Luxo Jr. (1986)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

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 | Anthropomorphism | Computer Animation | Pixar Animated Film

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins

Directed by
John Lasseter

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Lasseter		writer

Produced by
John Lasseter	....	producer
William Reeves	....	producer

Sound Department
Gary Rydstrom	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Don Conway	....	laser scanning
Paul Heckbert	....	additional modeler
John Lasseter	....	models, animation
Sam Leffler	....	rendering
Eben Ostby	....	animation rendering
William Reeves	....	models, rendering

Animation Department
Eben Ostby	....	animation software

Editorial Department
Craig Good	....	post-production coordinator

Production Companies

• Pixar Animation Studios

Distributors

• Buena Vista Pictures
• Der KurzFilmVerleih (Austria)
• Der KurzFilmVerleih (Germany)
• Der KurzFilmVerleih (Switzerland)
• Walt Disney Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Sprocket Systems  sound recording

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:

First computer-animated short nominated for an Academy Award.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Toy Story 2 (1999)

Impressive for its time (and now!) with good animation that is used well to bring out character and not just be an effect

A standard desk lamp watches a small ball roll across the table beside him, closely followed by a small desk lamp chasing it and pushing it all over the place – much to the bemusement of the elder lamp. With such youthful enthusiasm, will even the puncturing of the ball be enough to calm him down?

On the Toy Story 2 DVD, this short appears as part of their policy of providing shorts on their dvds. It is doesn't compare to the main film in terms of animation or humour but it is still impressive – even more so when you remember that this was made in 1986. Content wise it is not hilarious but it is amusing and you can see the same style and sense of humour that still carries on today in Pixar films generally.

The animation is very good and, although lacking the flow and detail of modern films, it is hard not to be impressed when you think back to the poor effects that we were getting in mainstream films back them – hell, the work in this short from 18 years ago is as good if not better than I've had to suffer in some recent films! The simple characters are well drawn but animated in a manner that gives them character and makes it easy to be involved and amused by the film – they look like lamps but their movement is where the characters lie.

Overall an amusing little short that is made more interesting when viewed along side Pixar's recent films and used to se where the style and humour have developed from. Also a quality enough little film to be worth seeing on its own.