Luxo Jr.

Voices of: N/A
Directed by: John Lasseter
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Short
Length: 2 minutes
1986

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Two lamps play with a ball.

Review:

Tim: It was fun watching the second short film Pixar ever put out. Computer animation was still in its infancy in 1986, so Luxo Jr. is a landmark achievement in many ways. It's amazing to read about how much time and energy went into creating this short, 2 minute film. It's incredible to think of the effort to pull this off- it was revolutionary when it first came out.

While so early into the life of Pixar, you still see so much of the trademark humor and heart in this film. In 2 minutes, John Lasseter tells a cute story about two lamps. The young lamp is energetic and carefree, the older one is more cautious and nurturing. This is all conveyed without a single word. You leave this short feeling happy, which Pixar has always been good at doing. So much of what Pixar would become can be traced to this film. It's also so cool to see where the trademark lamp of Pixar first came from- this short is certainly worth seeing.

In addition to the fun little story, this short film represents a critical milestone in the development of computer animation. In fact, this film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, the first CGI film ever nominated. This is an important short film.

It's been fun to go back and see some of these incredibly early Pixar shorts. While The Adventures of Andre and Wally B. is noteworthy for being the very first Pixar short, it felt like Luxor Jr. was really the origin of Pixar as we know it. If you're a fan of their work, it's certainly worth tracking this one down.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Adventures of Andre and Wally B., Red's Dream