Watch Boundin' For Free

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Beautiful, moving film.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Usually, it is Pixar's great strength to display emotion in animated characters and they tried here in this 12-year-old 4-minute short film as well in terms of grief (fur gone) and joy (boundin'), but it's fairly underwhelming I have to say. The only thing it sort of emphasizes is to accept yourself no matter what you look like. It's fun to watch the sheep jumping around and the animation is nice, but the story is pretty forgettable sadly. And I did not really sympathize with the sheep during any scene. That other animal which looks like a giant mix between bunny and mongoose almost did nothing for me either. Still, I want to give a thumbs up for Bud Luckey, already in his 80s now, who directed this, wrote it and also voiced the narrator. The Oscar nomination (lost to the brilliant "Harvie Krumpet") was a nice way to pay tribute to his very long career in the industry and I am fairly certain he worked on quite a handful very watchable projects. Sadly, this one here could not get me boundin' for approval.

I first saw this short before 'The Incredibles' with some fellow college students and it's every bit as enjoyable as the film it preceded, albeit the initial distress of the lamb being shorn as the rain starts to pour. Also this is one of a few Pixar shorts that has some spoken dialogue that, like the narration, rhymes perfectly.The lamb is cute and I love his dancing as well as the country music score throughout. I did, however, find the jackalope odd at first glance since I'd never seen a hare and deer hybrid before. Nevertheless he was reassuring towards the lamb to tell him to bound to overcome his shyness and I liked the drum beats made by the jackalope's bounding. Like the dancing, the bounding catches on to the animals surrounding the lamb and in spite of the cliché of the 360-shot, I enjoyed watching the lamb bounding as the seasons change.All in all this a mostly cheerful short that had a distressing bit, which in turn made me sympathise with the lamb but appreciate his dancing and bounding as well. 8/10.

Pixar's 4 minute short presents an optimistic message of self-confidence in highs and lows. Its a very simple and catholic message, as everyone can understand it in the first go. Some may find the message to be too simplistic and say "Oh, not another morale-boosting schmutz" but Pixar aims at sending across simple and positive messages as its main audience is young kids. And the song and dance sequence would surely stay in a kid's mind. I can relate to the film because for three years I was without my front tooth and was hesitant to talk because I looked funny and I was a bit afraid of going to the dentist. And in such times, friends may or may not help since most of them are concerned about their own appearances, especially in this materialistic modern world.Another example, a recent one is when I had acute hepatitis A and was in the hospital. I had some project related work and was given assurance by two of my friends not to worry and to take care. Another group called me up and asked me why I was not going to come and when I told them about my health, their first question was: "Hey, since you are not coming, why don't you send us your laptop right now because we need one?" And they didn't even bother to ask how I was feeling then.So there are friends and then there are guardian angels. The sheep over here loses his fleece, which was his only vanity and becomes demoralized and stops dancing. Its guardian angel is a practical jackalope.Now some may interpret the message wrongly as one where the sheep shouldn't lose hope even when it isn't 'exploited', but I feel that's not a particularly right interpretation. To me, it refers to situations beyond one's control, though to avoid a wrong interpretation, I feel that the film could've added an additional scene where the sheep is no longer shaved, once the people notice how happy it is boundin.My rating: 7/10

The animation draws the children in and the message hits home with the parents once they realize this is more than a cartoon. All-in-all it is a great short with a message that transcends time. Sometimes you need to look past the outer covering, or even the animation, to learn that life is full of lessons to be learned and things that shouldn't be overlooked just because they aren't pleasing to the eye. I found the animation VERY pleasing and Bud Luckey an inspiration to those of us in the "younger" generations. I've been to our beautiful country's western and southwestern states and found this to be the perfect setting for a character I had always hoped would find it's way into the animation studio. My only hope is to find something that Bud is as passionate about when I am in my seventies.