“Pixar Short Films Collection 2” is a collection of the Pixar short films usually shown before full length Pixar features. This collection is all 12 short films from the 2^nd half of Pixar’s movie line up. Some short films star well known Pixar Characters, such as Remy from “Ratatouille,” Dug from “Up,” Mater from “Cars,” and the whole cast of “Toy Story,” while the other shorts introduce you to some new or unknown characters. Most of the short films have been nominated for Academy Awards because Pixar continues to set the bar in computer animation for the other companies in their industry. This was a well-rounded collection, but had some issues.

Personally, I always look forward to the Pixar shorts before watching a Pixar movie. However, I did miss a couple of the shorts because I have yet to view some of Pixar’s movies. Lucky for me, the ones I missed were some of the worst in this collection. The shorts that featured the cast from “Toy Story,” “Wall-E,” “Up,” and “Ratatouille” were awesome and some of the most well-rounded and coolest computer animation I have ever seen. On the other hand, the two shorts featuring the “Cars” characters fell flat and put me to sleep. The 4 shorts with unknown characters (Presto, Partly Cloudy, Day & Night, and La Luna) were really well done and picked up the pace for the disappointing “Cars” shorts.

Just like the other Pixar features, the music was really well done and the visuals were so sharp and clear in all of the shorts. They also included commentary and the short student films of the Pixar Directors, which ranged from really cool to very odd and obscure. My favorite student films were “Winter” and “Somewhere in the Arctic” because they told great stories and were ahead of their time. Lastly, I was a bit unhappy that they did not include a “Play All” function for the shorts. Instead of being able to watch the whole collection without interruption, I had to scroll and push play each time. Did they forget this option or was it intentional?

I usually love Pixar films and this is the lowest rating I have ever given a Pixar feature. The “Cars” shorts really brought the rating done along with the odd student films and lack of a “Play all” feature. The other shorts are totally worth a watch, but the 1^st collection was a better package and more worth the time. 10 out of 12 good short films is still pretty good though, but I expected a bit more from Pixar. For those reasons, I am giving “Pixar Short Films Collection 2” a “B-.”