mihai_chindris Mike and Sully are one of my favourites characters from the Pixar universe. They're so wavering. And it's funny to watch them. In this case, they're entertaining us with Mike's new car and it's absolutely hilarious. I would love to see a movie staring only these characters.

Michael_Elliott Mike's New Car (2002) *** (out of 4) Fun Pixar short has Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) from MONSTER, INC. doing more damage. Mike gets a new car and decides to take Sulley for a drive but he doesn't know how all the controls work yet, which leads to a lot of trouble for the duo. I actually haven't seen the full length film that the characters are from but after seeing this I'm certainly going to try and make a stronger effort in getting it on. I thought the film showed a lot of imagination considering how little time they had to tell the story. The idea of various instruments going wrong could have made for a simple film but the nice imagination takes the idea and really runs with it. I loved the sequence where Mike gets sucked up in the engine and his only way out is by making a phone call to Sulley who's still sitting in the car. I was a little surprised to see that this was nominated for an Oscar but either way it's an enjoyable little film.

Michael DeZubiria This is a clever short film that strikes me as something of a deleted scene from Monsters, Inc, into which this short film would have fit quite nicely, especially clocking in at a whopping three and a half minutes! It's an interesting illustration of the dangers of upgrading to these high tech new cars available today, especially if you are just a regular guy like Mike. He buys this fancy new car with six wheels and can't contain himself at how cool it is, and then he and Sulley get beaten up by it because they have no idea how to use it. It's probably something similar to what would happen to me if I managed to get my hands on a brand new car. When cars are driving themselves I'll still be excited to have power steering.It's pretty funny to see Mike and Sulley struggle to figure out the new car, especially when Sulley gets all fascinated by the power seats, quickly annoying Mike, who seconds earlier couldn't wait to show him all the new gadgets in his fancy new car. I have come to expect more than this from Pixar, though, especially in their short films, which generally contain enough charm and amusement in just a few minutes to fill a full-length movie. This is a cute film, but it is not up to the level of other great films from them, like Geri's Game or For the Birds. Still a pretty cute film, though, and it's not like you can really complain about a three and a half minute short anyway, right?

Robert Reynolds This is a wonderful little bonus to Monsters, Inc. included by Pixar on VHS and DVD release. This is almost as funny as For The Birds and as rich in detail. While I like cel animation slightly more than CGI (odd, because I have zero artistic ability and can't draw a straight line even with a ruler), Pixar's work enthralls me. Pixar succeeds because they understand that a story is necessary, or even the greatest animation (or whatever) crashes in a heap at the foot of the stairs and can't get back up. This point appears to elude entirely too many people of late, including the folks at Disney (Pixar, it should be noted, is not part of Disney, but is a separate company that has a distribution deal with The Mouse.) and it's not that hard to make sure you have a story first, though all too often it must seem that way in the film industry. I hope Pixar continues to do shorts, whether for R & D purposes or just because they want to do them, as they do a great job. Well worth watching. Recommended.