Presto (2008)

Directed by: Doug Sweetland | 5 minutes | animation, comedy, short film, fantasy

Pixar has made it a habit to treat their cinema audiences to an entertaining short before the main film. The short films are pieces of art in themselves and it is certainly worth your time to be in the room on time, otherwise you will miss a beautiful example of computer animation of the highest level. The ‘warm-up’ for ‘Wall-E’ (2008) was ‘Presto’ (2008), a film about a fanatic magician who gets into a fight with his starving rabbit. Pixar gives young, talented people from their animation department the opportunity to profile themselves by having them direct a short. Doug Sweetland, who contributed as an animator to, among others, ‘Toy Story’ (1995), ‘Monster’s Inc.’ (2001), ‘Finding Nemo’ (2003) and ‘The Incredibles’ (2004), seized the opportunity presented to him with both hands and made ‘Presto’, a film that visually meets all the requirements expected from Pixar and funnier than the famed animation studio has ever been!

‘Presto’ immediately gets off to a thunderous start; the design of the opening credits is an ode to the Disney shorts of the 1940s and 1950s, when illuminated text was used on a red textured background. Rabbit Alec Azam (with a nod to the magic word ‘Alakazam’) makes his appearance. He is in his cage, a few minutes before the start of the performance, but he is starving. His stomach is rumbling. There is a tasty carrot on the table, but Alec just can’t reach it. When the magician, Presto DiGiotagione (a funny reference to ‘prestidigitation’, which means ‘sleight of hand’), enters the dressing room, Alec hopes to tell him that he would like a bite of carrot before they eat, but they have less time than expected. . The curtain rises and hungry Alec still hasn’t had anything to eat. During the show, he makes it clear to Presto in all possible – and sometimes painful for the magician – ways that he will not cooperate until he gets that carrot…

Sometimes it’s not so much about how funny the movie is in the Pixar shorts, but about how beautifully it is made. Oscar winner ‘Geri’s Game’ (1997) is a good example of this. In ‘Presto’ the emphasis is on the hilarity. And that of course also belongs to the world of magicians. The pace is high and one slapstick moment is followed by another. At five minutes, ‘Presto’ is just long enough to keep it fun. The film already has a large fan base who are calling for a full-length film of the magician and his rabbit, but that probably won’t work. Then it becomes too much of a repetition of moves. Moreover, the design does not lend itself to it. The animation is colorful, warm and lively and the jokes are spot on. Don’t be surprised if you roar with laughter more than once, because ‘Presto’ is really very funny. One of the most hilarious movies ever to come out of Pixar’s genius artists!