I’m always amazed at how well Pixar can tell a story in their short films in such a little amount of time. Pixar’s newest short film, Lou, is no exception for the quality and emotion a Pixar story conveys. Lou appears in theaters before Cars 3 and is my favorite Pixar short. (Yes, even more than Lava and Paperman). How do they do it? In a presentation by Director Dave Mullins and Producer Dana Murray, I learned cool facts about the making of Lou.
Lou is a 6-minute film about a Lost and Found Box teaching a school bully a lesson or two. Lou was not set up to be a movie about bullying. The reason why it’s my favorite Pixar short is because it’s adorable, funny, and teaches you something without being in your face about it. Who knew that short films took so long to make? Not me.
11 Cool Facts About the Making of Lou
1. According to Dave Mullins, Disney Pixar films have 4 main ingredients – heart, entertainment, setting, and animation.
2. Dave Mullins pitched ideas for a Disney Pixar short for 8 years before he was able to direct his own. (High-five Dave Mullins for sticking with your dream!)
Photo Credit: Disney
3. The idea for Lou came from Dave’s life of moving around so much and having to make new friends.
4. Lou took 4 years to make.
5. Lou is the only red thing in the film so he’ll pop.
6. In order to save time in creating so many children for the scenes in Lou, they repurposed other kids from Pixar movies like Finding Dory and Inside Out.
7. Everything was animated by hand for Lou.
8. The character of JJ (the antagonist in the film) was inspired by the look of Jonah Bobo in Crazy, Stupid, Love.
9. John Lasseter told Dave Mullins it looked like a pain to make, so he had to do it! (Those Pixar people always love a challenge).
10. Christopher Beck, the composer of FROZEN, also composed Lou.
11. At the end of Lou, there is a dedication “For Dad.” Dave Mullins said his father passed away during the making of Lou and so did other fathers of the crew, so really it was for everyone’s dad.
Photo Credit: Disney
Lou is reason enough to watch Cars 3 in theaters, though I give you more reasons why you should see Cars 3, which is in theaters now!
Thank you, Disney, for inviting me to the Cars 3 Event and providing travel and accommodations. All opinions about how items in a Lost and Found box are endearing are my own.