For the Birds (2002)

Directed by: Ralph Eggleston | 3 minutes | animation, short film

Lucky that ‘Monsters, Inc.’ is such a great movie, otherwise it would have been an hour and a half anticlimax after the pre-movie that was shown in the cinemas with this film at the time. This movie, called ‘For the Birds’, is very funny, both in its higher quality animation and the simple idea.

After ‘Tin Toy’ and ‘Geri’s Game’, ‘For the Birds’ is the third Pixar short film to win an Oscar, and its appeal is understandable. Both the form and the content are very satisfying. In the cutscene, a bunch of snobbish little birds get a taste of their own medicine when the wisecracking critters shut out a different-looking bird and want to run a lure. When the seven birds sit on a telephone line and argue for a bit, they suddenly see a large Pino-esque bird perching on the telephone pole, with tangled feathers, a silly expression on his face, and a lower-sounding voice that always seems to skip. And of course the little rascals are now compelled to prank the big bird together. As is often the case in social groups, the mutual differences are forgotten in order to keep the stranger out of the group. Suddenly the little critters are the biggest buddies and they are constantly doubled up as they take turns imitating their larger counterpart by squinting and putting up their feathers. They quickly all sit down on the telephone wire a lot further away to gossip about him for a while, but the big, somewhat clumsy bird comes in between them to make friends. The birds, which now come to sit against the large bird due to the sagging line, are clearly “not amused” and one of them seems to have found the solution by giving the clumsy Pino a good poke with his beak. But things aren’t going as well as he’d hoped.

The animation is again a bit more detailed than Pixar’s previous work, with the beautifully shaped feathers of the birds especially striking. The creatures are also well three-dimensional, partly due to adequate “lighting”. The dry expressions of the birds – especially nice when they all do the same thing or don’t flinch at all – are very funny and understandably have become a regular comedic value in Pixar’s full-length films. In “Monsters, Inc.” Pixar even shows how a one-eyed character can convey humor and a range of emotions, and in “Finding Nemo,” the fish’s eyes are repeatedly a source of comedy. Dory has the same bulging eyes in that last film as the little birds in ‘For the Birds’ sometimes have. And the sounds also contribute, as usual, to the entertainment value. It is especially the sound of the little birds here that is so entertaining. The choice was made to make the annoying croaking critters sound like those rubber squeaky toys that dogs often play with. When the creatures all together emit this sound, they are somewhat reminiscent of the “mine” calling seagulls in ‘Finding Nemo’.

The arrogant little birds are in fact a kind of anti-heroes and are the main attraction of this nice short film, precisely because of their group behavior. A particularly comical moment occurs, for example, when the large bird suddenly hangs upside down on the leash after the poke and the birds eagerly encourage two of their group members while they hack at the legs of the large bird with their beaks. It is even more fun when more and more of them realize (with wide eyes) that the clever plan is going to go wrong and voices are heard.

The infectious atmosphere of the film, and the ultimate satisfaction in the “clou”, is best experienced in the end. Especially a film that has to convey something in just a few minutes and succeeds very well in this, usually has an indefinable power that has an immediate effect on the viewer. However, definable or not, it would be very strange if the majority of viewers would not enjoy the irresistible ‘For the Birds’.