Did You Know That the Pixar Mascot Has a Name and a Short Film?

If you've ever watched a Pixar film, you're aware that the animated hopping Luxo lamp became a major part of the studio's character. It's readily recognizable as a Pixar character, and it's possible that it's the company's most recognizable and iconic character.

According to Inverse, Pixar's iconic short film Luxo Jr. transformed the landscape of animation forever since it was released more than three decades ago. The film put Pixar on the map, with its proof-of-concept demonstration of its computer animation techniques and the prospective role of computers in three-dimensional animation gaining widespread notice. Luxo Jr. received an Academy Award nomination and was chosen for preservation by the Library of Congress under the National Film Registry, an honor reserved for films of cultural, historic, or aesthetic significance.

'Luxo Jr.' Is a 1986 Computer-Animated Short Film by Pixar

John Lasseter, as per CHM, created today's Pixar mascot by experimenting with the Luxo lamp form, modeling it and figuring out how to make it appear to move. But after receiving a visit from a coworker's child, he got inspired to create a baby Luxo lamp, hence he changed the proportions and shrank various components of the lamp to redistribute its attributes.

He came up with the idea for a short character study in which the parent and kid lamps interacted.

The parent lamp was shown playing with a small ball with an unseen companion in the story, which lasted less than two minutes. Luxo Jr. eventually appears and exuberantly begins playing with the small ball, eventually climbing on it and flattening it.

Luxo Jr.'s undeniable curiosity and enthusiasm, the parent lamp's reaction to the ball popping, and the final reveal are all difficult emotions to attach to non-anthropomorphic things. Early computer animations rarely managed to create the emotional effect that Luxo Jr. did. This would become a recurring theme in Pixar's work.

To finish the film, Lasseter collaborated with Pixar's then-small animation group. The team's top priority was to finish the video in time for the SIGGRAPH festival in Dallas. It got to the point that Lasseter brought in a sleeping bag and slept under his desk in the office just to meet the deadline.

But all of his efforts were worth it when the film received a standing ovation at SIGGRAPH, which began before the final frame of the video had even hit the screen.

What Is Luxo Jr.'s Legacy?

Luxo Jr. is a historic moment not only in the history of computer animation, but also in the image of computer animation.

It was shown at film festivals all around the world, while the character of Luxo is probably best recognized for appearing in the logo of every Pixar film. Luxo Jr. enters and jumps up and down on Pixar's 'I' until it flattens. As the shot fades, it gives a sheepish face to the camera.