Geri's Game

No discussion about Geri? This is my favorite pixar short! It’s great how he’s also the toy restorer in toy story 2. Shows he’s not just a desperate old man. What are your thoughts?

I first saw Geri’s Game back in the mid-nineties, before A Bug’s Life was released. As my father is in the animation industry, he is often given access to various events, merchandise, and other items related to entertainment before the general media; henceforth, he managed to receive/borrow a copy of this particular short before it was released theatrically. He showed it to my mother, sisters, and I one day, and, as a kid, I thought that it was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen. It always stuck with me, particularly because I’ve always loved Chess and because it was just down-right hilarious in my eyes. To date, it’s still one of my favorite of Pixar’s short films.

Thank you for making a thread revolving around this featurette! :smiley:

– Mitch

P.S. I decided to make this thread a “Sticky”, so as it may retain its proper place amongst the other Pixar short film threads which have been bestowed with the same title.

thanks… my all time fave. It’s beautifully animated and the facial expressions of Geri are what carries the weight. Great story telling

I remember first seeing it and thinking the leaves on the trees were incredibly detailed.

This is probably my second favorite short. I love how the double personalities of Geri can be clearly distinct without seeming impossible or unnatural for an old man. Still, the shot with both Geris in it has always bugged me. I guess you really don’t notice it once you’re engaged in the story, but I always felt it was weird.

I really like that short too! I was surprised they went so far as to have Geri fake a heart attack, but that was pretty amusing. I think the shot with both Geris in it is cool, it gives the impression that all may not be what it seems.

I adore Geri’s Game! I think it was the first Pixar thing I ever actually watched, though I don’t know why…I just have memories of being really young and seeing it. I love Geri, and also his appearence in Toy Story 2. It was cool to actually hear him speak a lot, since (as far as I can remember) he doesn’t speak much, if at all in Geri’s Game.

It’s also quite a sad short in a way, that a guy like Geri has no-one to play chess with.

lennonluvr9- I agree, the shot of both Geris just makes you question the thought that is all alone… maybe he’s playing with his twin, who shows up and leaves without anyone knowing? who knows

I love Geri’s Game! One of my favorite Pixar shorts. Geri is such a fun old man. His facial expressions are great! As it was said before, I like the fact that with the shot of both Geris, it gives the impression that things may not be what they seem which adds something extra to the short.

I just watched it again on youtube… where is the shot where you can see them both? I think we all imagined it. They seem to do a really careful job of only showing one at a time, but doing very fast cuts.

Somebody prove me wrong, but I don’t think it’s there!

Oh yes, it’s there. We’re not just all mass hallucinating :wink: It’s not up very long but there is a shot where you see the hand of one Geri with the face of the other in the background-

Sorry that’s so tiny, but it’s the best I could find in a hurry :slight_smile:

Must have missed that in my viewings. Great find! can’t dispute that.

Ha. Thats a good theory! Maybe there are really 2 Geri’s and we’re the crazy ones thinking there is only one!

I always thought Geri was crazy , but maybe not…hmm…its something to think about!

Anyway this is my favorite short ever created by pixar! It’s just gold!

LONG LIVE GERI!

XD

I love that short!

Edited for shouting. – Mitch

I still like your enthusiasm annarborjack :smiley:

Geri’s Game is also my favorite short. it was well made and enertaining

I really do like the sense of wonder and facial expressions that Geri has in this short…well done by Jan!

Duuude, this is my favourite short! Can’t believe I never knew the name of it until now, though. I remember watching it as a little kid and thinking it was awesome.

This one and presto are my two favorite shortmovies. I really love the concept of this one. Well excecuted for sure!

Geri’s Game was a classic. It was also a fun little in-joke to have him appear in Toy Story 2, which kind of worked on people cause of the knowledge of what short he was just in a year ago. :wink: Did anyone else feel as though this short kind of fit with the main feature somehow when it was paired up with A Bug’s Life? Maybe because he was outside with all the trees. I had a similar feeling when I saw that Up came with the short Partly Cloudy and both of them took place in the clouds.

That was my interpretation. I always assumed that Knick-Knack was paired up with Finding Nemo because the snowman ends up in a fish tank at the end (!)

Anyway, Geri’s Game has long been my favourite Pixar short, as well as one of my favourite pieces of short animation, period. Partly because I like the concept, and because the execution was just immaculate, but also because I find Geri so fascinating as a character. I was delighted when he made an appearance in Toy Story 2 (along with his chess pieces!). For the record, and although there certainly is some gentle poignency to this short, I never saw Geri as being particularly “desperate” or “deluded”, but rather happily eccentric. He really knows how to make the most of his time by himself, and hats off to him for it.

Another thing I love about Geri as a character is that he’s very recognisably modelled upon Jonathan Harris, who I believe went on to voice him in Toy Story 2 (I’m a fan of the classic TV series, Lost In Space, and of Harris’s character in particular, so that goes down well with me). Following Harris’s death in 2002, I guess it’s unlikely that we’ll be seeing very much more from Geri, but it would be cool it he could at least have a non-speaking cameo in a future project some time - maybe have Bob Peterson provide his sneaky giggling again.