SparkShorts (TV Mini Series) Purl (2018) User Reviews

Much better than has been said

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 18 March 2022]

Sure, 'Purl' is more adult in content than everything else that Pixar has done and it is definitely the most adult of all the SparkShorts short films. Can also understand why it won't work for some. Having said that, to me the criticism is excessive and unfair. Animation is not just for kids, it's aimed for the whole family and Pixar epitomises this. Also Pixar have been tackling deep, bold, more complex themes for a while now, which have also been present in animation for decades (cartoons from as early as the 30s tackled the dangers of alcohol and smoking for example), though some of their newer work has been more suited to older viewers.

'Purl' is definitely not one of Pixar's best short films overall and its approach to a difficult subject matter (that was always going to cause critical division from the get go) is not always perfect. Also do prefer other SparkShort Pixar short films, all worth seeing, especially 'Loop' and 'Float' as they connected with me more emotionally and were more relatable. 'Purl' though to me is a lot better than given credit for and while its execution was not consistent that it even dared to approach this subject was brave.

Am going to start with what could have been done better. Will agree that 'Purl' can be too on the nose and executes some of the content heavy-handedly. The message is actually a good, relevant and important one that makes its point, it just could have done it more subtly. Then again on reflection this is a topic that is not easy to execute with subtlety.

Did feel that some of the pace could have been tighter.

However, there is a lot that is good about 'Purl'. Pixar always delivers when it comes to the animation, and 'Purl' is no exception. Especially on the cute and quirky design on Purl herself. The music has a nice quirkiness and energy while also being beautifully orchestrated. Really loved the character of Purl, she is very endearing and the SparkShorts series has consistently delivered on having characters that are easy to root for and relate to and Purl is no exception.

The content of 'Purl' is the most adult of all of Pixar's short films, some may find it too crude but to me it was quite witty and wasn't anywhere as tasteless as it could have been. What is depicted here writing-wise does happen in the workplace so it didn't feel out of place, and especially with such an uncompromising approach to something that one doesn't see a lot in animation. The depiction of workplace diversity and how toxic and discriminatory it can be was interesting and is actually not only realistic but has been known to be true. 'Purl' still manages to have a lot of heart and can be very cute and funny.

On the whole, very good and much better than given credit for here. 8/10.

A Fascinating Commentary on The Animation Industry's Boys Club

[elicopperman · 8/10 · 30 May 2020]

Given that the Pixar SparkShorts are highly personal from their individual creators, Purl stands out as a surprisingly fascinating commentary. Not only does it satirize the workforce's flaws of discrimination towards women, but it might actually be a subtle jab at the boy's club mentality within the animation industry. The film tells the story of an earnest yarn ball named Purl who gets a job at a fast-paced male-centric company, thus forcing her to fit in with the group as something she is not. If that doesn't symbolize a lot of women's roles working in the competitive industry, then I don't know what else does.

What's really interesting is that this short was based on life experiences from its creator, Kristen Lester, a veteran Pixar story artist who was often the only female storyteller on feature films before coming to said studio. Lester stated that she had to "sort of became one of the guys" in order to fit in, which is still very prevalent amongst the common "bro culture" in certain work forces, with the short's company literally entitled B.R.O. Capital. These key notes help portray the seemingly fluffy and cute Purl as a fish out of water in a modern and aggressive male-dominated occupation. In addition, Lester really nailed down the themes of hiding your identity just to fit in, which can severely affect anyone from childhood to even adulthood. No matter how much you may want to be apart of a certain group, it will never be worth it if it means to strip away what makes you as an individual. What's funny is that, without spoiling anything, the short subverts what could happen when you venture into toxic masculinity, standing as a healthy reminder for future companies to take careful notice.

As for other cool aspects, the animation does a good job at portraying a realistic world with pseudo-natural humans to contrast well with the simplistic cartoony Purl. What's even more interesting is that Purl's movements are choppy yet broad compared to all the humans around her, almost like she belongs in another world (which actually compliments the short's themes). On a side note, all the voices were performed by Pixar staff members, including veteran animator Bret Parker as Purl, and one can tell they had a lot of fun in the recording studio portraying their respected counterparts. The voices help give the short a more authentic feel to the short's relatable tone, whether you're into bro-talk or have been in a similarly isolated position like Purl. Lastly, it is a nice added bonus for the short to be more edgy than most Pixar products, complete with mild swearing and innuendos. It's nice for a short film to appeal to a broad audience that still coming with teeth to bite off of, something we could use more of in today's entertainment.

