03 Pixar Red's Dream 1987

[DrummingKid]

This was one of those things you watched as a kid and spend the rest of your life wondering if it was a dream or a memory

[connorwhitaker]

The emotion Pixar puts into this short in less than 4 minutes is something some films can’t do in over 2 hours

[SparkyMK]

Apparently, John Lasseter (who directed, wrote and animated this film) showed this cartoon to his mentor Frank Thomas (of Disney's Nine Old Men fame), who was skeptical of CGIs potential to evoke the same emotion as hand drawn animation up to that point, and after seeing it, Frank walked up to John, shook his hand and said "John, you did it."

[nope_lord_foog_the_st]

The first cinematic representation that taught everyone as a kid that life can definitely suck sometimes

[RubiksKidRR]

Pixar can really make you feel sympathy for anything (including a unicycle) when you are 3 years old, and when your a 5th grader

[QuinnF]

The thing I particularly like about this short film is how much the filmmakers left open for interpretation. Sure, _Red's Dream_ *could* be about a sentient unicycle named Red longing to be in the circus assisting a clown, but it could also be about a sentient unicycle named Red longing for the days when he was in the circus, before he was donated to Eben's Bikes.

Or who knows? Maybe Eben is the clown from earlier who either quit or got laid off from the circus, and went into selling bicycles to make ends meet, and because his unicycle reminds him of a painful memory involving his time in the circus, he couldn't bring himself to keep Red, prompting him to put him up for sale at a reduced price. Those are all just theories, though, of course.

[ahmaytheguy]

This animated short really captures the true somber rainy evening with the jazz that shivers down your spine. I do give much renown to this animated short that is 32 years old. This truly is an original piece of art.

[holybamboozler]

The clown never scared me as a kid, but the end always made me feel depressed

[combedpubes]

What a great little film, really impressive animation for 1987 too

[awesomesauce]

I don't have a phobia of clowns but that thing scared me straight

[abbiethegoodnoodle]

I blame this short film for my crippling depression

[kylemorello]

And then Pixar's technique of giving you the feels for anything began.

[EduardDelak]

Only pixar knows how to make you feel sadness and empathy for a unicycle

[hugoriverasoto]

Man, Pixar shorts really generate a lot of nostalgia and to be honest this one disturbed me a lot. When I was a kid, I remember watching it late at night. And I don't know what terrified me more, whether it was the atmosphere of the place that generated a feeling of nostalgia or even the design of the clown that gave me many nightmares.

[snessi_land]

“I fear no man. But that... thing...”







*”it scares me.”*

[masontaylor]

This is one of my comfort short films, when I try to share this with others, they always seem to hate it solely based off of the clown. The clown never bothered me for some reason, I always gravitated to the jazz, rain, and ambiance. It's so comforting, as for the message, my little brain couldn't comprehend what the meaning was to this. I always find comfort in this because of what I liked as a little kid, but now as I watch it, I just seem to see the true somewhat depressing message. It's quite the situation in my brain every time I watch this.

[Kittywitchthesecond]

There's something very unsettling about this. Maybe it's simply that 80s CG has a particular uncanniness to it. Maybe it's that I never had a fear of clowns until this moment. We may never know.

[momsmyname]

The original Cars was so great, why did they rewrite it?

[vivir]

3:57 “Very Special Thanks: Everybody at Pixar for their support, patience and suffering”

[MrBones-wkdd]

It looks like the clown went to hell, even though he was about 6 inches above the ground