- Luxo Jr.
Infobox Film
name = Luxo Jr.
caption =
director =John Lasseter
producer =John Lasseter
Bill Reeves
writer =John Lasseter
starring =
music =Chick Corea
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released =August 17 1986 (SIGGRAPH )November 24 ,1999 (with "Toy Story 2")
runtime = 2 min 18 sec
country =USA
awards = Nominated for theAcademy Award for Animated Short Film
language =
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0091455"Luxo Jr." is the first
film produced in 1986 byPixar Animation Studios , following its establishment as an independent film studio. It is a computer-animatedshort 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 desklamp included in Pixar's corporate logo. After the Pixar logo at the beginning of the film, text appears (in white) reading, "In 1986, Pixar produced its first film. This is why we have a hopping lamp in our logo."Plot
It features two desk lamps (inspired by a Luxo brand task-light on John Lasseter's desk, hence the title), one larger (implicitly older, named Luxo) than the other. Luxo Jr. plays with a small rubber ball, as Luxo reacts to its antics. Luxo Jr. then accidentally breaks the ball and is admonished by Luxo, after which it finds and plays with an even larger ball.
On the technical level, it 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 surfaceshader , not surface textures. The coordinated articulation of "limbs", 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.ignificance
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 forSIGGRAPH , 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, 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.
Luxo Jr. after the short
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 thePixar Short Films Collection - Volume 1 though the original narrator track is not included.Luxo Jr. later served as the
mascot forPixar Animation Studios , appearing in itsproduction logo . Notice when Luxo Jr. hops on top of the rubber ball, he squishes it down so that it's no longer visible beneath him, then shifts his "head" towards the audience. In the Pixar logo, he does the same to the letter "I" in the word "Pixar". This was modified a little for "Cars", when the screen dimmed, a message appeared saying "Celebrating 20 Years", Luxo Jr.'s head being the "0" in the 20. This indicates that "Cars" marked Pixar's 20th Anniversary. In a teaser trailer for "WALL-E ", Luxo Jr.'s light bulb burns out and he looks around as WALL-E rolls in to replace the bulb and pats him on the head. After doing this Luxo Jr. turns towards the audience and WALL-E knocks over the "R" in the Pixar logo and WALL-E positions his body into an "R" to replace it. Luxo thenlooks at the camera. This did not serve as the "PIXAR" logo for the WALL-E film, however. Luxo Jr. also appears after the end credits of every film. Every now and then the Pixar logo comes up and has music in the background which blocks out Luxo Jr.'s sound effects. When he does and he shifts his "head" towards the audience, the logo's background dims away, leaving nothing visible but Luxo Jr.'s bright light, which then disappears with a clicking sound.In "", a book of Pixar's history up through January 2007, film critic
Leonard Maltin said that he "like [s] the fact that Luxo [Jr.] still has significance to the people at Pixar", and remarked that it was something like Disney'sMickey Mouse .The short was re-issued in 1999 and shown before screenings of "
Toy Story 2 ". There is also a scene in "Toy Story 2" where the toys frantically flick through TV channels to find a certain commercial. One of the channels is showing Luxo Jr.The Ball
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.The ball has also appeared in
Red's Dream , which was a little tribute to Pixar.The ball has also appeared in Boo's room in "
Monsters, Inc. ", but only the star was almost pink and the stripe was dark blue.The ball has also appeared in "
Jack-Jack Attack " inside Kari's playpen.The ball has also appeared in various "Toy Story" films.
External links
* [http://www.pixar.com/shorts/ljr/ Pixar's official Luxo Jr. site] (Downloadable movie available)
*imdb title|id=0091455|title=Luxo Jr.
* [http://www.luxo.com/ Luxo's web site]
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