Short and sweet, that’s the best way I can describe Dug Days. Doesn’t hurt to see Carl from Up on my screen, yes it does. Every time the opening credits play and he puts the photo of him and his wife on the mantle of his new house I start to cry inside but Dug Days is a continued celebration of Carl’s new adventure in life and this time with more Dug.
Dug Days is the next series from Pixar on Disney+ and it is simply a series of short films about Dug living in their new house. One episode is about looking after Puppies and another is about his rivalry with a local squirrel who is trying to destroy the bird feeding Dug is attempting to guard. Each story only goes for a maximum of ten minutes but the Pixar charm still remains.
Dug Days is a great addition to Pixar but it is certainly focused on child fans of Pixar, that’s not an issue because in the end Up was more of a kids film with a very adult and heartbreaking beginning. Just don’t go into Dug Days as an adult thinking you’ll find it outrageously funny or magical, Dug Days focuses more on everyday life and the small wins and charms over going on a massive adventure and changing your life.
Dug Days show some great progress for Pixar as well. Something that Disney+ has been able to provide is an expansion for its many brands. Star Wars has its TV shows and so does Marvel as well. Disney+ can now help everyone to see the true range of Pixar, normally you would need to own everything on DVD to see Pixar’s library but with Disney+ and shows like Dug Days and Monsters at Work, it really shows how expansive their storytelling has become and their Disney+ shows are showing that Pixar has quite an exciting and different future ahead of them in terms of the stories they get to tell.
What is even more impressive is that the level of animation has hardly dropped for the short-form content when compared to the films as well which really shows how far Pixar has come since the first Toy Story. Watch Dug Days with your kids instead of the boring animated shows you don’t want to watch with them.