10 FUN Facts about Pixar’s Short Film Lou

As excited as I am for the actual film, I love the Pixar Short Films! After having seen it twice, I am sure you are going to love the one playing in front of Cars 3, Lou. While at the Cars 3 press day we were able to sit down and listen to Director Dave Mullins & Producer Dana Murray share some fun facts with us about the process of making this short.

10 FUN Facts about Pixar’s Short Film Lou

• The director, Dave, started coming up with ideas for short films and pitching them since 2005.

• This short film is inspired by the fact that Dave moved a lot as a kid and being the new kid involved sometimes feeling invisible but wanting to be accepted by the other kids.

• JJ, the bully, is named after Dave’s mom Joyce Jean (who has no bully like qualities).

• The look for JJ was inspired by Jonah in the film Crazy Stupid Love and actually appears in the movie Inside Out.

• The playground children can be found in the animated films, Inside Out and Finding Dory (helped speed up the process since they were using so many characters which is not typical in a short film).

• The composer from Frozen, Christophe Beck, worked on the music for the short film.

• They were originally going to call the film Lost and Found but weren’t able to so they opted for Lou and it actually worked out better because it gave the character a name.

• They worked on this short for 4 years, they finished it all at the end of 2016. They actually had to pause for 6 months while the animators worked on The Good Dinosaur.

• Every piece of Lou was animated by hand and the toys used to make up Lou were toys that mean something to kids, they wanted them to be timeless.

• Lou is red, and is the only thing that is red in the short, because they wanted him to pop out throughout the film.

More about Pixar’s Short Film Lou

The lost-and-found box on a kindergarten playground is home to Lou, a creature made from the assorted unclaimed items. Every day after recess, Lou picks up the toys that the children leave behind; the next day, he sets them out on the playground for their owners to find. When a boy named J.J. starts to bully the others and take their toys, Lou emerges from the box and chases him around the playground. Lou finds a stuffed dog among his parts that had belonged to J.J., but he will not return it unless J.J. gives back all the toys he stole and returns all the other lost-and-found items to their owners. J.J. does so, but realizes at the end of this task that Lou has dismantled himself. Finding the dog at the bottom of the now-empty box, he goes off to play happily with the other children.

I happen to see Dave Mullins on the red carpet for the Cars 3 World premiere so I asked him for a photo

Speaking of Cars 3, it is now officially in theaters!

Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast cars, the legendary Lighting McQueen finds himself pushed out of the sport that he loves. Hoping to get back in the game, he turns to Cruz Ramirez, an eager young technician who has her own plans for winning. With inspiration from the Fabulous Hudson Hornet and a few unexpected turns, No. 95 prepares to compete on Piston Cup Racing’s biggest stage.

* I was invited by Disney to the #Cars3Event to share my experience with my followers. However, All opinions are my own.