User Reviews

This is another one of these new strange cartoons with not much a storyline and not a lot of jokes but great visuals. The colors in here also are fantastic. It is the visuals, however, that captivate.

We are on some planet in which an Aretha Franklin-alien is on stage singing her famous song and our hero Meeper, the janitor, messes up. He is one-man disaster crew for Franklin, inadvertently turning her into toast a couple of times while she was on stage performing. Meeper, who daydreams of being a singing star, is no singer as we see in his karaoke bit.

Anyway, after getting thrown out of the Ale-E-Inn (get it?) nightclub-bar, he sees a mushroom cloud on the horizon and tries to warn everyone that the "Chubbchubbs" are coming.

When they do, without spoiling anything, we get a big surprise.

I didn't find anything to laugh out loud but I did think this was "cute" and very entertaining, enough to watch it again to see what I missed the first time, where I caught a few quick sights of characters from past sci-fi classics.

Overall, a fun cartoon and an appropriate one to the equally-fun "Men In Black 2" DVD. This is a feature on disc one of the two-disc special edition.

'The Chubbchubbs!' is a nice animated short that won the Oscar in its category. I have to admit it is pretty funny. There are a lot of references to science-fiction films. Obvious references are Darth Vader, Yoda and Jar Jar Binks from 'Star Wars' and we see E.T. in a bicycle. Harder to find but also there are references to 'Alien', 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' and 'Lost in Space'.

So the short is fun because you can spot the little references, but without those things it is quite good anyway. The animations are very well done, the story has a nice little twist and simply said, it is funny. Most animated short films have the biggest laugh in the end, 'The Chubbchubbs!' is no exception, but there are quite some good moments before that as well.

The story is quite simple. A whole bunch of recognizable aliens are at a night club where a singer is belting out RESPECT. A janitor alien thinks he can sing. When the Chubbchubbs show up (monstrous giants with evil intent) the place is deserted, leaving our hero to confront them. But there is a surprise for these guys. It's visually fun and mostly predictable.

My parents dragged me to cinema because of "Stuart Little 2" - while this movie was not a bad one the opening was worth all the money.

The opening turned out to be a (sadly) short movie titled "The Chubbchubbs". It was more than entertaining - the animated characters were downright funny (for example, you can see Darth Vader and Yoda arm wrestling).

It is obvious that the creators of this movie put a lot of effort into it. Both graphics and story (short as it is) were excellent. The movie made me laugh continuously and I don't think I was the only one who wished there had been more once it was over.

Now I just have to convince my Granny to give me one of those Chubbchubbs for Christmas.

What? You want to know what a Cubbchubb is? Well, I certainly won't spoil you the fun of finding out for yourself. All I can say is that I highly recommend this movie if you like to laugh. And who doesn't?

This is going to be a tough review to write, since the subject is only a 5 minute short, but I felt compelled to after learning that this 2002 release won the Oscar for Best Animated Short, which I felt really wasn't justified.

A test animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks, "The ChubbChubbs!" tells the story of Meeper, a meek, whiny alien janitor who works at a bar/lounge called the "Ale-E-Inn", and is fired after accidentally electrocuting the bar's stage-performer. Upon being ejected, he learns that a race of ruthless beings known as the "ChubbChubbs" are coming, and could potentially destroy everything before them- including Meeper, the entire bar and a group of small chick-like furry critters who are happily mingling out front. And so Meeper sets out to try and warn the bar before the horrible creatures arrive and destroy everyone.

To it's credit, the film has some cute moments and amusing jokes. It's loaded with dozens of pop-culture references to famous Sci-Fi films, featuring cameos from everything from Darth Vader to the robot from "Lost in Space." Heck, there's even an early appearance by a dying Jar- Jar Binks-like Gungan form "Star Wars: Episode I." (Which without a doubt put a devious smirk on the face of everyone who saw that film and hated Jar- Jar.) It's clear that this film had a lot of heart put into it, and was made by people who were genuine fans of science fiction.

The animation is also very solid, especially for what is a glorified test by an effects company looking to branch out more. And I will admit Meeper is a likable enough lead character, although I found his nasally, whining voice a bit over-the-top.

However, this film is also very flawed and surprisingly average, which is why I don't agree with it winning the Oscar.

For one, many of the pop-culture and science fiction references feel forced and don't add much. Much in the same way as the Seltzer- Friedberg comedies ("Epic Movie", "Disaster Movie", etc.) fail for having no jokes and an over-reliance on references, this film is uneven in it's humor, and seems to think that a making a reference is the same thing as making a joke. Which it's not. The references were nice, but they weren't automatically funny or charming. I think they should have been kept in as background "Easter Eggs" for fans to discover, instead of being as big a focus as they are. And to be honest, there just aren't too many honest jokes besides prat-falls and slapstick. Which, while they work when well done (ex. early Warner Bros. cartoons), they can fall flat when mishandled. And finally, the ending is very predictable and obvious, and though I won't spoil it, most people over the age of 12 will see it coming a mile away.

However, despite those flaws, this is still a well-made short film, and it does have just enough charm to make it worth checking out once. But I do seriously contest it's win for Best Animated Short. This is a cute film, but it's not Academy Award worthy.

