Reviews & Ratings for
Bunny More at IMDbPro »

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15 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
An animated short whose brilliant animation takes second billing., 28 January 2005

Author: Michael DeZubiria (miked32@hotmail.com) from Luoyang, China

Sometimes I read reviews by other users on the IMDb as I write my own and I made the mistake of doing that for this film. Only about 15 people have written reviews at the time I am writing this, but as is generally the case, I was astounded at some of the things that people had to say about this brilliant film. Just as many people praised the quality of the animation as people who pointed it out as a way to see how far animation has come since it was released. One user even wrote that the animation was clearly dated, as though it were old and unimpressive. What is truly odd is that I think that the person who wrote that has written more reviews on the IMDb than anyone else on the site, and yet he completely missed the fact that the ragged, worn out stuffed-animal appearance of Bunny is all animated. This is not go-motion, it's pure animation and it's absolutely stunning.

Even more astounding were a couple of complaints that the ending was stupid, or confusing. At the moment I'm having a hard time deciding which of these ludicrous claims is more foolish. The movie is an animated short with more of a somber feel than the typical animated short, and deals with what might happen to people when they die. This is, of course, all explained in the intro to the film, although had I not watched it I find it hard to believe that I would have been confused by an ending that featured an elderly bunny rabbit crawling into her oven and then flying into a white light, especially since she sprouts wings on the way. Director Chris Wedge describes it as sort of a fun way to look at the reality of death if, as Tigger might say, you can imaginate such a thing.

The entire film is very quiet and almost depressing, even when we identify with Bunny for wanting to get rid of the pesky moth, she shuts it outside in the dark, turning off the porch light and leaving it in darkness, at which point feelings of annoyance turn instantly into feelings of sympathy. In the space of no more than a second or two we go from wanting to swat the moth to wanting to bring it back inside. This, I have to say, is absolutely brilliant screen writing (by the way, another IMDb user made the astonishing comment that animated short films should stick entirely to comedy and cuteness, which itself is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read on this site or anywhere else. I personally take it to be the same as saying that female actors should stick to romantic comedies).

There are lots of clever touches in the film, such as the fact that Bunny uses a walker just as any aging woman would, but she still hops along with it. It's one of those things that you wouldn't even think about but that add tremendously to her character when you see it. Bunny is, even without the hopping, probably the most complex character that you could hope to see developed in a 7 1/2 minute animated film without a syllable of dialogue. She has lost her husband, lives alone, and while we want to feel sympathy for her (and ultimately do), it is unsettling that she shuts the moth out in total darkness, almost as though she were starving it, and then even more unsettling that she swats it dead, stirs it viciously into her batter and loses her temper, hurling it into the oven and slamming the door with what must be the great majority of her might.

When she falls asleep just afterwards, it is, as Chris Wedge explains in the intro, her symbolic death, and the film changes drastically from a lonely old woman cooking alone in her lonely cabin and into a portrayal of her path to Heaven and reunion with her lost husband.

What I especially like is that the movie never becomes preachy, it doesn't show her becoming young again and dancing in Heaven with her husband, it simply shows her growing wings on her way into the light and then, in possibly the most moving few seconds that have ever been animated, there is a dissolve to her and her husband's wedding photo and moths fly up behind them, superimposing angel's wings onto the photo.

My grandfather passed away recently and, since I own an editing studio, I made a video eulogy using family pictures that spanned something like the last 30 years, and am now making DVD copies to send out to my 10 aunts and uncles and countless cousins, and I ended the video with my grandparents' black and white wedding photo from the early 1950s in Colombia and superimposed it over a short clip of the sun shining through moving clouds. It is truly a moving video, so I can clearly understand the motivation behind Chris Wedge using it as an ending. I feel honored to have had a similar idea, and even more disturbed that anyone would call it stupid or confusing.

This is finally an animated short film that is not about it's animation, unlike Scrat's Missing Adventure, Boundin', and even Geri's Game, which is one of the cleverest and most charming animated short films I've ever seen. All of these are wonderful and fun animated short films, but none of them approach the power of Bunny.

Bravo.

6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Dramatic and Heartwarming., 1 April 2006
Author: emasterslake from United States

This is one of Blue Sky's earlier projects before Ice Age.

It has a similar look to Ice Age, even thought up by Chris Wedge who made Ica Age and Robots possible.

Bunny is about a lonely old Rabbit(female). She's been lonely for a long time, ever since her husband died.

One night while baking a cake she gets annoyed by a moth.

But that moth may lead her to see her late husband again.

It's a short film, so there's not much to say about it. It has a little bit of humor, but it's more drama than comedy. So don't expect it to be an Ice Age like CG film.

It's still worth seeing. You're able to see it off the Ice Age DVD.

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
A computer animated short of sound perfection., 24 March 1999
Author: SirMoggy

A great animated piece is one that satisfies the basic elements of story, art, and sound emotion; but a true masterpiece transcends these essentials and brings forth the artistry of humanity. Such is the case of Chris Wedge's (Blue Sky Studios) "Bunny." Through stunning visuals and a heart-warming story of an anthropormorphic metamorphosis, "Bunny" is a flawless example of genuine animation. Although the story will most likely be misunderstood by children, it will bring a smile to their face none the less. I was touched by Chris' animated piece and I find it so rare to find an short (especially one that is only 7 minutes long) that brings such strong convictions.

