Partysaurus Rex (2012)

Pixar has a long history of producing short films alongside its feature releases, and Partysaurus Rex sits comfortably within that tradition. Released in 2012 as a companion piece to Toy Story 3 (playing before screenings of Finding Nemo 3D in theatres), the short gives the perpetually overlooked Rex, the anxious plastic dinosaur, a rare moment at the centre of the action. At just seven minutes, it is a slim but cheerfully confident piece of work, the sort of thing Pixar tends to knock out with rather more polish than most studios manage on a full feature. It was produced through Pixar Canada, the studio's short-lived Vancouver offshoot, which operated from around 2010 before closing in 2013. Whether you consider that a fun piece of trivia or a mild corporate footnote probably depends on how much you enjoy reading studio histories, but it does make Partysaurus Rex a slightly unusual entry in the Pixar catalogue, one of the few projects to come from outside the main Emeryville operation.

The film was directed by Mark A. Walsh, a Pixar animator who had worked on several of the studio's features before stepping into the director's chair here. It is the kind of short that tends to be handed to talented in-house talent as a proving ground, and Walsh brings a confident visual energy to it. The premise is simple enough: Rex, left behind in the bathroom while the other toys head out for the day, stumbles into an impromptu party with a collection of bath toys. The comedy leans into Rex's usual nervy disposition, this time flipped on its head as he becomes, against all odds, the life of the party. The voice cast carries the Toy Story warmth you would expect: Tom Hanks and Tim Allen reprise their roles as Woody and Buzz (albeit briefly), while Wallace Shawn returns as Rex and Corey Burton and Tony Cox round out the ensemble. For fans of the franchise, there is a certain reassurance in hearing those familiar voices, even within the contained scope of a seven-minute runtime. For anyone curious about other animated shorts from the same era, The OceanMaker is another short from the 2010s worth a look, and Josep represents a rather different corner of the animation world if you are in the mood for something with a bit more weight to it.

As a piece of family entertainment, Partysaurus Rex sits in well-worn but comfortable territory. Pixar shorts have always functioned as a kind of clearing house for visual experimentation and gentle comedy, and this one is no different, trading in bright colours, kinetic movement, and the kind of broad physical humour that lands equally well with a five-year-old and a tired parent on the sofa. It is not a film that asks anything of its audience beyond a willingness to have a good time, which, depending on the day you have had, can be exactly what is required. If you have enjoyed other family films on the site, the reviews of Trolls and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are worth a read for a sense of how this kind of animation sits in a broader context.

Partysaurus Rex is a fun, fizzy little spinoff that gives Rex his moment to shine, this time in the bathroom during bath time. Rex discovers a whole underwater world of chaos and dance parties among the rubber ducks, bubbles, and shower spray. It’s fast, silly, and packed with Pixar’s signature visual creativity, the way the bathroom transforms into a vibrant aquatic rave is pure imagination in motion. It doesn’t have deep story or emotional weight, but it never tries to. This is pure playground energy: loud, colourful, and made for laughs. My kids loved every second of Rex’s unexpected hero moment. Light, goofy, and perfectly timed for young fans who just want their toys to have fun. A small splash with big entertainment value.

For me, that sums it up rather well. There is a temptation, when writing about anything with a Pixar badge on it, to hold it up against the studio's more ambitious work, but that feels like the wrong measuring stick here. Seven minutes of bath-time chaos was never going to carry the emotional heft of, say, the opening of Up, and it was never meant to. What it does, it does with warmth and a genuine sense of fun, and sometimes that is more than enough. My kids are a reliable barometer for this sort of thing, and they have asked to watch it again more than once, which tells you something. A short, silly good time. Sometimes that is the whole job.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2012  | Watched: 2025-09-25

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Disney Plus
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

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