This may be the shortest review I've written thus far, but that's not to say the brief running time of John Dilworth's Life in Transition is any indication of quality. At just over four minutes in length (and that includes the end credits, mind you), it's also the "smallest" DVD I've ever watched. There's no menu, no extras, no setup options; just a wonderfully weird little film that plays through once and goes back to bed. Hand-animated by Dilworth (most famous for Courage the Cowardly Dog), Life in Transition is described as "a visual and symbolic journey depicting the continual transformations of life, from birth to death to re-birth". Quirky, detailed images are combined with a highly enveloping score---think Terry Gilliam meets Fantasia---to create a viewing experience that animation fans and non-fans won't forget. It took home "Best of Show" honors at New York's ASIFA East Animation Awards this year, and for good reason: it's not only a focused, personal work, but a professionally done project capable of appealing to a broad audience.

Here's the bad news: the DVD medium is nine years strong now, and barebones discs just don't cut it anymore. It's a terrific short film, but it's only four minues long---and by today's standards, something that short had better be free (it's wrong, but it's true and you know it). Seven years ago, it would've been a cutting-edge promotional release, but it'll have trouble on its own in today's quantity-driven market. There's tons of quality animation sites out there with hours of content for little or no admission---heck, the creator of Life in Transition has his own already, linked below---so this one's got quite a handicap working against it. After speaking with Mr. Dilworth's assistant via e-mail, I was informed that the film will eventually make its way to his website, with possible future plans to include it with a future compilation. For these reasons alone, most consumers would be better off skipping this DVD...but trust me, you should make an effort to catch this film in the future. It's 100% worth watching, even if the self-contained DVD isn't worth buying.

Just for the record, the disc looks to be presented in a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer (roughly 1.66:1) and looks fine: there's no major digital problems and the colors look terrific. Audio is presented in a straightforward 2.0 Stereo mix; again, it does the job nicely and offers a fine atmosphere. Still, the minimal content is the only hindrance---even a few basic extras would've helped sweeten the pot.

As a sidenote, those select few with questions about ordering the disc may e-mail John Dilworth at [email protected] (sorry, no price was given at the time of this writing). The rest of you should sit tight and check out the official site when Life in Transition is eventually posted.

Either way, you'll be glad when it finally arrives.