User Reviews

'Knick Knack' starts with a couple of souvenirs taken from vacation in Florida. We see some palm trees dancing and a beach bunny dancing on a nice little tune. Then we take a look at the other end of the table. A souvenir from Alaska, a snowman in a glass dome, wants to join the hot party and especially the hot girl. He tries to break the glass of the dome in any way possible.

This animated short directed John Lasseter ('Toy Story', 'A Bug's Life') is a pretty impressive early film from the Pixar studio. It looks great and is inventive. The ending gives us the biggest laugh, but before that there are quite some funny moments.

Even when the whole idea of computer animation was still in its infancy, Pixar displayed ingenuity which wasn't even being thought of in the current industry. It just goes to show that Pixar is here to stay, and the serene cuteness of this little film proved to be one of the building blocks for a future empire.

In a room full of ornaments and toys, a group of dolls, little models and decorations all sit enjoying the warm temperature and glow of an unseen sun.

All, that is, except a single snowman, trapped inside a 'greetings from Alaska' snow dome. With a doll waving him on, he attempts to break out and enjoy the party.

Found on the DVD for Finding Nemo, I found this film to be funnier and much more enjoyable than the feature (although both were good). It stands to show that Pixar were onto something as, even if the graphics are a bit blocky compared to Nemo, the comedy is great and the characters are well enough created to be fun. The routine is basic – snowman tries to break out without much success, however it has such energy, pace and solid imagination that I was laughing consistently despite a slow start (ie the first 20 seconds – what a moaner!).

The animation is slick if not perfect and my early worries over the snowman were never realized. I thought he looked a bit too sinister to be a sympathetic character, but his mishaps helped win me round even if his features were still pretty rough and unlikely to get him the dolls in question! He is a great lead and you can't help but feel sorry for him – but not to the point where you stop laughing at him!

Overall this was a very pleasant surprise and the continuation of a very clever ploy in regards Pixar DVD's. I for one love the short films on many of their DVD's and I hope they continue doing it even if I would rather see them release a compilation DVD with all of them on one disk. Anyway, this was very well put together even if it has aged a bit and I laughed the whole way through it to the bittersweet ending – well worth seeing if you get the chance.

This is a perfectly goofy time with Knick Knack, especially before a feature. It's four minutes of a situation, with a little snowman in a snow-globe pining for a little woman in the mix of a group of boppin-souvenirs. He finally gets out, but to a disastrous finale. It's very to the point in every measure, and all the while cute without actually being only for kids. In fact, I think I laughed at this harder now than I did when I first saw this as a kid. It's got a sense of humor to it that starts with the first shot, and continues all the way to the very end. Is it laugh-out-loud funny? Not entirely; it's got me 'heh-heh' type laughs all abound, with a few of the biggest laughs coming with the obvious pratfalls and errors. But even the music used is done with a big wink and a grin, especially during the end credits as the little voices are accompanied by a 'blah-blah-blah' voice. It's an Oscar-caliber little ruby of a short that, much like the early Disney shorts, doesn't overstay its welcome, and has an appeal ranging from 2 years old to 92 (to put it like a typical critic). It's a sweetly cruel piece of fluff.

i thought this early animated short from Pixar was quite good.it's funny and ironic,plus it has a very catchy and infectious tune.it's also very low key,and movies at a nice sedate pace,which i liked a lot.it's from 1989,so it's a lot different than the animated films we have today.it's a very simple short with a simple story.considering it is nearly 20 years old,it's actually very well done.it's also much more clever than many animated shorts from today,and certainly back then.i'd check it out if you have the chance.you might be surprised at how much you enjoy it.or you might not be.either way,it's not like you're losing a couple of hours.for me,Knick Knack is a 7/10

This is truly a wonderful short-film. I love it!

The animation was great, the storyline is clever, and every time I've watched it, it's made me smile.

(Oh, and thumbs up to the amazing Bobby McFerrin for the awesome background music.)

Funny little short comedy by the Pixar people, which I saw as an extra on the Finding Nemo DVD.

A snowman is trapped in one of those glass snow domes, but he wants to break out as all the other toys are having a good time in the sun. So he tries to break/blow his way through but things just don't work for him. When he and the dome finally fall down, we think he can escape but again, the dome gets the better of him...

Well made and fun, we can see why Pixar became such a huge company over the years. If you have the Finding Nemo DVD, make sure you check this one out.

7/10.

Before computer animation was all the rage, I bet the Pixar guys made this little gem simply as a labor of love. From this early creation, you can take a glimpse of the clever storytelling that would become a staple of Pixar's full-length features. This short gives you a chuckle as the disgruntled snowman struggles to get out of his snow globe to hang with the knick-knack ladies of Hawaii and Atlantis. It's quite a cute feature, but it can only go so far. I wouldn't consider it a classic like other animation shorts like `Mickey's Trailer' and `Duck! Rabbit, Duck!' but I think it will become a nice little treasure in the Pixar vault.

My IMDB Rating: 8/10

Knick Knack is simply a short film that the theaters showed right before the movie. (I forgot which one it was- FInding Nemo or Monsters Inc?) I think it was one of Pixar's earliest short films. The story is about a snowman in a globe. He wishes to join all the other souvenirs outside of his globe, especially the hot Miami Beach souvenirs. So, he tries to break out of his snow globe.

