Luxo Jr.

Of all the short films that Pixar made prior to Toy Story, this one holds up the best today. It has a lot of the hallmarks of the company-the lamps' *character* come through the animation; it blends comedy with pathos. And the animation in itself feels alive and fluid, unlike say Andre and Wally B. I still get a chuckle out of the short every time I watch it.

I find it amazing that a film which is a minute and a half long, with one fixed camera position, can have such a strong story and characters. And these characters don't even talk! It's all about the animation. I can almost see the delight on Luxo Junior's face (although he doesn't have a face) as he leaps after that giant ball at the end of the film. Likewise, I love Luxo Senior's surprised double take as he sees the ball come bouncing towards him, and then his exasperated head shake as his son passes him by. It was a good idea for Lasseter to start out with mechanical objects. He could start slow and work his way to working more with facial expression.

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.

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.

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.