STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: FILM - “Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection”

Short films walk a fine line between not enough and just right. Heck, you can even spin “not enough” as a compliment, seeing as people wanted more of it.

Walt Disney animated films have understandably stood the test of time, but they aren’t always about only feature films. With the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection, the studio shows just a snippet on why even their short films make a lasting impact as well.

Similar to how Pixar short films are attached before their feature film, a majority of these shorts appeared before a Disney feature presentation. There’s twelve of them here, so let’s get started.

Directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater was shown with National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It’s a Goofy cartoon from 2007 that resembles the 1950s Goofy cartoons where he goes through some sort of obstacle in suburban life.

Directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters, The Ballad of Nessie was shown with the 2011 film Winnie the Pooh. The story is about Nessie, a creature who looks like the Loch Ness Monster, who lives peacefully in her pond until a land developer takes it. But she must keep a stiff upper lip, and persevere in finding a new home.

Directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, Tangled Ever After was shown with the 3D re-release of Beauty and the Beast. Taking place after the events of the 2010 film Tangled, the story is about the two mascot characters, Maximus the horse and Pascal the chameleon, who have to retrieve the rings meant for Rapunzel and Flynn before they notice.

Directed by John Kahrs, Paperman was shown with Wreck-It Ralph. It’s a black-and-white about George who meets Meg at train platform in 1940s New York City. When he sees her again in the building across from where he works, he tries to get her attention by throwing paper airplanes, his work files, at her to no avail. It’s the first Disney animated short to win the Academy Award since It's Tough to Be a Bird in 1970.

Directed by Lauren MacMullan, Get a Horse! was shown with Frozen. Without giving away too much about it, the film is a throwback to the black-and-white Mickey cartoons… with a modern twist to it.

Directed by Patrick Osborne, Feast was shown with Big Hero 6. It’s about a puppy named Winston, whom his rescuer, James has mentioned. Through Winston’s eyes and the food he eats, he witnesses a relationship between James and waitress Kirby. Throughout their relationship, Kirby wants James to eat healthier. Since James keeps giving Winston his delicious leftovers, Winston doesn’t like that at all.

Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, Frozen Fever was shown with the 2015 film Cinderella. Set after the events of the 2013 film Frozen, it’s about Elsa throwing a surprise birthday party for Anna. However, she develops a cold, and her sneezes causing mini snowmen to appear, which cause trouble for everyone involved, except Anna, who doesn’t notice.

The remaining films were never had an official theatrical release, but were made for various reasons, three of which were made as segments for a possible third Fantasia film.

Directed by Lara Shapiro, John Henry is about the tall tale of John Henry, a freed slave working on building a railroad. He and his people are promised to be given land if they are able to finish it in time. But when the company sends a steam hammer, John Henry proposes that he compete with it in the hopes that his people can keep their jobs.

Directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters, Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa is the second film in the Prep & Landing series. Elves Wayne and Lanny are told by their boss that Mrs. Claus wants them to retrieve a box from her husband’s workshop before he notices.

Directed by Mike Gabriel, Lorenzo is about an arrogant cat, Lorenzo, who has a beautiful tail. He laughs at a black cat with a missing tail. The black cat places a hex on Lorenzo’s tail, which forces it to come to life, and causing him trouble.

Directed by Dean Wellins, Tick Tock Tale, is about the clocks in a London clock shop, which come to life. One in particular is a novelty alarm clock with a figure of a man. When the alarm rings, he shows his underwear. This clock is bullied by the other clocks, and he spends the night trying to get rid of the figure.

Directed by Roger Allers, and based on the short story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Matchgirl is about a little girl who is trying to sell matchsticks during Christmas in Russia. The cold is fierce, and she’s forced to use the matchsticks on herself. The thing about this film? It’s just… (sniffs).

Whew!

The beauty of such an eclectic range of films, a film or animation fan is certainly able to find at least that peaks their interest.

Something I noticed with these films is that the directors and animators can show off their ability to tell a story without any dialogue. Sure, there are voice actors, but a focus is on their facial expressions, postures and movement. In the case of Lorenzo, the character’s movement is in sync with the tango song, “Bordoneo y 900."

My two favorites from this list for varying reasons are Paperman, Feast, and Get a Horse! I love the look of Paperman. I love it looks like it was hand-drawn but it was actually done on computer, and I hope more animated films use this aesthetic.

The same can be same for Feast but what makes this film special to me is how the story is told: through the eyes of a dog, and the food he eats.

As a film fan, Get a Horse! is just a funny film with a lot of good gags, and that “making way for the future” doesn’t always mean just looking forward; sometimes it’s essential to look back as well.

Walt Disney animated short films can be just as memorable as their feature films, and with this first collection, I just hope there are more to come.

Pick one (or all), and check it out.

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