Piper

I am 55 yrs old and loved Finding Nemo and could not wait to see Finding Dory. I went today with a friend and after watching Piper I turned to my friend and told her even if Finding Dory was not great, Piper was worth the price of admission LOVED IT. (Finding Dory was good also but could not get Piper out of my head. Came home and looked it up on my computer and was excited to see a little teaser (as they called it) and teaser is correct cause it took you right up to the start of the adventure. Dang it I wanted to see it again. Whoever and however they did this animation needs to do some more of this, shoot I could have watched a how movie on Piper. Okay I know it is a short movie but could you throw in another teaser trailer. :-)

The folks at Pixar have a great eye for detail and the reproduction of the animal world (any world for that matter). While the story is almost overly cute, the little guy that is at the center is amazingly crafted and presented. He is receiving his little bird education as his mother moves him slowly through the steps he must follow to lead an adult life. Lovely.

A short that is both irrepressibly adorable and true to how these creatures move in real life, Piper follows a little bird as he/she (does that matter?) tries to get a little piece of clam that its mommy leaves for it on a beach. But the tide might come and sweep the bird away or back into looking like a messed-up little thing. It's an inspiring story that shows kids that if there's a little perseverance through the harsh waters that you can come out with something you didn't expect to get. Like many of Pixar's shorts it has a lot more depth than can be expected in a short running time, and the unique aspect to this is how the birds and ocean moves so closely as to how in life that it's only incredible that it wasn't done via digital-rendering on actual birds and clams and crabs and so on. And on top of everything else it's fitting to pair this with Finding Dory, which is all about taking on the odds against you to do what isn't expected - or, to put it another way, going past the limits of what is possible naturally.

Shown just before Finding Dory, this short is about a young bird on the beach who's a little afraid of the waves when they move quickly especially when it's trying to get something. Everything in this one looks so lifelike, for a while, I didn't think it was computer animated at all! Both funny and a little touching, the minutes seem to go by pretty quickly by the time it ends. Such a natural feel looking at all those birds' movements not to mention the ocean when it movies to and fro most of the time. The 3-D glasses I viewed this with may have been a plus, I don't know. Certainly, I was riveted throughout this short. Really, all I'll say now is Piper is another worthy Pixar short.

Piper is a great animated short film with a well structured story and pitch perfect animation. It is very sweet, as we follow a baby bird struggling to get food on the shore of a beach, it is at times a little heartbreaking, making the end all the more rewarding.

On the other hand, it has little replay value. Many of Pixar's shorts are worth the watch again and again for me, such as For the Birds and Partly Cloudy, but Piper is not funny or unique enough to stand out like they do.

The animation is the star of this short, the movement of the birds, the beach, the water, is all stunning, almost life like, it is amazing how much detail the studio puts in to their work, even with shorts. While it may be forgettable, Piper is fun while it lasts and its worth the watch, which you will get to see before Finding Dory.

A young bird must learn to fend for himself and struggles for survival.