Rectangular_businessman
This short is simply perfect in my opinion. It is cute, amusing, and very well animated, having great CGI and a very appealing design of characters. Even when the plot from this short isn't something incredibly "complex" or "deep", that doesn't made this any less enjoyable. In fact, I think that the light-hearted tone from "Presto" balances very well the seriousness of "WALLE", being something quite charming and delightful from beginning to end. "Presto" has all elements of a perfect crowd pleaser. It could be easily compared with the Disney's Silly Symphonies shorts, or seen at least as a modern equivalent for those classic animations.10/10
tavm
This is the second of five Oscar-nominated animated shorts I've watched from last year. It's from Pixar and was originally presented before their feature WALL-E which I have yet to see. A magician's bunny just wants a carrot but his master keeps taking it away from him so during the performance with the master on stage with his own hat and the bunny at the side hidden by curtains holding the sorcerer's hat that serves as the connection between where the magician's hand goes, the bunny does all kinds of tricks of his own on his master while the audience thinks it's all part of the act...Reminiscent of the wacky stuff done by Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, and Frank Tashlin in the '40s, Presto provides non-stop slapstick that gets more outrageously funny with each gag before the crescendo that satisfyingly comes. And dig the beginning logo credits done in the way they might have been if this short really was made during that Golden Age of animation. In short, Presto is magnifico!
solacewaves
Pixar shorts have long established themselves as not only gorgeous eye candy and funny but also clever and intelligent. I have always found it incredible how short films (whether they are animated or not) seek to tell a story in a short space of time. The very best do so in such a way that you have become connected with what you watch. In this sense I find short films to be much more remarkable than full length features as the most poignant of them have to overcome the limited time slot allocated to them. And Presto does just that. How can a magician and a little rabbit cause so much hilarity and mayhem in just a few minutes while also making you actually care for both characters? It is beyond me but that's what Pixar delivers. Presto lends homage to many of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons and is a roller coaster ride of enjoyment for both young and old. Following on from the equally magnificent "Lifted", "Bounding" and "One Man Band", Pixar has cemented themselves as not only the masters of creative story telling on the feature-length screen but also the short-length one. Combine that with the ever amazing (and now taken for granted) techniques used in their animation and you have an animated package that you will want to watch over and over again. Bugs would be so proud...
Michael_Elliott
Presto (2008) *** (out of 4) Animated short from Pixar, which was originally shown in front of Wall-E. A magician who specializes in pulling a rabbit from his hat forgets to feed that same rabbit. That night at the show the rabbit protests and refuses to be pulled, which leads to trouble. This film runs a short five-minutes and while it's not as attractive as the main feature it's still a nice little gem. There's some very funny stuff here as the magician has to do battle with his partner including a very good sequence where the rabbit keeps pulling tricks of his own. The animation is quite nice and the story work fine as well.
AD
