Presto (2008)

A stage magician's rabbit gets into a magical onstage brawl against his neglectful guardian with two magic hats.

Director:

Doug Sweetland

Writers:

Doug Sweetland, Ted Mathot (story)

Star:

Doug Sweetland

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Doug Sweetland	...	Presto DiGiotagione / Alec Azam (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

Dignity. Poise. Mystery. We expect nothing less from the great, turn-of-the-century magician, Presto. But, when Presto forgets to feed his rabbit one too many times, well, there's really no telling what to expect! Follow the escalating high jinx of the amazing Presto, his rabbit Alec, and what happens onstage when a star magician's ego provokes some clever revenge from his neglected costar.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | human | rabbit | magician | stage | 

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Taglines:

They stick together like an octopus handshake!

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was influenced by Tex Avery cartoons, Tom and Jerry cartoons, the Marx Brothers films and Charles Chaplin comedies.

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Goofs

After the magician gets electrocuted, the hat shoots off his hand across the stage. He then furiously chases after the rabbit and he noticeably does not have the hat with him. However, when the rabbit runs under the table, the magician is now holding the hat again.

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Crazy Credits

The ending credits are in the style of old-time circus posters.

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Connections

Featured in MsMojo: Top 10 Best Pixar Shorts (2018)

User Reviews

Probably the public's favorite to win the Oscar

Like last year, I went to a special showing of the Oscar-nominated animated short films. However, unlike last year, in addition to the nominees, several "commended films" were also shown. In this review I'll make my predictions, though if it's anything like last year's choices, I'll probably once again pick the wrong shorts as my favorite for the award.

PRESTO is a cute little short about a rabbit who is hungry yet his master, a magician, is unwilling to let him eat. After all, the show must go on and it's time for them to be on stage. But, being so very hungry, the rabbit decides to use a bit of prestidigitation himself and soon a battle ensues between bunny and magician--with hilarious results. In many, many ways, the film looks like a CGI version of an old Tex Avery cartoon--with lots of good old fashioned violence and silly mayhem.

Overall, this was probably my second favorite of the nominated films. I loved the artwork (not surprising, considering it's a Pixar film) and the film was cute yet violent (a great combination if you ask me). There certainly wasn't much depth to it but you can't fault the Academy for selecting it as a nominee--it's state of the art and clever.

Unlike the four other shorts that were nominated, this one actually received a very widespread release--being shown before the full-length film, WALL-E. Because of this sentiment and because the CGI is unbeatably good, it's probably the odds on favorite to win the Oscar. It's my second favorite of the nominees, as I slightly preferred THIS END UP--though I must admit its animation wasn't quite as good as PRESTO's. The reason I prefer this other film is because it had a very sick sense of humor and seemed much more creative--taking many risks. PRESTO, on the other hand, is a very typical Pixar release--a real crowd pleaser instead of an innovative or risk-taking film.

UPDATE: LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES was the winner this year. Not surprisingly, I got this one wrong but at least saw the film as a strong contender.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 June 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Presto

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

5 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX DTS-ES SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1