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Sir Paul more than gets by with a little help from his friends in this collection of animated shorts directed by the UK's Geoff Dunbar. Combining traditional cel animation with CGI, Dunbar brings to life three tales that McCartney wrote the music for starting in 1983 ("Rupert and the Frog Song") through to the present ("Tuesday" and "Tropic Island Hum"). Dunbar's whimsical design and charming direction keep these tales hopping. Capturing the spirit of Disney's own Winnie the Pooh shorts from the 60's but with a much more contemporary feel, these three short films recall the glory day of hand drawn animation with its attention to detail in the design and look of the films. ***

The three tales come from a variety of sources. The first has an ecological theme and is an original tale created by McCartney called "Tropic Island Hum". Froggo rescues Whirral the squirrel from hunters in his fabulous hot air balloon. Froggo whisks Whirral away to a tropical island sanctuary filled with similar animals driven away from their home by humans. McCartney's winning music with a nice orchestral arrangement by Beatles producer George Martin is one of many highlights in this tale. ***

The second film "Rupert and the Frog Song" won the BAFTA (British Academy Award) when it was released in theaters in 1983 and features the popular English character of Rupert the white bear. Rupert in his search for a playmate follows a group of frogs underground. Rupert becomes caught up in the celebration of the Frog King and Queen's anniversary. Again, the sharp design and full animation along with the story will charm little ones. McCartney wrote a song specifically for this short which became a hit single in the UK. ***

"Tuesday" adapted from writer David Wiesner's popular children's book focuses on the havoc in the human world when a group of frogs mysteriously rise and fly out of a swamp to plaque humanity. The humorous and intriguing tale has a nice twist to the end and McCartney's score perfectly compliments director Dunbar's sharp direction. The combination of traditional cel animation with CGI along with the colorful design work makes "Tuesday" a unique animated short. ---

There's a marvelous (although short) interview with McCartney where he talks about the impact that the Disney classics had on him as a child. Additionally, he discusses what attracted him to such an unusual venture as well as the collaborative nature of working with Dunbar. The storyboards and line drawings give one a greater appreciation of the difficult task that Dunbar faced. While this type of traditional animation has fallen from favor, it's still an art form that needs to be appreciated. ***

The difficult and arduous work of transferring Dunbar's line drawings to animation cels and the unusual approach used to make the mysterious "Tuesday" are also highlights of this well thought out extras package. Since two of the three animated shorts come with exhaustive "Making of" featurettes we get a very involved look at the process of creating animated shorts like these. All three have extras focusing on the line drawings, layout artwork and/or storyboards that, again, provide a unique glimpse inside the mysterious process of creating animated shorts. ***

We're also treated to a 16 page deluxe booklet. The beautifully designed booklet features artwork from the shorts, a brief background on McCartney's involvement in the project and biography of director Dunbar. We also get a glimpse at many of the design drawings, sketches and storyboards used to create these three animated classics. The snapcase comes with a nice cardboard slipcase as well. This truly is a class act from beginning to end. Clearly McCartney's devotion to helping others create and to film hasn't diminished over time. While he's had a couple of disasters in his long career ("Give My Regards to Broadstreet"), he's also learned to turn over the creative reins to others when necessary. ***

McCartney's interview might be expected to overshadow a project of this nature. Surprisingly, it doesn't as he's quite generous in giving credit where it's due. While he does give the background in the interview as to what prompted him to delve into animation in the first place, he recognizes that these are primarily Dunbar's babies (with considerable input from Sir Paul naturally). McCartney and his wife Linda were very involved in creating the Rupert short coming up with the story in collaboration with Dunbar. While McCartney's involvement in the other two shorts varied a bit, all three have a combination of his unmistakable stamp along with Dunbar's unique vision as a director. ---