Lifted (2006 film)
| Lifted | |
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 poster |
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| Directed by | Gary Rydstrom |
| Produced by |
Katherine Sarafian Osnat Shurer and John Lasseter (executive producers) |
| Written by | Gary Rydstrom |
| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
| Editing by | Steve Bloom |
| Studio | Pixar |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 5 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
"Lifted" is a 2006 Pixar computer-animated short film directed by Gary Rydstrom. This is the first film directed by Rydstrom, a seven-time Academy Award winning sound editor and mixer.
The film was released theatrically with Pixar's Ratatouille (June 29, 2007). The short also received a sneak peek at The 42nd Chicago International Film Festival.[1]
It was the last Pixar short to be released in a year earlier before a feature film was released until "La Luna".
Plot
A young alien, Stu, is inside a spaceship taking an examination in abduction. He must snatch a sleeping farmer named Ernie (who bears a striking resemblance to Linguini, the main human protagonist from Ratatouille) under the watchful eye of his impassive examiner, a gelatinous blob named Mr. B.[2] Working from memory, Stu is expected to use an array of thousands of unlabeled toggle switches for this purpose, and Mr. B gives no hints of which one(s) to use.
Stu's hesitant flicks of the switches turn out to be wrong, causing Ernie to bump into the walls and ceiling but not waking him up. Frustrated, Stu yells and swipes randomly at the array; Ernie bounces crazily around the room like a pinball, knocking over the furniture in the process. Eventually, after checking his notes, Stu does succeed in maneuvering Ernie out the window and up into the ship, but he shuts off the tractor beam without closing the cargo hatch. As Ernie plummets toward the ground, Mr. B takes over and catches him, then works the switches with incredible speed to put him back in his bed and clean up the mess Stu made.
Ashamed over his failure, Stu starts whimpering and tries to hold back his tears. Mr. B generously allows him to launch the spaceship for the trip home. Stu cheerfully grabs the steering yoke and begins to maneuver; a moment later it slams to the ground, crushing Ernie's house. When it lifts off, its underside is covered with dirt and debris and nothing is left of the house except a tall pillar of dirt in the center of a crater, cut out by the open cargo hatch. Atop this, Ernie is still sound asleep in bed.
As the end credits run, the sound of Ernie's alarm clock is heard, followed by his yawn, a scream, and a thud - he has fallen into the crater.
Awards
"Lifted" was nominated for best animated short film on January 23, 2007 for the 79th Academy Awards.[3] It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2006.
References
External links
- "Lifted" at the Pixar webpage.
- Lifted at the Internet Movie Database
- Lifted at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Lifted at AllRovi
| Preceded by Mater and the Ghostlight |
Pixar Animation Studios short films 2006 |
Succeeded by Your Friend the Rat |
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