Presto(Movie, 2008)

Presto is a 2008 American animated short film by Pixar, shown in theaters before their feature-length film WALL-E. The short is about Presto, a magician who is trying to perform a show, but his rabbit, Alec, would not cooperate with him until he gets his carrot. The short is a gag-filled homage to classic cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes, as well as the work of Tex Avery. Presto was written and directed by veteran Pixar animator Doug Sweetland, in his directorial debut with the story written by Ted Mathot, Valerie Lapointe and Justin Wright. The original idea for the short was a magician who incorporated a rabbit into his act who suffered from stage fright. This was considered to be too long and complicated, and the idea was reworked. To design the theater featured in Presto, the filmmakers visited several opera houses and theaters for set design ideas. Problems arose when trying to animate the theater's audience of 2,500 patrons; this was deemed too expensive, and was solved by showing the back of the audience. Reaction to the short was positive, and reviewers of WALL-E film's home media release considered it to be an enjoyable special feature (though it was not included... ()