Baking alone in her weathered house, hearing only the sounds of the lonely night, "Bunny" receives an unexpected visitor: a nocturnal pest. Searching for the light in such an unachievable manner, a single moth clinks and clanks upon "Bunny's" fixtures. The old ragged "Bunny" persistently tries to remove the hairy moth, but to no avail, the moth is slow to quit on its mission. Through anger and fury brings raw and nostalgic yearnings; her past is awakened while rays of light cover the darkness. Through fantasy and hope, "Bunny's" life is finally fulfilled.

Computer animation is a timely medium. The style and appearance of the film gradually surpasses its predecessor with the rate of technology. Only the story is set in stone. This aside, Chris Wedge and Blue Sky Studios have made the most visually stunning piece of animated film to date. Utilizing the latest in CGI technology and a technique called "radiosity" which replicates light in its most purest form, "Bunny" exhibits a sense of realism that has never been captured until now. The most subtle details are committed to precise accuracy: the fur on "Bunny's" body, the shadows and glares upon glass, and the camera selections and movements all contribute to its excellence.

"Bunny" won my heart over as it would do to any individual. It has proved to be one of the greatest computer animated shorts in all aspects of the medium in recent history.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Sweet & Funny, 22 March 1999
Author: Richard Hutchins from New York NY

I saw it on video, and it was impressive - very sweet & funny, and the animation is unbelievable. I can't wait to see it in a theater- its coming to Film Forum in New York City in May. I loved it.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Beautiful piece of work with amazing detail., 12 December 2002

Author: Robert Reynolds (minniemato@hotmail.com) from Tucson AZ

This won the Academy Award for Animated Short and it's easy to see why, even in a fairly strong field of nominees. The technical aspects alone would justify the award. It's a visually arresting cartoon. I've seen much less attention to detail in "set decoration" in feature-length live-action films! But the visuals are only part of the tale here-indeed, it is the tale itself that is at the heart of things here. The characters matter, the interactions make sense and the story is interesting to the viewer (although, at least in my opinion, the primary reason this won out over another nominee was the superior visual look and feel of Bunny and the race was close there, as well. Too bad they didn't end up tied) without becoming cloying at the end. Good to see this getting wider release on the DVD of the feature Ice Age, by the same studio. Let's hope features don't take up all their time and energy, so that they can occasionally give us a shorter marvel like this. Well worth watching. Most highly recommended.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Moth Cooked into Cake=Good Movie, 30 December 2002
Author: DJAkin (donjakin@yahoo.com) from AZ

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I saw this short animated film and was astonished. I had no idea how much this movie meant in terms of it's depth etc. until I saw the directors commentary. It's basically about this old bunny who is baking a cake As she bakes the cake, a moth disturbs her. So, she swats the moth and it falls into the cake. Once the moth is in the cake, she places the cake in the oven, cooks it and then:::::SPOILER::::dies apparently. Good 10 minute film. Sad even.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
*Sniff* So sad, yet great., 28 November 2002
Author: Ruby_Tuesday from Yes, that is my name, and I come from Nowhere Important. Muahaha

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The story is so sad!! ;_; Basically, for those of you who don't know and thus think it's lame, it's about an old widowed rabbit who gets mad at a moth in her kitchen after having some sad thoughts about an old wedding photo of hers. The moth is an angel and is trying to get her to come join her husband. She eventually gets mad and

*****SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!!*****

bakes the moth in a cake. (Although she didn't intend to in the first place.) The moth opens a portal to Heaven (or so I think) and Bunny follows it. The ending is so sad as they show a close-up of the wedding photo and the figures move and-- *sob* --is so touching!!

*****SPOILER END!!! SPOILER END!!!*****

Sorry, but, being a Pisces, I am very emotional *Cry* and this was so sad, in a way... but that is no reason for you not to see it! It is sad in a good way, and the animation is brilliant! The characters and everything look like clay or puppets or something but the animation certainly flows like computer technology and that is what makes it great!

So see the short, smile, (almost)cry, and be amazed. 8/10

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
nice animation, but I didn't really care about the hidden significance and meaning, 12 February 2008

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

This is a lovely example of computer generated animation--especially for 1998. While during the last few years, CGI has been so common that even novices can make nice films thanks to readily available rendering software, for 1998, this was a pretty spectacular film. Remember--back in 1998, the ONLY game in town for this type of animation was Pixar--this was three years before Dreamworks released Shrek. So hats off to some lovely animation--it must have involved a lot of hard work.

Now as for the story, I saw the film and read many of the reviews and I am left feeling that I must be a pretty shallow person. I could have cared less about the significance of the film and the oven scene--I just wanted to laugh or care about this film but didn't. For some, this is fantastic symbolism. For me, it's just really nice animation.

FYI--This film won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Visually gorgeous but the stories the thing., 17 April 1999

Author: freakus from San Francisco, CA

In the world of computer animation we often see very visually impressive feats but it is very rare we see stories just as impressive. Bunny is a simple and touching tale of love and loneliness. When I first saw stills I assumed it was stop motion because the character was so warm and real. Quite an achievement.

4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Watch it again... you'll cry, 13 August 2003

Author: j_killcrazy from San Bruno, CA

When I first saw it, it was right after seeing Ice Age, and I didn't really pay a lot of attention. Later I watched it with the commentary on, and then watched it again, and just wept. It's very touching and sad, but you need to feel these emotions. This is the best short film I've ever seen.

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