Small Fry – Small fries (2011)

Directed by: Angus MacLane | 7 minutes | animation, comedy, short film | Original voice cast: Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Jodi Benson, Blake Clark, Joan Cusack, Timothy Dalton, Jane Lynch, Angus MacLane, Teddy Newton, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Jim Ward, Jason Topolski, Jess Harnell, Estelle Harris , Josh Cooley

The Pixar short ‘Small Fry’ is the second of the Toy Story Toons. The first was ‘Hawaiian Vacation’, the third and last one is ‘Partysaurus Rex’, which will be shown before ‘Finding Nemo 3D’. ‘Small Fry’ was shown in cinemas prior to ‘The Muppets’. However, the short film was not on the DVD or Blu-ray of ‘The Muppets’, but fortunately that has changed with the release of the Pixar Short Films Collection 2. ‘Small Fry’ can be seen!

With ‘Small Fry’, Pixar veteran Angus MacLane makes fun of the marketing techniques of the world-famous entertainment company (and of course not just Pixar itself). Bonnie gets a Toy Story when she buys a kid’s menu at a fast food restaurant. Unfortunately for her, the Buzz Lightyear dolls are out, so she has to make do with a Zurg buckle. When her mother points to the Buzz on display in the display and asks if she can’t have it, the employee’s answer is that they are only there to be displayed. This is then absorbed by the little mini-Buzz, who manages to escape from his display prison and ends up in the ball pit together with Bonnie, Dino and the real Buzz. Then Bonnie is called by her mother that they are leaving and that she has to get her toys together. Guess which Buzz is going home with it… The real Buzz ends up at a support group for Happy Meal-like toys that are never played with. It’s a comic collection put together (you could almost save them). Meanwhile, Buzz’s little version tries to convince Woody and the rest that he’s the real Buzz.

‘Small Fry’ is a nice addition to the Toy Story universe. There are plenty of moments where you will have to laugh out loud and the animation is very well done. Especially the small Fun Meal figures are particularly detailed. However, the idea underlying the film does not feel original: here too it is largely about the grief that toys experience when they are not played with, and we already know that from the trilogy. The ending is a bit of an anti-climax as it comes very suddenly. This is now a short that could have been a bit longer. But there are so many nice references in it, that you take that for granted. Angus MacLane has been working for the company since one of the first Pixar shorts (‘Geri’s Game’, 1997) and it is hoped that if the collaboration produces even more enjoyable animated films, he won’t be retiring just yet.