More of an experiment than a short film, THE ADVENTURES OF ANDRE & WALLY B was Pixar's first CG animated short. It was made when Pixar was still part of Lucasfilms. The short was first CG work for Pixar head and TOY STORY director John Lasseter, who was restricted by only being allowed to use geometric shapes to build his characters and sets. Alvy Ray Smith, who was a computer graphics artist on 1982's STAR TREK: WRATH OF KHAN, is credited as the film's writer.
As for the story, Andre is a wide-eyed fellow with a big black nose, who is just waking up from a nap in the forest. Wally, a bee, begins to taunt him. Andre distracts Wally and makes run for it. The 3D animation is dated by current standards and the sound design is awkwardly integrated. Much of the sound is standard cartoony sound effects. To their credit, even in this early example of CG, the Pixar artists were skilled in bringing personality to their characters. Andre clearly has a Bugs Bunny vibe. As a historical document it's amazing to see the advances that have been made in computer animation since 1984. Any true animation fan should check this out. Those just looking for entertainment will be disappointed.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
