Luxo Jr. (1986)

Director:

John Lasseter

Writer:

John Lasseter (writer)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Family

Plot:

A larger lamp watches while a smaller, younger lamp plays exuberantly with a ball but doesn't pick up the knack of correct handling.

Plot Keywords:

Lamp | Ball | Computer Animation | Pixar Animated Film | Anthropomorphism

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins

Runtime:

2 min

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:All | Australia:G | Argentina:Unrated | Spain:T | USA:G | UK:U

Company:

Pixar Animation Studios

Trivia:

John Lasseter's aim was to have this computer animated short finished in time for SIGGRAPH, an annual computer technology exhibition attended by thousands of industry professionals. To do so warranted working around the clock, to the extent that Lasseter brought a sleeping bag into work and would sleep under his desk. They were able to finish the film in time for SIGGRAPH, where it received a standing ovation before the first screening had even finished.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Pixar Shorts: A Short History (2007) (V)

A surprisingly timeless little charmer

I really like the short film 'Luxo Jr', even though, with retrospect, there isn't exactly a great deal to it. Just a couple of desk lamps playing with a ball - wow. No, but seriously - wow! Could you really believe that this was Pixar's first real venture into the 3D animation department? The mighty empire that now boasts such well-known and beloved biggies as 'Monsters Inc' and 'Finding Nemo' once started life with something as humble and basic as 'Luxo Jr', a short which, nearly 20 years onward, remains something that the company can be proud of. One of the most delightful things about 'Luxo Jr' would be that it really hasn't dated in the least - the computer generated imagery still seems very fresh, crisp and smoothly on target even today. Added to which, the couplet of lamps themselves, in spite of their physical forms, have an unexpectedly winning appeal to them, each brought to life with such vividness that it's remarkable just how much charm and character can be applied to a pair of every day inanimate objects. Obviously they don't display quite the same kind of heartfelt emotion as later Pixar creations like Buzz Lightyear and Woody, but considering that they don't even have a face, you have to admit that they still manage to be remarkably expressive. We don't need anything in the way of dialogue or facial expressions to understand exactly what's going through the mind of either lamp at any point in the film - the production team make great use of whatever features they have to convey the appropriate 'bodily gestures'. It's a particularly nice touch that the bigger lamp in this piece acts like a parental figure to the smaller.

It's as simple as a 3D animated short can possibly be, but for that much I'm glad - if they'd attempted anything too elaborate at this point, it would probably be looking a little more aged by now, as with John Lassester's previous (Lucas Films) short, 'the Adventures of Andre and Wally B'. 'Luxo Jr' is perfectly contented with its simplicity, and knows that its two central characters have enough of that cute and quirky appeal to carry the entire two minutes on their own. It's an original idea that works wonders, and even with all the competition it now faces from successive Pixar projects and their GCI rivals, it still remains an all-time favourite of mine.

And little Luxo Jr definitely deserves his place on the Pixar title logo at that.

Grade: A