Animagination

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the debut of Luxo Jr., a film short shown at the SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference in Dallas. In it, an articulated desk lamp jumps up and down on a rubber ball, deflating it, bringing sadness until it hopped away and returned with an even bigger ball. Although it would be almost nine years from that day until Toy Story hit theaters and pretty much changed animation forever, Luxo Jr. is the kickoff point for Pixar Animation Studios.

John Young writes an appreciation of the studio's accomplishments in a story for Entertainment Weekly which highlights five of the major changes Pixar brought to animated movies as well as movies in general. I'd add one thing. A lot of animation in movies and television seems to come at their stories looking to reduce them to something fit for the "cartoon" medium. But Pixar, especially in its best movies, seems to have the idea of seeing just how free animation can let the imagination roam, and how big the story might be when unconstrained by the use of "real-world" elements. Every time the studio has listened to that voice and used its medium to nourish and grow the story instead of as a pattern into which a dumbed-down or otherwise limited version of the tale has to be squeezed, it's been spectactular.

Thanks, Luxo.