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| Luxo Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Lasseter |
| Produced by | John Lasseter Bill Reeves |
| Written by | John Lasseter |
| Music by | Chick Corea |
| Release date(s) | August 17, 1986 (SIGGRAPH) November 24, 1999 (with Toy Story 2) |
| Running time | 2 min 18 sec |
| Country | USA |
| IMDb | |
Luxo Jr. is the first film produced in 1986 by Pixar Animation Studios, following its establishment as an independent film studio. It is a computer-animated short film (two and a half minutes, including credits), demonstrating the kind of things the newly-established company was capable of producing.
It is the source of the small hopping desk lamp included in Pixar's corporate logo. In a subsequent re-release after Pixar became popular, a pretext was added to the film reading, "In 1986, Pixar produced its first film. This is why we have a hopping lamp in our logo."
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The only characters are two desk lamps, one large and one small, inspired by a Luxo brand task-light on John Lasseter's desk (hence the title). Luxo Jr. (small) plays with a small inflated rubber ball, chasing it and trying to balance on it, as Luxo (large) reacts to these antics. The ball eventually bursts due to Luxo Jr. jumping on it; Luxo Jr. is admonished by Luxo, then finds and plays with an even larger ball, taken from a desk globe.
On the technical level, the film demonstrates the use of shadow maps to simulate the shifting light and shadow given by the animated lamps. The lights and the color surfaces of all the objects are calculated, each using a RenderMan surface shader, not surface textures. The articulation of "limbs" is carefully coordinated, and power cords trail believably behind the moving lamps. On the cinematic level, it demonstrates a simple and entertaining story, including effectively expressive individual characters.
It was Pixar's first animation after Ed Catmull and John Lasseter left ILM's computer division and was also John Lasseter's directorial debut. Lasseter's aim was to finish the short film for SIGGRAPH, an annual computer technology exhibition attended by thousands of industry professionals. Catmull and Lasseter worked around the clock, and Lasseter even took a sleeping bag into work and slept under his desk[1], ready to work early the next morning. The commitment paid off, and against all odds it was finished for SIGGRAPH.
"Luxo Jr. sent shock waves through the entire industry – to all corners of computer and traditional animation. At that time, most traditional artists were afraid of the computer. They did not realize that the computer was merely a different tool in the artist's kit but instead perceived it as a type of automation that might endanger their jobs. Luckily, this attitude changed dramatically in the early '80s with the use of personal computers in the home. The release of our 'Luxo Jr.,' ... reinforced this opinion turnaround within the professional community.” Ed Catmull, Computer Animation: A Whole New World, 1998.
In 1986, Luxo Jr. received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film. It was the first CGI film nominated for an Academy Award. Spinoffs of the short called "Surprise", "Light and Heavy", "Up and Down", and "Front and Back" have appeared in Sesame Street, which are now available on the Pixar Short Films Collection - Volume 1 though the original narrator track is not included.
Luxo Jr. now serves as the mascot for Pixar Animation Studios, appearing in its production logo before and after every feature film. He hops in from the right, stops next to the I in PIXAR, and jumps on it until he has completely squashed it down (as he did to the rubber ball in the short). He then looks around and angles his "head" toward the camera; at this point, all the light typically fades to black except for his head, which goes out with a click after a moment. Occasionally, the head will also fade in time with the light, but this the exception rather than the norm.
Two variations of this sequence were created for the films Cars and WALL-E. For Cars, the message "Celebrating 20 Years" appeared as the background faded out, with Luxo Jr.'s head used as the zero. (Pixar was founded in 1986; this film was released in 2006, thus marking Pixar's 20th Anniversary.) In a teaser trailer for WALL-E, and also in the logo after the end credits, his bulb burns out after he has squashed the I down. WALL-E rolls in from the right, changes the bulb to an energy-efficient fluorescent bulb, and pats Luxo Jr. on the head before going back the way he came. However, he trips over the R in PIXAR as he goes, so he stops and positions his body to take its place, after which Luxo Jr. looks at the camera (and WALL-E sometimes slightly peeks out) and the lights go out normally. In the same case, after the logo, the BnL logo appears along with the BnL jingle.
The ball that Luxo Jr. plays with in the film has also appeared in many other Pixar films - Red's Dream (pattern only), Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and Jack-Jack Attack are a few in which it has appeared. These include:
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