I don't know what to say. It's a short film with no dialog. Instead, it has some psychical humor and a funny sense of irony at the end.

I suppose that I would recommend it, because Pixar is good at humor, and because it's only a couple minutes long. What else is there to say?

7/10

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I first showed this to my business unit in 1996, to show that we needed to keep trying to achieve our goals, despite the setbacks along the way.

It became a kind of anthem for our team as we grew, and we ended up showing "the snowman film" at every group biannual meeting since.

I totally love the soundtrack, the animation, the story and everything about it - a real 10/10!

First of all, is it a short film for children or adults? There are no lines, only music and mood music, so everybody can understand the story of the film. When I was a little girl, I watched many film that were made by Pixar Animation Studio. Also Ican understand a story and what is a thing that the film want to tell us. Now, I can enjoy these films as much as when I was a little. This film is the same, all of us enjoy it. that is the best point of the film. In the film, there is a world that is created by character. The color, music, and motion match together. Then we are attracted to the world without notice. If you aren't interested in animation, you should watch the film. You will enjoy it and become interested in animation.

The version that most people know of and have seen is the 2003 remastered version that played before Finding Nemo. In this version there are two major changes. First the animation had been remastered and spruced up. It is a lot slicker than the original 1989 release. Second, the women knick knacks had their breast reduced done to nearly nothing. In the 1989 the breasts were comically oversized to satirize the tackiness of knick knacks. It was also the joke for why the snowman so wants to get out of the globe.

One can debate whether the original was in good taste or not, whether it should be seen by kids or not but it was released in 1989. *At that point* it was in the world and the work-in my view-became the world's not Pixar's. For Pixar to go back and bowdlerize the original is-in my view-unacceptable and odious. If they feared parental reaction or thought the original was too risqué the better option was to not release it in front of Finding Nemo. It is immaterial that the 2003 version works almost-both are very funny-as well as the 1989 version.

I first saw this Pixar short when it appeared in theaters in 1989 as part of a short-film project sponsored by American Express. It was like a great delight that popped up on the screen and then anonymously disappeared. I just saw the theatrical Pixar release Finding Nemo, and Pixar has had the great good sense to preface their new feature with this charming short. It's a 4-minute gem, with hilarious gags and great music by Bobby McFerrin. I hope Pixar puts this out on the Finding Nemo DVD. In the meantime, if you're seeing Finding Nemo, don't be late--Nemo is very good on its own, but this short is worth the price of admission in itself!

The animation is truly excellent, using dynamic structures and design. Very amusing script about a snowman in a snowglobe,as well as other " Knickknacks". Interesting concept and very good computer animation make this a gem. By Pixar, who later , after a series of milestone shorts, worked with Disney on several computer animated features.

This has got to be one of the most delightful animated shorts I have ever seen in my life! It was once said that a man's reach should exceed his grasp. Watching this, I wondered if that includes snowmen! The ending of this was magnificent! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! Pixar did a grand job here. While I know features are their bread-and-butter, I fervently hope they continue producing these little darts that score bullseyes most of the time. Pixar, please put your shorts back in circulation! Pardon me, but I need to get a certain snowman something that will cut through plastic! Most joyously recommended. A grand slam!

this is a very early Pixar animation which i saw when i watched Finding Nemo at the cinemas and i found it an enjoyment.

a little snowman in a snow-globe sees a mermaid toy he is attracted to and tries all these different ways to get out of the snow-globe to get to the mermaid toy. you somewhat feel sorry for the snowman as none of his efforts actually succeed, and then the one that does, which is very simple, turns out against him in the end.

this is quite a simple yet entertaining little flick and i find every minute of this short counted. enjoyed by young people and older alike. Pixar have a thing for making good shorts.

poor little snowman

I read some reviews posted by others and I found out we can see real great technic of computer graphic. I would like to focus on the snowman's aspiration toward the girl at beach. He is inside the glass and cannot get out from there. He also made snow. Despite all his effort he ended up rocked in. I really loved the humor and the way he gets attracted by different girls immediately. Also the pictures were so cute too.

I highly recommend to watch this short film whenever you got time.

This animation short is brilliant, considering its determinist philosophical view to the universe mixed with a very fitting narrative structure (specially due to its eastern style of philosophical symbolism which considers human beings as determined beings as toys; and reminds me of the great persian poet and philosopher, Khayam), along with a very good technical frame which was really avant-garde for its time. To construct a successful story with such qualities, is not an easy job to do, at all. So, one could comprehend how more difficult has been Mr. Lasseter's job to make it via an animation short film. No matter do we believe in determinism or not, believe me, there are not so many philosophical movies which do have a really good narrative and technical quality; and this short title is certainly one of them!

This story is that a snowman tries to run away from a water tank because he longs for perpetual summer and playing with friends.

I like the scene that he tries many ways to escape. For example, he blasts and knocks, however these ways are waste. I also like the scene that he gets out of the bowl once, however he gets in it, and the contacts with a woman. If I were him, I would give up, however he tries many times, so I want to look up to him.

I do not have scene that I do not like because this movie is full of my tastes. This movie is so funny that many children can watch this easily.

The conclusion of this movie is that the snowman finished without running away, but it is important to try repeatedly. I think this movie teaches us that heart.