it may go a bit over the top eventually with the idea of self-sacrifice for the good cause. And the first 2-3 minutes also did not impress me at all. But luckily, there is a great deal of improvement in the second half of this little movie. And finally, yes it is Disney and Pixar and yes we sure expect the animation and character design to be really as good as it gets, but we should still not take it for granted that it is in fact on a very high level visually again. Overall, this should be a surefire for an Oscar nomination, but I am not entirely sold on it to win. Same for me personally. I think it will end up on my list of favorite animated short films from 2017, but I cannot really see it reaching the top spot, maybe not even the podium. But of course, it is definitely worth checking out if you love (modern) animation. I give it a thumbs-up.

Gordon-11 This short animated film tells the story of a playground bully in a school, who snatches toys away from other children. A mysterious being teaches him a lesson on how to behave appropriately with his peers in school.It is a sweet animation, and the children are very cute. However, it is not as heartwarming or touching as I expected. It is a good animation, but it falls short of the Pixar's very high standards.

Edgar Allan Pooh " . . . could be persuaded to have a change-of-heart, and totally Reform?" LOU opens with the proverbial playground tyrant stealing other kids' stuff on his elementary school playground, and otherwise tormenting them, with NO adult supervision in sight. It is unlikely, of course, that any perceptive U.S. Citizen will be able to watch these Deplorable outrages without being immediately put in mind of Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin and his Puppet, Rump. Fortunately for the children at this particular location, Putin's U.S. Secretary of Miseducation--Billionaire Fat Cat Betsey "Amway Calling" DeVos--has not yet turned it into one of her For-Profit Charter Brainwashing Shacks (which she has used to destroy the Detroit School System, so that virtually no polling place workers will have the skills to tally legal votes in that True Blue Loyal Union Label Stronghold in coming years). A magic Lost and Found Box gives LOU his comeuppance as this animated short concludes. Hopefully, Putin and Rump will open a similarly benign Pandora's Box BEFORE the outbreak of Armageddon.

tavm This Disney-Pixar short was shown before Cars 3. During recess, a bully takes all the kids' toys or other of their valuables and puts them in a box. A flashback is provided that explains some of his behavior... I'll stop there and just say there's some amusing stuff concerning a creature that can only exist in an animated cartoon but it's believable enough to suspend logical thought and it contributed enormously to my enjoyment of this short. Really, all I'll say now is I recommend LOU.