Pixar's short films are often the studio's most charming creations that remain most faithful to the heartwarming roots of its early feature films. Can you think of a single feature film the studio has released since "Up" that had as much heart and soul as its most recent theatrical shorts, "The Blue Umbrella," "La Luna" or "Day and Night"?
Thankfully, for fans of the studio, the next short on the docket has been unveiled via The L.A. Times. It's called "Lava," and like so much of Pixar's best work, it anthropomorphizes an inanimate object into a lovable, adorable character. "Lava" tells the story of two volcanoes named "Uku" and "Lele" (clever, no?), who slowly form a romantic relationship. Very slowly. Running just over seven minutes, it's described as a musical that unfolds over "millions of years." The Times also scored the first still from the film, pictured above.
James Ford Murphy, a longtime animator for Pixar, directs his first short with "Lava." He told the Times that he had the idea over 20 years ago when he went to Hawaii on his honeymoon. Before pitching his idea to Pixar's brain trust, Murphy reportedly learned to play the ukulele and wrote a love song that appears in the short.
"I thought it would be so cool to fall in love with a place who's also a character," said the director. "I wanted to make Uku appealing and likable but also look like he's been carved out of lava flows."
To that end, Murphy worked hard to keep Uku and Lele huge in appearance. He strived for a live action volcano sense of scale, so viewers wouldn't lose sight of these powerful mountains' true natures.
"This whole story has been an exercise in contrast," Murphy explained. "Volcanoes are so destructive, but they're so creative. They're so powerful in their eruptions but they're so peaceful."
"Lava" stars Hawaiian recording artists Kuana Torres Kahele as Uku and Napua Greig as Lele. Kahele also serves as the film's narrator. It will be shown ahead of Pixar's next big feature, "Inside Out." "Lava" will make its debut at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival in late August 2014.
"Inside Out" is from "Up" director Pete Docter. It tells the story of a young girl and the five primal emotions that govern her actions. The big idea behind the movie is that those five emotions are personified in the girl's brain, and we get to witness events from their perspective. Thanks to delays on the production of "Inside Out," Pixar will have two feature films in theaters in a single year for the first time ever in 2015.
In November 2015, Pixar will follow up with "The Good Dinosaur." The first full-length feature for Peter Sohn, who previously directed the short film "Partly Cloudy." He's best known as a voice actor, his most famous role being Emile the rat in Ratatouille. "Finding Dory," the sequel to "Finding Nemo," will be the studio's sole release in 2016.
