Director(s): John Lasseter
Date Released: 1986
Theatrically Released Alongside: Toy Story 2* (re-issued in 1999)
“In 1986 Pixar Animation Studios produced its first film. This is why we have a hopping lamp in our logo.”
-Pixar
-Pixar
Luxo Jr. is Pixar’s first effort at animating inanimate objects—it’s also the first official appearance of their mascot Luxo Jr. Where as Disney has a talking mouse and Warner Brothers a talking rabbit, Pixar has a desk lamp—not a talking lamp mind you, but a vibrant one none the less. The story centers on Luxo Jr. and its parent Luxo Sr. Jr. finds a small rubber ball to play with, only to accidentally deflate it from roughhousing. Saddened, Jr. exits the scene, only to come hopping back with a large beach ball—Sr. shaking its head in disbelief.
I’m going to presume lamps are the only sentient objects in the short’s reality—avoiding any fridge horror with the rubber ball being alive (which would make Jr.’s actions incredibly disturbing)—and view Luxo Jr. as a cute tale between a curious lamp and its parent. Director Lassester’s ability to emote faceless, non-verbal lamps is remarkable. Every movement is thought-out to show exactly what the lamps are thinking—curiosity towards the rubber ball, sadness at its deflation and surprise at the beach ball are all clear as day. The short likewise demonstrates advanced (at the time) usage in 3D shadowing, having the light from the lamps’ faces shift shadows around in an organic fashion. A success both technically and expressively, Luxo Jr. showed CG animation could be just as effective as traditional. Luxo Jr. was even recently selected for preservation by the National Film Registry, an honor the film, as well as Pixar’s mascot, rightfully deserve.
