Mike's New Car

Mike's New Car (2002)

*** (out of 4)

Fun Pixar short has Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) from MONSTER, INC. doing more damage. Mike gets a new car and decides to take Sulley for a drive but he doesn't know how all the controls work yet, which leads to a lot of trouble for the duo. I actually haven't seen the full length film that the characters are from but after seeing this I'm certainly going to try and make a stronger effort in getting it on. I thought the film showed a lot of imagination considering how little time they had to tell the story. The idea of various instruments going wrong could have made for a simple film but the nice imagination takes the idea and really runs with it. I loved the sequence where Mike gets sucked up in the engine and his only way out is by making a phone call to Sulley who's still sitting in the car. I was a little surprised to see that this was nominated for an Oscar but either way it's an enjoyable little film.

Mike and Sully, the two heroes from Pixar/Disney's MONSTERS INC. are back in this short film about Mike's new car. At first, Mike is very, very proud of it, but over time, more and more and more goes wrong--and in the process poor Mike and Sully are bashed to pieces by their overly-gadgeted car.

I saw this film recently in the new DVD of Pixar animated shorts and while it was very pleasant and funny, I was rather shocked to find out it was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Subject--which it lost to the better short film THE CHUBBCHUBBS! Now this isn't knocking MIKE'S NEW CAR--it's well executed and fun. However, it just isn't special enough to be considered much other than perhaps a DVD extra.

See CHUBBCHUBBS!

This short animation is about the new car Mike bought. He is proud of it until things go awfully wrong.

"Mike's New Car" is aimed at very young children. To be honest, I do not quite see the attraction of this short. The plot is a simple one, featuring merry mishaps of Mike and Scully while working with the technologically advanced car. It is not particularly hilarious or warm. If this was nominated for an Oscar, then the other shorts must have been very bad, or there were no other shorts.

I find "Mike's New Car" rather forgettable. I have never been a fan of "Monsters Inc", so it may have affected my judgment of this animation.

Mike and Sully are one of my favourites characters from the Pixar universe. They're so wavering. And it's funny to watch them. In this case, they're entertaining us with Mike's new car and it's absolutely hilarious. I would love to see a movie staring only these characters.

With the money from his new found fame and success, Mike buys a brand new powerful car to replace his old one. With state of the art gadgets and controls, Mike is eager to show it off to Sully. However this car is a little more complex than his last model.

When I borrowed the Monsters Inc DVD off some friends I was impressed by the sheer number of extras on it, whether the tv spots or the weird Japanese games or the outtakes etc. Of all the things additional to the movie, this short is the second best extra (the best being the musical `Put That Thing Back Where it Came From Or So Help Me').

Although it relies much more on physical humour than the film does I must admit to still being tickled by it. It appealed to the toddler audience a lot more simply because there were no real `over the head' jokes aimed at adults and not at the kids – plus it involved one character being hurt!

Overall I enjoyed this short and, when I watch Monsters Inc with any young relatives, I always make sure that the musical and this short are part of the viewing agenda.