Lifted (2006)

A teenage alien tries to abduct a sleeping human, but with so many switches to do so, it's nearly impossible.

Director:

Gary Rydstrom

Writers:

Gary Rydstrom, Jeff Pidgeon (story)

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Storyline

It's night; crickets chirp outside an isolated farmhouse. A bright light from a spacecraft shines through a bedroom window and lifts a sleeping man. However, the light and the small alien controlling it from the ship are unable to pull the man through the window: first it's the glass that impedes them. The alien frets; its supervisor - large, laconic, and green - watches. As the human keeps sleeping, the alien's tries every lever. Just as it looks as if the alien abduction will succeed, something goes wrong. The supervisor steps in.

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Plot Keywords:

intrusion | alien spacecraft | crying | unidentified flying object | light | 

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Taglines:

Failure is an option.

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Release Date:

29 June 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Abducido

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pixar Animation Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

5 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The voice of Mr B comes courtesy of Gary Rydstrom's dog.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the opening Pixar credit, the shining face of Luxo Jr. dissolves into a full moon in the night sky of the establishing shot.

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Connections

Featured in The 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films: Animation (2007)

User Reviews

Clever and funny

A remote farm-house (probably in the Midwest) is suddenly bathed in a bright, clean light and the sleeping farmer is picked up from his bed and carried towards the window, where an alien craft awaits. Unfortunately for him, the abduction is being undertaken by a trainee, who really needs more hours in the simulator before tried to do it on a live subject.

This short film was screened before the feature Ratatouille and worked well in getting the audience in the laughing mood. Like the equally good "For the Birds" this short film delivers constant laughs in a short time before bowing out with a strong finish. The former short focused on a big tall bird, this film focuses on a trainee alien but the approach is the same – have one weakness or failing be the subject of the short. Here the trainee cannot get the man out the window with the controls and the repeated failures are simple but also very funny. This continues to the end, which is a nice big laugh at the end. The animation is typical Pixar, very clean, professional and impressive with plenty of cultural references in the alien abduction itself for film fans.

Overall then a very clever and funny short film that works very well because it knows just what it needs to do and does it in a ruthlessly efficient manner.