Sanjay's Super Team

This delivers everything we expect from a Pixar short. It's clever, funny, has something to say, the music and sound design are on point and the animation is amazing. This one focuses on superheroics and the contrast between those and real life.

While the kid really wants to watch Saturday morning cartoons his father believes it is important for them to hold on to his own faith in Hinduism which he wants to spread to his son. This is a conflict common to modern life. Old and new. I felt like they did a really great job exploring it here. I love seeing one of these not the so focused on white people. Recommended. 7/10.

I grew up as a third culture kid in both India and the US.

This storyline really resonated with me. When I was a kid playing with my action figures, I'd envision scenarios where the heroes of Indian mythology like Hanuman, Bheema, and so on would team up with Batman, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc.

Sanjay has a culturally-syncretic experience like that in this short.

And that's what most people took away from this.

BUT THAT'S ONLY SURFACE LEVEL. IT'S SO MUCH MORE.

When I re-watched this I noticed there was so much interesting imagery.

On the side of the room over the television set was a map of America, where Sanjay finds his Western heroes. Over the small shrine on the other side is a map of India, where his Dad has his own heroes, his Gods.

The way the reflection of the lamp and flame on the floor looks like a bell represents the way light cuts through the darkness, the way sound cuts through the silence.

Speaking of the darkness, the shapeshifter initially takes on the form of a rakshasa, a demon that represents the worst of human self-destructive behaviors, but after the sound of the bell subdues it (created by smashing his idol, the action figure), the form looks human again, with palms together, meaning the darkness we must subdue is our own.

Another point about of light subduing the dark is at the end when Sanjay opens the blinds on the dark room, and also when his father and him meet in the middle.

Tangentially-- I was surprised Mychael Danna did the score, because I was most familiar with his work in Boondock Saints. But then I realized he also scored Monsoon Wedding and Life Of Pi, and then I was like "Oh, that makes sense."

P.S. The negative reviews here from bigots... shame on you. I think it's very telling about how small-minded you are, that you react to something foreign, that you don't understand, with so much fear, and no willingness or desire for knowledge or understanding. I'm an atheist, and even I understood the beautiful message in this film.

This is an odd Pixar film in a sense, because the focus is not on the cuteness or the fun, but on the story. Although the animation is good, it is not as good as other Pixar films. However, this is an excellent film mostly because it has substance and teaches a great lesson to

kids who belong to a culture that is very different from the Western World but adore the same TV shoes, heroes, and stories as any other kid in the world.

The focus in this film is on the Hindu culture, as Patel is narrating a semi-autobiographic episode. Hindu culture is full of myths, legends and heroes that are thousands of years old, are amazing, fun and as enthralling as any TV super-hero. This film is a reminder that sometimes the best stories are those behind the traditions one take for granted, that those traditions are based on powerful stories with powerful heroes.

What I liked the most about the film is that the story approaches both worlds, the old and new, the modern and antique, the lay and the divine as complementary, they are both cool, there is space in our lives for both. Kids can enjoy our modern myths (playful TV characters, animated heroes, superheroes) but also need to learn to respect and appreciate the value of their own culture, the meaning of their rituals, and the powerful stories they convey.

Finally, this short film is also a charming ode to the power of the divine, prayer, meditation and tradition in our modern hectic lives.

It is refreshing seeing animators going beyond the cute to focus on such an important message.

"Sanjay's Super Team" (United States, 7 min.) – Probably the most widely seen of these five Oscar nominees, this animated short played in American theaters as a featurette before showings of "The Good Dinosaur". It's about a young Indian boy who's watching his favorite superhero cartoon when his father turns off the TV and brings the boy over to join him in prayer to the Hindu gods. As his dad prays, Sanjay daydreams a story in which the Hindu gods are superheroes. The story is based on the childhood of the film's director, Pixar animator Sanjay Patel. The film is a creative, colorful and entertaining meditation on the generation gap between fathers and sons and how that gap might be bridged. "A-"

Sanjay is a typical Indian boy who is torn between his fictional superheroes and his family's tradition. Sanjay is your typical boy who wants to do what others do his age. He wants to play with his action figures rather than pray and honor with his family. The animation is quite first rate and high quality. Sanjay gets torn between reality and dreams. He soon learned the value of honoring his father and his family's tradition. I didn't realize that this was a short animated film before the actual feature film. I was a bit confused and uncertain about short animated films before the actual feature film presentation. I was with a school for a trip and still the film short was nice and award worthy. I wish the film director well. Sanjay Patel has quite a future in the animated film industry.