"The ChubbChubbs!" gets a slightly above average 6 out of 10. Check it out once or twice if you get a chance and give it a shot.

I saw this as an added extra on the DVD Special Edition of Men In Black II. The movie was thoroughly forgettable, but The Chubbchubbs was worth the price of admission alone! Only about five minutes in length, but packs in quite a bit for such a comparatively short piece. It has the best bar scene since Star Wars (check out the "cameos"), unusual renditions of "Respect" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?" and some truly side-splitting one-liners! If Men In Black II had one-tenth the charm, wit and creativity of this little thing, it would have been worth watching. The Chubbchubbs was nominated for, and could well win, the Academy Award for Animated Short. That would suit me just fine. Highly recommended.

The graphics were quite good, appearing (at least in small form) to be on a par w/ Pixar's.

But the visual gags are the best part of this short. In particular, the references to "Star Wars" and "E.T." Other than those, "Chubbchubbs" was a cute and consistently amusing, yet never hilarious animated short.

The reason I saw CHUBBCHUBBS! is not at all typical. I never saw HAPPY FEET (which was bundled with CHUBBCHUBBS! when released) but saw just this short film because I read a review on IMDb for THE CATHEDRAL--a picture that lost to CHUBBCHUBBS! for the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2003. This reviewer thought THE CATHEDRAL "was robbed" and they hated CHUBBCHUBBS!--and this encouraged me to see for myself if they were right.

From the onset, CHUBBCHUBBS! was an entirely different film than THE CATHEDRAL--having all the charm and polish you'd expect from a large CG studio, whereas THE CATHEDRAL looked more like a cut scene from a video game or an experimental film. While I strongly want to encourage young film makers, the quality and polish and completeness of the CHUBBCHUBBS! production was obvious--telling a first-class story in a manner that will not only impress film snobs but families as well. In fact, of all the Oscar-nominated films that year, the best short of the year probably was still THE CHUBBCHUBBS!, but I was surprised as how wonderful and original DAS RAD was--it sure was better than THE CHUBBCHUBBS in several ways, though I think THE CHUBBCHUBBS is definitely more the crowd pleaser.

Because other reviewers have discussed the plot, I'll just wrap it up by saying while this is far from the best short I've seen in recent days, it is very enjoyable and is good for a nice laugh. I particularly liked all the references to previous sci-fi films, such as STAR WARS, E.T. and FORBIDDEN PLANET.

After watching this short movie on the Men In Black 2 DVD, it should be made into a feature length movie. Not only was I killing myself laughing but my grandson was having fits of laughter. 6 minutes is no where near enough of this movie. Please make a feature length movie people. Steve

Wonders can be done in six minutes. A person can be touched, saddened, annoyed, astonished or even amused. The ChubbChubbs made me laugh out loud (and very loud!) in its short duration.

An alien janitor named Meeper dreams on becoming a famous singer and sings along to the tunes of the triple-breasted Aretha Frankl-alien, when an accident caused by the former gets him booted out. There, he is warned by another alien of the oncoming of the ChubbChubbs. Meeper tries to warn the others but causes more mishap till the ChubbChubbs actually arrive. The rest is pure hilarity.

A number of legs are pulled, with references to ET, Aretha, Star Wars, Critters etc. The entire short film is like a small jewel whose only intent is to make the audiences laugh out loud. It serves as a great opening to the main film, even though the main film itself may or may not be good. My rating: 7/10

This 5 minute, 41 second computer-animated short can be found on the second disc of the 2-DVD special edition of "Men in Black 2". And at such a short running time manages to be much more enjoyable then the main feature. The cartoon deals with an alien janitor named Mupps, and his dreams of singing in the intergalactic bar that he works at. A bar inhabited by a great many recognizable patrons. When he find out the Chubbchubbs are coming, he tries to warn everyone with comical consequences. I won't give away any more except to say this cute short deserved the two awards that it won from the Academy.

My Grade: B+

I thought that the plot of this film was great. The story of a clumsy janitor who had a dream of singing on stage was entertaining to me. I thought that this film had a lot of great humor including when the janitor would fall onto the leader singer. It was interesting how the director's were able to fool the view by making the Chubbchubbs look cute, instead of the being the tough monsters carrying weapons. The animation was excellent and left me wanting to watch this as a feature length film. I especially liked the Star Wars references because I am a big fan of the series. Overall, I think that this was a great film and I give it a 10 out of 10.

