The next short film by Pixar is called "Lava," and it stars a three-mile-wide volcano named Uku, who pines for someone to love. Er, to lava. That someone, a female volcano named Lele, eventually sprouts into being. But before there can be a sunset, Uku must find a way to woo his lady love.
Animating a pair of full-scale volcanos is as challenging as you might imagine, but it looks like director James Ford Murphy and his team have pulled it off. In this new clip, released via Yahoo, Uku sings his wish for companionship, after which we see time pass — thousands or maybe even millions of years, in fact — very, very quickly. The animation here is extremely impressive, showing inventive ways of giving a mountain life.
Yahoo also reveals Murphy's inspiration for Uku's face. To give him just the right expressions, they drew inspiration from three sources: actor Jackie Gleeson, the bulldog from Chuck Jones' classic "Feed the Kitty" cartoon, and the singer who voices Uku, Kuana Torres Kahele.
So how do you give a lifeless rock formation the feeling of being alive? (You know, aside from a moving face?) Pixar inserted indigenous life like birds, dolphins and whales, along with clouds, trees and Uku's lava to make him feel like a living, breathing being. Murphy says his team also employed creative camera movements to help enhance the effect.
"Lava" will be attached to "Inside Out," Pixar's next full-length movie, when it hits theaters on June 19, 2015.
