Knick Knack (1989)

Director:

John Lasseter

Writer:

John Lasseter (writer)

Release Date:

4 July 2003 (Mexico)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Family

Plot:

A snowglobe snowman wants to join the other travel souvenirs in a hot party, but the glass dome that surrounds him gets in his way...

Plot Keywords:

Snowglobe | Souvenir | Snowman | Computer Animation | Fish Tank

Awards:

1 win

Also Known As:

Knickknack (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

4 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

West Germany:o.Al. | South Korea:All | Sweden:Btl | USA:G | Australia:G | UK:U

Company:

Pixar Animation Studios

Trivia:

Shown with the theatrical release of Finding Nemo (2003) and the 2006 Disney Digital 3-D theatrical re-release of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Finding Nemo (2003)

Short and very funny

In a room full of ornaments and toys, a group of dolls, little models and decorations all sit enjoying the warm temperature and glow of an unseen sun.

All, that is, except a single snowman, trapped inside a 'greetings from Alaska' snow dome. With a doll waving him on, he attempts to break out and enjoy the party.

Found on the DVD for Finding Nemo, I found this film to be funnier and much more enjoyable than the feature (although both were good). It stands to show that Pixar were onto something as, even if the graphics are a bit blocky compared to Nemo, the comedy is great and the characters are well enough created to be fun. The routine is basic – snowman tries to break out without much success, however it has such energy, pace and solid imagination that I was laughing consistently despite a slow start (ie the first 20 seconds – what a moaner!).

The animation is slick if not perfect and my early worries over the snowman were never realized. I thought he looked a bit too sinister to be a sympathetic character, but his mishaps helped win me round even if his features were still pretty rough and unlikely to get him the dolls in question! He is a great lead and you can't help but feel sorry for him – but not to the point where you stop laughing at him!

Overall this was a very pleasant surprise and the continuation of a very clever ploy in regards Pixar DVD's. I for one love the short films on many of their DVD's and I hope they continue doing it even if I would rather see them release a compilation DVD with all of them on one disk. Anyway, this was very well put together even if it has aged a bit and I laughed the whole way through it to the bittersweet ending – well worth seeing if you get the chance.