Lifted (film)
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| Lifted | |
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 Lifted poster |
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| Directed by | Gary Rydstrom |
| Produced by | Katherine Sarafian; Osnat Shurer (executive producer) |
| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures (2007 release with Ratatouille), Pixar |
| Release date(s) | 2006 |
| Running time | 5 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
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). However, the short received a sneak peek at The 42nd Chicago International Film Festival.[1]
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[edit] Plot
A young alien, Stu, is in a spaceship taking an examination in abduction. He must snatch a sleeping farmer named Ernie under the watchful eye of his instructor, Mr. B.[2] However, there is an array of thousands of unlabeled toggle switches he must manipulate to get the human into the ship's tractor beam, and he is having trouble. He mistakenly propels the human into walls and occasionally the ceiling (never waking him up from his slumber through it all). After repeated failures to successfully lift the human into the ship (he almost succeeds, but forgets to close the door on the bottom of the ship before turning off the tractor beam), Mr. B takes over and, wielding the massive bank of switches with ease, returns the farmer back to his room, and cleans up the mess that Stu had made.
Ashamed over his failure, Stu starts whimpering, trying to hold his tears back from Mr. B. Mr. B generously allows Stu to launch the space ship back home. Full of glee, Stu takes hold of the joystick and starts to lift the ship into the air, but once again, he fails, and the space ship plummets to the Earth, crushing the farmer's house and leaving nothing but a crater with a tall pillar of dirt in the center, atop which the farmer is still sleeping soundly in his bed with some small remnants of his house remaining. The ship quickly lifts off again.
During the end credits there is the sound of an alarm clock, the farmer waking up, then a Wilhelm scream as he (presumably) falls into the crater all around him, and finally, a thud.
[edit] Awards
Lifted was nominated for best animated short film on January 23, 2007 in nominations announced for the 79th Academy Awards.[citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The abduction console is based on the sound mixer's console.
- Mr. B is named by Gary Rydstrom, suggesting a teacher that would give his students 'B' Grades, no matter what.
- Pixar regularly uses its short films to implement new software plug-ins and techniques. This film implemented a jiggle program (used to animate Mr. B.), wherein an animator can pick a certain section of the computer model, and tap on it to make it resonate.
- The voice of Stu is provided by Gary Rydstrom's dog.
- The sound that the console makes whenever Stu bumps the abductee into a wall is the "Hero" alert sound from Mac OS X.
- Tinny from Tin Toy is visible under the farmers bed.
- This short is partially based on Rydstrom's experiences in drivers education according to his mother.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Lifted at the Pixar webpage.
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