Die kleine Lampe

Very good, this short is undoubtedly my favorite short, the animation is very good, the story is very funny and the concept of a chair playing with a ball is very good. Highly recommend.

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.

An important piece of animation history and a cute little story in general.

The short focuses on two living table lamps and a ball.

The short is charming and cute. It shows pixars craft when it comes to the fine details of shadows and lighting and also that they rarely can make a movie without using an interesting concept.

They could easily have made this short (that essentially is a demo) very generic and boring in terms of it's story. But makes a cute little animation that creates a iconic image that is in their logo to this day.

I'll recormend you to give it a watch and keep in mind that this is one of the most iconic animation studios humble begining.

"Luxo Jr." is Pixar's first short film, and shows why a lamp is used for Pixar's logo.

Like all the Pixar short films, "Luxo Jr." has no dialog, but music and funny sounds instead. The story is about a lamp named Luxo who is playing with a ball. Then, Luxo Jr. comes by and joins him.

Like many of the Pixar shorts, it is merely a cute experiment with animation, music, sounds and humor. This one succeeds in those departments.

I'm not sure if it's stop-motion animation or computer-animation, but the animation in "Luxo Jr." looks fairly impressive. The moments are also what gives the characters life and personalities.

The sounds are impressive as well. Each time the lamps do so much as turn, you hear a sound. You can also hear the "ding-a-ling-a-ling" sound that Luxo makes before every Pixar film.

The humor isn't quite hilarious, but I managed to chuckle twice during the film. The ending was funny.

Not so bad for a start.

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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.

Cast

Made by John Lasseter, the man behind Toy Story, A Bugs Life, Cars and countless other Pixar classics.

Verdict

I wasn't aware of Luxo Jr, but I'm very glad I watched this blink and you'll miss it short.

You see with zero spoilers I actually found myself saddened watching it as it touches upon a certain Toy Story-esque trope that turns me into a blubbering mess but thankfully it almost immediately lands on it's feet and it's positively adorable.

Considering it's so short it's hard not to consider this essential viewing for any Pixar fan.

Rants

I did have a rant but the site didn't like it and I got declined, so you don't get one in this review. Rasp.

Breakdown

Impressive visuals for 1986 Adorable on every level Gave me a momentary sad face.