This little charming short is found on the DVD of Surf's Up. It's got great animation, and the designs are marvelous. The running time is a mere 5 minutes, with credits, and it's well-paced. Editing and cinematography are excellent. The simple story allows the audience to immediately get into it, and it manages to reference numerous sci-fi classics(and while knowledge of them will enhance your appreciation of this, it is in no way necessary) in very little time. This has humor that people of all ages can enjoy, and it isn't so completely geared at children(meanwhile, there's no such thing as being too young for this) that it feels insulting to the intelligence for anyone over the age of 7. The timing is spot-on, and every joke and gag works. This is well-cast, and every voice acting performance is flawless. In general, everything in this sounds exactly right, and the music is great, original and otherwise. Apart from arguably cartoon violence, there is nothing offensive in this, and certainly nothing that the kids will(well, should, anyway) understand yet. I recommend this to everyone. 8/10

ChubbChubbs, apparently, are frightening beasts that threaten the happy existence of the creatures living on the planet in question, which includes the alien from the Alien movies, Jar Jar Binks, and Yoda and Darth Vader in a wrestling match in the bar in which our hero works when we meet him. Our hero, as it were, is a lowly janitor, completely awkward an graceless but a lover of music and performing. As an alien Aretha Franklin is on stage singing Respect, he grabs his mop and sings hilariously into it, dancing around until he spills his mop water onto the plug, frying Aretha and getting himself kicked out into the cold.

Once outside he is confronted by a whole line of vicious looking beasts, and does the only thing he can think to do. He starts singing and dancing for them. When one of them gives in and starts singing and clapping along, much to the chagrin of his fellow mean-looking beasts, it reminded me of something the Blue Man Group would do. This is just a clever film. I think there were a couple of other animated short films nominated for the Oscar for 2002 that should have won over this one (Cathedral and Rocks), but this is still a wonderful film. Also make sure to watch through the credits for the hilarious closing performance!

I am quite certain that had the voters seen any of the other shorts nominated for the Oscar that year (well, maybe not Pixar's deplorable "Mike's New Car"), they wouldn't have voted for this. ChubbChubbs is as mindless and boring as the movie it accompanies on DVD: Men in Black II. The main character is cloying and the only thing going for this animated short is that any kid older than 2 will understand what's going on. Judging by the content, that's the target audience. There's absolutely nothing awardworthy about this sacchrine piece of fluff: ChubbChubbs is joylessly calculated to make you giggle and go "awwww...", without a clever or truly heartwarming moment.

Meeper is a janitor in an alien nightclub. He dreams of being a singer though he is clearly not very good at all. When yet another clumsy accident occurs he is tossed from the club out on the ground. While there he notices a large cloud of dust approaching – the chubbchubbs! He tries to warn the nightclubbers, completely unaware that this may be his big break in show business.

I saw this film on the DVD for MIIB and wasn't sure what to expect or even if it was a spin off from the movie. I had heard of it's Oscar nomination at the time so assumed that it was either really good or that it had got well known off the back of the film. Watching it reveals it to be a nice little short – unassuming and perhaps slightly unworthy of the praise heaped on it (for content anyway) but still fun. The plot is very thin and is really only a setup for some amusing jokes. Most of them are good for kids but adults will enjoy them anyway.

The one thing that let me down was the fact that the film made fun of Jar-Jar Binks (an activity surely everyone supports) but only for 15 seconds! I wanted this mock Jar-Jar to be in it longer to be used better as a target! However Meeper is quite a cool little character and is amusing enough to carry the lead. The plot's thinness is a problem as it doesn't really have anywhere to go to justify the running time – it could easily have lost a minute and still done the same job. However these are minor quibbles.

Technically the short looks good and the animation is smooth and clever. It is funny without ever getting you in stitches like it could have done with a bit more work on the script and plot – it sort of plateau's instead of building. Overall this was a pleasant surprise on my DVD. I don't know if it is worth seeking out by itself but it is worth a watch if you get a chance.

Chubbchubbs!, The (2003)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Oscar-winning animated short has an alien working at an alien bar of all places where he dreams of becoming a singer. He hasn't any talent or a good voice but he finally gets his shot after something happens. Going into this film knowing it's an "Oscar-winner" is certain a burden as this thing isn't anything great and having that certain label put on it just makes people, such as myself, go into the film with much higher expectations. Once you get over the fact that it has an Oscar you're left with a mildly entertaining little film. I wouldn't call it a good one as I was never really caught up in the story going on and I can't even say it's the greatest short out there dealing with someone not having the greatest talent in the world. Where the short does work is in the color department as the visual style is quite impressive and the rainbow of sorts colors really jump out at you.

I didn't realize it was on my Men in Black II DVD until I read a DVD review on the internet. So I took a look at it, and it's my favorite animated movie (topping Aladdin, now that's a surprise!)

Everyone should buy themselves a copy of this piece.

This short movie won the makers the Best Short Animation Oscar in 2003. I agree with it. This is a funny, beautiful and unique story with merry songs. The main character is a tender alien who likes singing a song and longs in be a singer. However, it does not seem to come true. One day, big enemies attacked the town, what does he do then? In the film, there are various unique and cute aliens including Yoda who is in a StarWars. So, the person who love alien like me may really enjoy it. In addition, I also like the music. Their singing and dancing are strange and funny, but very cute. However, I don't recommend watching for young children. It's totally cute, but the scenes of the fight are too frightened. If you are not too easily scared, you should watch right now and then go to karaoke! It's only 5 minutes and their visuals and music are fantastic!

I liked this little movie a lot, but the main character kind of annoyed me. It lost points for that. But I did, in the end, feel for his dilemma, and I was glad things worked out the way they did. It was funny. But... I still think Das Rad should have gotten the Oscar.