Pixar is famous for its feature-length films with its amazing characters and plots. It has brought to life toys, cars, emotions, and robots while also bringing new light to animals and humans. We love watching their stories as the characters navigate through their own worlds.
While the films are fantastic and successful, you can’t discuss Pixar without also mentioning their shorts, little stories that often appear before Pixar’s feature length films. We’ve been introduced characters just as fun as creative, and we think that they deserve more than a few minutes of screen time. Here are ten Pixar shorts that deserve an extension:
Red’s Dream
One of the first shorts Pixar ever made was Red’s Dream back in 1987. It’s about a small unicycle for sale in a bike shop who longs to be in a circus one day. We see the one-wheeled cycle daydream about being able to juggle and being ridden by a clown as the audience claps. Sadly, the short ends with the unicycle back in reality in the bike shop.
We never get to see if it gets purchased or if it is able to live out its dream of making it big. An update is certainly in order.
Lifted
Lifted was played in theaters before Ratatouille, and it shows a little green alien who appears to be taking a test on how to levitate a human from their bed and into the flying saucer. It sounds easy enough, but we soon see that it’s a bit difficult for this alien, as he manages to knock the man into the wall and throw him about the room several times.
The short ends with the flying saucer destroying the house and most of the surrounding area, and we are desperate to see what happens next. Does the man wake up sore from crashing against the perimeter of his room? What does he do about his house? How does he get off of the sliver of land the aliens left him on? We need the next chapter!
Tin Toy
Toys were coming to life at Pixar long before Toy Story hit theaters with their 1988 short entitled Tin Toy. It’s about a little music playing toy who is initially afraid of small baby when he sees it drooling on and breaking other toys. He has a change of heart when the baby falls and starts to cry, and the toy decides to comfort the child. However, it turns out that the baby would rather play with the box and bag that the toy came in instead.
We want to know what happens to the toy and baby after the curtains closed on this short! Does the baby eventually grow up and love to play with the toy? Does the tin toy help the other toys learn to not be afraid of the baby? Do the parents ever wake up and come take care of their child? Only Pixar can give us answers.
Geri’s Game
Geri’s Game was the first Pixar short to be shown in theaters before a movie, appearing as an intro to A Bug’s Life. In it, we see an older man playing chess with himself, shown in a way where it appears to actually be two people. In the end, Geri of course wins, and his prize is the dentures that belong to the “other Geri.” We get another glimpse at this clever man when he makes a cameo in Toy Story 2, where he comes to fix Woody’s arm, but other than this, we don’t know much about him. Fans want an update on their favorite chess player; maybe he’s moved on to other games!
Lava
Lava is unique to other Pixar shorts because the majority of them do not feature any words. Lava, however, has a song sung throughout about a lone volcano who sees couples all around him and wishes he had someone to love too. A beautiful volcano eventually bursts from the sea, and soon, the two are together, singing and falling in love.
Their lives together are just beginning, and we would “lava” to see where their adoration for each other takes them next. Perhaps a baby volcano could be on the way!
One Man Band
One Man Band is about, you guessed it, a one-man band, or rather, two of them. The two one-man bands are competing with one another on a deserted street to win the coin of a young girl watching them play. Things get a little out of hand, and when the girl uses her coins to make a wish in the fountain instead, neither man ends up getting paid for their talent.
We’re curious if the men ever learn to get along and share the street stage without competing. Perhaps they eventually join forces to create a two-man band!
Presto
Presto consists of a magician with a set of magic hats that contain a portal between them; if you reach into one, your hand appears from the other. The magician plans to use the hats to magically make a rabbit appear, but the rabbit, who just wants a carrot, is not having it. He continuously plays tricks on the poor magician, causing him to become frustrated and injured, but the audience loves it, thinking it’s all part of the show.
Eventually, the rabbit gets his carrot, and the trick appears to work. We’re curious if two tricksters continue their working relationship together in additional performances or if they’ve had enough of each other’s shenanigans.
Knick Knack
The last short of the 80s was Knick Knack, but we did not see it until over a decade later when Finding Nemo premiered. In this short, a little snowman that lives in a snow globe desperately wants to get out and meet a female figurine hanging out by a pool nearby. He tries many methods to escape, and finally, he is free!
He ends up falling in a fishbowl where an attractive mermaid awaits. The snowman is excited by this, but his snow globe falls into the bowl as well, effectively trapping him again. One can assume that he starts all over again with his escape plans, and we would love to see it all unfold on screen.
The Blue Umbrella
Released in 2013, The Blue Umbrella shows the story of two umbrellas, one blue and one red, who meet when their owners are at a stopped crosswalk. The two umbrellas exchange nervous and curious glances, but eventually, their owners go their separate ways. The blue umbrella gets swept away in the wind and other elements, but by a twist of fate, it gets found again by its owner, who is being helped by the red umbrella’s owner.
The two sit down at a table together outside, and the umbrellas get to be together again. We definitely need a sequel to this adorable scene, particularly one with a lot of rain!
Luxo Jr.
The little lamp from Luxo Jr. has become synonymous with Pixar, as it always hops onto the screen and bounces on top of the i in Pixar’s title card. Little Luxo Jr. made its debut as the second Pixar short ever produced, and it consists of a small lamp (named Luxo Jr.) playing with a ball. The toy soon pops when he bounces on top of it, but don’t worry!
Luxo Jr. comes back with an even bigger ball to play with. We would love to watch Luxo play with other toys too, and maybe he could even have some other lamp friends!