With a brisk albeit strong commentary on the workforce, let alone in animation, Purl is surprisingly more timeless in its message than at first expected. In this day and age of sexual harassment and discrimination being brought to light much more than ever before, this short has the potential as a stepping stone for the importance of inclusivity and diversity in otherwise alienating workforces. They say it's never too late to change, and that's why through brilliant works like this, people can prosper through welcoming others in companies and other social gatherings for the benefit of a better future.

The "Reviews" are ridiculous

[KyleMosh · 8/10 · 22 May 2020]

So funny and clever. Love the animation style as well. Pixar never disappoints.

virtues

[Kirpianuscus · 21 June 2020]

Its virtues - the situation is familiar for many viewers, the desire to be accepted by mates is not new, the eccentric of presence of balls is just nice and the end is a comfortable one. So, in essence, this is all. Except the delicate temptation, after its end, to discover knitting.

Not for young kids

[artistinbackofclass · 6/10 · 9 December 2020]

Good thing I decided to watch this before playing for my 5 and 2 yo.

Interesting

[chloebetts · 6/10 · 3 August 2021]

It was interesting. I'm not sure I completely understood it but it was fun.

It's okay....and will likely appeal more to women.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 15 February 2019]

I am a guy and because of that, I might not be the best person to review this film from Pixar. Why? Because it clearly was intended for women and not surprisingly the director and executive producer are women. It's a metaphor for women fitting into a male-dominated work force and I am sure a lot of folks will love it. Me...I was mildly impressed.

The story is about a ball of yarn who comes to work in a company where all the employees you see are cookie-cutter men---who all look similar and act similar and are all a part of the old boys network. The yarn is made to feel out of place until Purl eventually learns to fit in by changing who it is. What's next? See the film.

The animation was good....not great. The story was good. My only serious complaint was cursing in the film....I don't think it needed that. Apart from that I did enjoy it but felt the message was a bit heavy-handed and obvious....but perhaps for many it isn't so obvious that women deserve a place with the men...and they shouldn't need to change who they are to get it.

A decent start for SparkShorts series by Pixar Animation Studios.

[Martinito_08183 · 6/10 · 14 September 2019]

A very nice short movie from Pixar Animation Studios, but the story; characters; dialogue and some unmemorable music makes the entire short decent at best, while the aspects like the animation; the sound; acting and the cinematography is where it actually succeeds more. This is Kristen Lester's first time being a director and writer and i hope that she continue making more animated short movies and i'm very interested to see more of the new shorts that Pixar is doing with their SparkShorts series.

So Many Snowflake Reviews

[alejandra-huggins · 10/10 · 21 January 2022]

Watched it with my 8 year old. Then I had to rewatch when I read people complaining that Purl curses because I didn't catch it the first time. I asked my son if he heard the bad word and he responded "wait, there was a curse word?!" The jokes and swear word went right over his head. I can't help but laugh at how offended people are getting over this.

A little cliche

[d_24 · 5/10 · 12 January 2021]

It's a good message but I think that is so obvious and cliche

Loved this

[bked-29591 · 10/10 · 11 October 2021]

The divided reviews just show how this is truly art. The message is real and i can relate, working in a male dominated music industry. For anyone who doesn't think the message is relevant or it's "political" you should really take a long hard look at yourself. The word "ass" which was the only 'profanity'.... I feel was used in a moment where it needed that punch..... and it was really funny! Thanks Pixar.

Terrible!

