Zen of Film

These were pioneering days, the dawning of the coming 3D computer generated imagery (CGI) era - back in 1986. Looking back, from today where every standard desktop PC can be a small film studio with the right software, one can only imagine how awkward working on one of the early computer monsters must have been. Imagine typing in coordinates you found with the help of a pocket calculator, via keyboard into a machine the size of a small car.

These were the days when “Luxo Jr.“, Pixar’s first short film, began to take shape.

Background

When you take a look at the credits of Luxo Jr., you’ll see that it proudly credits Pixar Animation Studios as the producer. Luxo is the the first film under this new banner. Before that, the group around Dr. Ed Catmull, most notably Alvy Ray Smith, John Lasseter, Bill Reeves, Tom Duff, Eben Ostby, Rob Cook and Loren Carpenter was part of a division of Lucasfilm. George Lucas, the famed creator of Star Wars, initiated a series of projects to explore new entertianment related techniques, tools and technologies backed by his huge financial success of the Sci-Fi epos. Among the projects were groups that sparked remarkable successful outfits still existing today, like ILM and Lucasarts.

Despite great success in research, these projects began to get costly over a period of seven years. When George Lucas’ holding company began to get into trouble, the fate of the research groups started to change, leading in Lucas looking for a buyer for the Computer Graphics Group. By good luck, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computers, had a good load of cash money in the bank at that time and was looking for interesting opportunities to invest into. So Lucas sold the computer graphics division to Jobs for US$5 million.

Jobs had the idea, to use the research results to build a specialised graphics computer, the Pixar Image Computer, similar to later SGI graphics workstations. This move was meant to further push the image of Apple as a company leading the visual development on the computer sector. To illustrate the magnificent possibilitiesof the hardware, Jobs also further fostered the movement within the small company to produce CG animation shorts. The first short that was specifically produced for that reason was Luxo Jr., meant to be first publicly shown on SIGGRAPH.

The Film

While still a part of Lucasfilm, the Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Project had already started making short films. The first of these films, The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984), laid the groundwork for later animatorial excercises. Also presented at SIGGRAPH, André and Wally was a surpise success, introducing morphing animation and captivating characters. Animator John Lasseter worked hard to transplant the quality of movement known from Disney animations to the clunky domain of early computer graphics.

Two experiemental (and never released short films later: Flags and Waves and Beach Chair), the now renamed and sold group, propelled by the new financial possibilities, began work on a new short film for the new Pixar Animation Studios.

The idea for Luxo Jr. formed when John Lasseter tried to combine already learned lessons in CG animation with the latest developments of the group, for example an advanced shadowing algorithm. Inspired by a Luxo desk lamp, Lasseter created the idea to animate the lamp and while doing so show of the great success in animating shadows. Despite the palette of CG techniques began to come full circle these days, early limitations still shine through. For example, the black background and simple texturing wasn’t a decision that was solely based on the needs of the story - there simply wasn’t enough computing power available to do real backgrounds or elaborate the scene. Clever design, miticulous animation and storytelling contributes to a piece of early CG film that still doesn’t look dated from todays standards.

The roughly 2 minutes film features a larger lamp, the parent and a smaller lamp, a child, which discovers a ball and begins to play with it, until finally the ball collapses. Striking is the quality of the animation, the realistic kinetics and the emotionally well structured and relatable story.

The success

Right after the premiere on SIGGRAPH, Luxo Jr. began to take on a life of its own. It both shocked and fascinated computer scientists and traditional artists of all areas, redefining the computer as an artistic tool. The great success among experts sent tremors throughout the film industry, leading to an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film for the OSCARS 1986 - the first ever CGI film to be nominated for an OSCAR so far. Although technically John Lasseter’s directorial debut as animator was back in 1979 when still in art school at California Institute of the Arts, with Lady And The Lamp, Luxo was his directorial debut as CG animator and the official first stepstone in a great career as 3D director.

Coda

If you are interested to read more about, Pixar and Luxo Jr., you might also want to check out the wikipedia pages: 1, 2. If you would like to revolutionize CG animation yourself, it might be helpful to download the great free rendering and moderling 3D software blender. Until I find the time to follow the background stories of my other Pixar favourites, 1989’s Knick Knack, Geri’s Game (1997) and For The Birds (2001), you can read more about it on Wikipedia or IMDb.

Of course, you can buy the short film on DVD to keep. Luxo Jr. (and many of the films that were mentioned above) is currently available from amazon on DVD and Blu-Ray:

Also: we have a post about three easter eggs hidden in the Short Films Collection here.

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• Easter Eggs in Pixar’s Short Film Collection - Volume 1