Lifted (2006)

A teenage alien is trying to abduct a sleeping human, but doesn't know which switch to use.

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Failure is an option.

---

Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Released in conjunction with Ratatouille (2007).

---

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.

---

Connections

Featured in Pixar's Greatest Moments (2016)

User Reviews

Very cute and funny

LIFTED was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short for 2007 but it lost to THE DANISH POET. While THE DANISH POET was more original in style and scope, this Pixar short is simply funnier and more entertaining--even though the style isn't all that innovative these days (after all, there are TONS of CG shorts these days).

LIFTED was released both in theaters and on DVD with RATATOUILLE--a remarkable film in its own right. Here is the interesting part. It wasn't until the second time that I realized the character playing the sleeping guy was the same guy from RATATOUILLE. I think most people won't notice this right away either because seeing the short before the main feature, you aren't familiar with the character.

As far as the film goes, it represents the very state of the art in computer generated animation--you can't get any better. However, the cartoon isn't just CG but the story is cute and very funny. I really thing that the great success of Pixar actually hurt the chances of this film winning, as the studio already has won several awards and they are the "big boy" in the field--often, it seems, the Academy and film festivals are looking for more independent films in this category.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Release Date:

29 June 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lifted

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pixar Animation Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

5 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1