Pixar Shorts:
Presto

Presto has gags and slapstick in vaudeville fashion with influence from Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, the Marx Brothers and Charlie Chaplin. The challenge was creating immediate tension between Alec Azam the bunny and Presto the magician, the antagonist of the film.

Another challenge was to make 2,500 people in the audience appear to look real without getting too expensive. For the elaborate theater, director Doug Sweetland and other film makers on the project visited opera houses in London, Paris and vaudeville theaters in San Francisco.

The name Alec Azam for the rabbit is a play on the magic word Alakazam!

Presto Plot

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In walks Presto the Magician finishing a mouthful of food and licking his fingers in contentment. He looks at the time and realizes he's late and his act is going to start at any moment, so he gets his two magic hats out of a false-bottomed drawer: a black top hat and a purple wizard's hat.

Both are connected magically, when Presto puts his hand inside the top hat, it comes out of the wizard's hat. Presto practices with Alec who is intent on getting to that carrot. He pulls Alec through and is going to give Alec the carrot (his mouth is wide open and ready!) but Presto realizes that they're running too late and they hurry out to the stage.

Presto struts out onto the stage, with Alec off-stage wearing the wizard hat. Alec is unhappy about not getting his carrot, so he takes off the hat and refuses to cooperate when Presto shoves his hand inside to get Alec. Alec gestures that he wants his carrot, which is really cute and funny.

The next few minutes of this Pixar short shows Presto trying various ways of getting a hold of the rabbit. First Alec the rabbit snaps a mousetrap on Presto's fingers. Next, Presto tosses an egg into his hat. Alec catches it with his hat and it falls back through splatting on Presto's eye.

So Presto shows Alec the carrot he wants so badly only to turn it into a flower that he sniffs. Angered, Alec turns out an airpipe and puts his hat on it, sucking Presto's head through. When Presto takes off his top hat, he's all red and his hair sticks straight up! The audience loves it.

Next, Presto jams his hand into his hat again and Alec slams Presto's fingers in the drawer. Alec takes all the magic tricks out of Presto's sleeve as he searches for his carrot. Presto charges at him with his hand still through the hat and Alec tilts his hat and pokes Presto in the eyes with his own fingers. Just like out of a Three Stooges skit, it's hilarious. Presto then gets his pants ripped off, much to the audience's delight, who think this is all part of the act.

Presto's really angry now and he torments Alec with the carrot by hiding it under a cover then beating it to a pulp. When Presto reaches into his hat again, Alec tilts his hat toward an electrical socket, which makes Presto dance a jig. The audience goes nuts.

Unable to take anymore, Presto runs backstage after Alec and gets his leg caught in a rope which lifts him high up in the air. The rope comes undone and he falls with a piano and stage props falling overhead. Alec saves Presto by having him fall into one of the hats just before the heavy objects crash onto the floor and Presto lands in a ballet pose.

The audience can hardly believe what they just saw and then they applaud wildly. But Alec starts sulking off stage and Presto calls him back, finally giving him the carrot. Alec pops through the hat and eats it up in a wink. Really a funny, cute Pixar short.