Director(s): Bud Luckey and Roger L. Gould
Date Released: 2003
Theatrically Released Alongside: The Incredibles in 2004
Boundin’ follows a lamb with a beautiful wool coat, who dances all day to his animal friends' praise. One day some people come and shave him completely, leaving the lamb bare, pink and incredibly insecure. Ashamed and mocked by his friends, the lamb ceases his daily dancing, until a wise, kind jackalope comes bounding around. The lamb tells the jackalope his woes, to which the jackalope teaches him about bounding—that is, to think positively and get up when you’re feeling down. The lamb takes the lesson to heart, learning to bound which brings his spirit up. Soon the lamb grows back his wool coat, yet is continuously shaved once per year. The lamb accepts such fact, “he learned to live with it, he didn’t care”, confidently bounding woolly or nude with his friends no longer mocking his appearance.
Boundin’ is the first Pixar short to feature voice-over, with director Bud Luckey playing the short’s narrator, jackalope and lamb. Luckey has a soothing, deep voice (except when playing the lamb) which is quite pleasant to hear throughout. The Incredibles director Brad Bird originally wanted to open Boundin’ with Rick the superhero relocator (also voiced by Bud Luckey), who would appear strumming a banjo as the shorts’ narrator (I frankly would have enjoyed such addition). Boundin’s rhyming style flows smoothly throughout, at no time feeling forced or awkward. Despite sounding similar to Doctor Seuss, Boundin’ does not use made-up rhymes, contrary to several seeming instances—such as the word heliotrope, which I learned is actually a light shade of purple. Boundin’ makes clear that animation will no longer be an issue for Pixar shorts, being gorgeously animated (particularly the lamb’s glinting white coat), vividly colorful, and fluent to a T. The characters are enjoyable, especially the jackalope, whose compassionate wisdom to the lamb is the kindest action in a Pixar short yet. Boundin’ is sweet, colorful, and possessing of two simple, yet important messages: be proud of who you are, and get up when you fall down
"Bound and rebound”.