[gf_brigitte · 1/10 · 31 January 2020]

How is this PG??!! There is swearing, vulgar jokes, etc. Pixar needs to rethink the direction it's heading! #madmom

It's a real story

[robinhio84_ · 9/10 · 25 December 2020]

As a man I need to speak out here. You're probably wondering: WHY is this rated so low. It's a light storytelling of someone's experience in a way nothing more or less. It's not to attack anyone, but just message that you should be yourself. Wilhich is important

It's cutely done and was a surprising little gem. You could almost say that the low voting confirms the challenge for some ;)

Sexist, Hypocritical and Unrealistic

[creepybby · 1/10 · 19 January 2020]

If there was a company like BRO Capital, it would be destroyed in social media and may even be charged with a crime or two.

What this film IS a good depiction of is how quick most liberals are to revert to racism and sexism themselves in order to support their own idiotic fantasies surrounding gender politics. For example ... Is it better to stereotype every single male in the cartoon as being a white frat boy with identical hair cuts and suits just to complain that women are disadvantaged in the workplace? Even when they're not? This cartoon is at least 50 years too late for the corny political message it's trying to sell and equality isn't about trashing white guys, it's about putting everyone on the same level, no one being disadvantaged or put on a pedestal. Unfortunately this film bags on men just to shine a light on women. Something that probably won't be looked favorably upon in the future. Sexism is sexism and racism is racism, after all, no matter who is the target of the stereotypes.

Kind of reminds of how Google got sued for paying women more than men in order to prove that they don't have a wage gap at their company. They also got sued for giving sign-on bonuses to minorities in an effort to create more racial diversity among their employees. This is a lot like that. A myopic, bigoted and misguided effort by liberal media to cater to the teenage voices they hear on social media. Voices that know and understand very little about the real world around them as opposed to the social media fantasy world that they overindulge in on a daily basis.

It appears that NO ONE got the point in the reviews.....

[Reckno64 · 10/10 · 15 January 2020]

Boo hoo to all that got offended at this short. It's not like ALL animation is for kids. So what if there is a curse word thrown in? Everyone who gave this a bad review cause it "wasn't suitable for kids" completely overlooked the fact that Pixar has never firmly aimed at "kids" and took it at surface value, which is a crying shame. It's too bad when reviews onare plagued by these angry Christian parents who don't want any swearing or violence in their kid-friendly cartoons....

The short did have a message, and a pretty good one at that. It was about the consequences of toxic masculinity in the workplace and how it nrgatively affects others. The protagonist learns their lesson at the end. I cannot believe everyone missed the point.

Shame on everyone who gave this a 1/10 for being "offensive". I would like Pixar to pull out more "adult" animation personally, but I guess they will have to label it as such so sensitive people don't get their feeling hurt.....

Very simple, lacks in pretty much every department

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 14 February 2019]

This is "Purl", a new American animated short film that runs for slightly under nine minutes and was directed by Kristen Lester, who is also one of the many writers, surprisingly many for such a short film. It is a Pixar work and while I would like to say I am disappointed by it, I am not really because Pixar did not impress me too much with their recent short film works. Also their Oscar nominee, probably the category's winner, is fairly mediocre gently-speaking. But back to this one here. es it is full of stereotypes. The best example is really how every single male charcater is exchangable and they are basically just included to show how they are all sexist and misogynist. So the best decision by the female protagonist (a ball of wool, how creative to pick a female-centered hobby and the color pink) would have been to look for a job where not everybody is against their gender. or are we supposed to say it is not against men because they startg to like her at some point? I don't know. Another thing I really didn't like was how the female character style-wise looked so completely different in terms of the animation compared to everything else. Well, except the second female character, the yellow one, later on. Story-wise it is pretty simple and superficial too and honestly what was Pixar's biggest strength, namely the emotions it evokes in the audiences, falls completely flat here. The moment when she steps out of the elevator feels contrived and fake like basically everything else about this movie. That also includes the epilogue-like happy ending. And the really nonsensical fact that while she is ignored and unappreciated by everybody early on, she is the big star all of a sudden afterward when she changes her style. Very strange. That's not how it goes and has nothing to do with reality. By the way talking about reality, a new colleague is not discriminated against right away or just left alone with no clue where to go, even if the staff are 100% men, which really isn't the case anywhere anymore either at least in a company that has over 3 or 4 employees. Yeah this was pretty disappointing. You could say that it was Lester's first filmmaking effort as the (wo)man in charge, but that does not really justify or excuse anything because the problem here is hardly the craft, but the almost offensive material, even if there are other weaknesses too. I hope if she gets in charge of a full feature film for Pixar or any other big animated movie company, she will step things up considerably. This one here gets 2 stars out of 5, which is still a bit on the generous side in my opinion and a negative recommendation. Don't watch.

To many Karen's in these reviews

[bellarae-11212 · 10/10 · 20 November 2020]

I thought it was amazing and it shows how the real world is and society is. it was an eye opener and i think it should be shown to all young girls and boys so they can get the theme across! this is not how ALL men act but majority of men STILL act like this!!! if you thought it was so horrible you should have watched it before showing your children it. CALM DOWN KARENS!!!!

Political agenda garbage

[ScoobySnacks66 · 2/10 · 4 January 2020]

Inexcusably severe male workforce stereotypes, political agenda of inclusivity shoved down our throats, swearing in a Pixar animated short - I am so tired of this political commentary garbage. Give this one a pass if you're tired of it too. Also, not suitable for children younger than 14.

Important

[Gonzo37 · 8/10 · 17 July 2019]

This film is getting just a little too much grief in the reviews. It's an important film in terms of women directors telling their own stories. Pixar is a pretty male dominated company as is the rest of the film industry and it's nice to see that changing. Yes the film isn't exactly subtle about what it's trying to comment on, but why should it be? And for those criticising the animation, yeah the background stuff isn't top tier but I can't imagine the budget was either.

I cant believe this is real

[ifourseven · 2/10 · 11 February 2019]

Its a waste of your time. Shame too. Pixar makes great animation but this felt... off. Thats to say the least.

Very accurate depiction of how a toxic culture permeates an organization and stifles innovation, growth and humanity

[amberjamie-04090 · 10/10 · 24 March 2019]

It's funny how a short highly critical of bros receives a high amount of criticism...from bros.

After spending 15 years in the corporate world, I know exactly how Purl feels like. It comes from the culture of toxic masculinity, not the individuals- so a lot of offended bros here in the review section thinking this is pointing to them on a cellular level.

So they both miss and reinforce the point: toxic masculinity affects ALL of us.

For the "not all men " crowd (which oddly enough, is all nearly all men in the user reviews), you clearly see how women can also participate in toxic masculinity as Purl almost becomes one of them and does exemplify the very culture that once made her feel small and unworthy, thus leading another who is in the spot she was in to feel the same way.

The entire film shows exactly how falling into line with the old boys club is exactly what fails companies.

Talk with CEOs who have lost it all and see what they say about how rewardless socializing in off hours effed up their bottom line, and health.

Many of you are trembling in fear to label how you feel around other men because it makes you appear to be a wuss.

(Another fun side effect of a toxic bro culture).

Many men won't admit it to other men, usually, but I have been lucky enough in my work for men to tell me how they have felt around other men - almost exactly how Purl feels.

Face it, my brothers, no matter how much you want to believe that men are men and you want to wear a loin cloth in the wilderness with no one to answer to a la MGTOW - the underlying truth is that we all feel like Purl sometimes.

It's pretending we don't that makes us toxic to ourselves and eachother.

As someone who wanted the film to show Purl leading the way for women to pave their own way outside of the corporate confines, the ending was a bit anti climatic for me - but my views on that can be seen as radical, so pretty sure Pixar wouldn't be the best avenue for that message anyway.

If this is the future of Pixar, I'll have to neglect them

[grrr-25 · 1/10 · 7 February 2019]

Not just rude, but I think this kind of white male stereotyping is horribly toxic.

Doesn't connect with me

[Gordon-11 · 6 March 2021]

The story is a little sad because if the toxic work environment portrayed. I couldn't connect with it.

Wonderful!

[jason-frazier-193-481765 · 10/10 · 7 February 2019]

Delightful and very poignant. It's important that we constantly look at ourselves in the mirror.

Vulgar and boring

[whikitywhack · 1/10 · 6 March 2020]

My family sat down to watch some Disney+ shorts. This one was boring and vulgar. We made it halfway through wondering where it was going, and then they started swearing and telling "adult" jokes. Not a family short, but it's marketed to be.