Brave Animated Short Film
Qiana Thieklin
Beginning with Pixar's first film Toy Story, almost all subsequent Pixar feature films have been shown in theaters along with a Pixar-created original short film, known as a "short." Other Pixar shorts, released only on home media, were created to showcase Pixar's technology or cinematic capabilities, or on commission for clients.
Pixar began producing shorts in the 1980s.[1] The first shorts were made while Pixar was still a computer hardware company, when John Lasseter was the only professional animator in the company's small animation department. Starting with Geri's Game, after Pixar had converted into an animation studio, all later shorts have been produced with a larger crew and budget.
During the development of Toy Story, Pixar set up a division to work on Pixar video games called Pixar's Interactive Products Group, specifically Toy Story entries in the Disney's Animated Storybook and Disney's Activity Center. Due to the intense resources required, the division was eventually folded and the staff were redistributed to start creating short films to accompany Pixar's theatrical releases.[3][4]
Beginning with A Bug's Life, Pixar has created extra content for each of their films that are not part of the main story. For their early theatrical releases, this content was in the form of outtakes and appeared as part of the film's credits. For each of their films, this content was a short made exclusively for the DVD release of the film.[5]
SparkShorts is a series of animated short films produced by Pixar filmmakers and artists, similar to its sister series Short Circuit from Walt Disney Animation Studios. It consists of longer independent shorts. Under the project, Pixar's employees are merely given six months and limited budgets to develop these animated short films.
Furthermore, in 1988, Apple's Advanced Technology Group produced "Pencil Test," a computer-animated short to showcase the Apple Macintosh II line.[46][47] Although Pixar was not officially affiliated with this film, several members of the Pixar staff advised and worked on it, including directors John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and producer Galyn Susman.[citation needed] John Lasseter was credited as "Coach" in the credits of the film.[48]
Cartoon Brew: This film is a real throwback, from its animation to its music to its willingness to go dark with the narrative. What are some of the classic works that inspired you while developing this film?
Andrew Chesworth: Melody Time and Make Mine Music are among my earliest memories of experiencing animation. The inventive marriage of images and music arrested me. The Andrews Sisters sounded like magic! It has long been on my bucket list to create a love letter to that specific era that sparked my passion for animation.
I remember being enchanted and terrified watching The Brave Little Toaster and Who Framed Roger Rabbit as a small child in the 1980s. Those films made impressions with their incredibly dynamic directing. I loved animation that felt like that. Growing up, I also felt a kinship with Bill Peet and Bill Watterson. Their work is reflective, entertaining, and rewarding to revisit.
Trains lent themselves well to the era being pastiched and provided exciting possibilities for animation and music. Westerns like True Grit, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (a live-action R-rated Melody Time), and even No Country For Old Men explore obsolescence in ways I found entertaining to echo in this family film.
A project is only as good as the team making it. When I pitched the concept to my former animation instructor, Tom Schroeder, he connected me with composer Tom Hambleton. Hambleton absolutely slayed the assignment from the casting to the arrangements to the Foley to the period microphone everything was recorded on. For me, the approach to the collaboration was the reason to wake up and make the short.
Instead of paper and cels, I had Photoshop and TVPaint. Instead of a multiplane camera, I had After Effects. The trains were animated in Maya on 2s and 1s and rendered to look like drawings. The final look is the result of compromise between period authenticity and tools that made the film achievable by a small, remote team.
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"The greatest locomotive around! Linus, our hero!" This wonderful animated short film is now available to view online after a successful film festival run earlier this year. Give it a watch! The Brave Locomotive is a delightful 7-minute animated short created by the animation filmmaker Andrew Chesworth, who has worked on Disney & Netflix movies. Produced and developed entirely on his own as a fun little side project, it's now qualified for Academy Awards consideration in 2024 after winning Best Animation at L.A. Shorts Film Festival. It's an animated tale of an old locomotive train in the early days of America's expansion - an "Old West musical tale with 1940s flair." Featuring the singers known as The Dollys performing the songs - Kari Shaw Akers, Andra Suchy, and Morgana Hasil. With Drew Jansen as The Railroad Baron. This short is so playful and authentic and heartfelt and amusing. I love all the little details in the animation and storytelling, especially the engineer Henry who just loves his little locomotive friend. This is a real gem. ?
Thanks to Twitter for the tip on this short playing online. Intro from YouTube: "In this Old West musical tale with 1940s flair, a fearless little train and his engineer confront obsolescence as bigger, faster, and more automated machines take center stage." The Brave Locomotive is an animated short written & directed by the Burbank-based animation filmmaker Andrew Chesworth (who previously worked as an animator on Zootopia, Moana, Klaus, and the Netflix series "My Dad the Bounty Hunter" most recently) - you can follow him on Twitter @A_Chesworth or on IG @andrew_chesworth or visit his official website to view more of his work. Featuring music & lyrics by Tom Hambleton (of Undertone Music, Inc). It's produced by Andrew Chesworth along with a ton of Patreon supporters. The film is Oscar-qualified for the 96th Academy Awards by winning Best Animation at LA Shorts International Film Festival this year. For more info, visit the film's official website or follow Andrew for updates on its journey. To discover more shorts, click here. Thoughts?
To call The Brave Locomotive a nostalgic joy ride is an understatement. Written and directed by Andrew Chesworth, who also served as the Lead Animator and EP, this Oscar-qualifying short film embraces the past in look, feel, and story.
Celebrate the magic of "The Brave Locomotive" with our Linus Plush Toy! Inspired by the 2023 Oscar-qualifying animated short film by acclaimed filmmaker Andrew Chesworth, this plush toy brings the beloved character Linus to life in an adorable and huggable form.
One last side note: just as we all know to stay till the very end for Marvel movies, so too do we know that there will be an animated short before any Pixar movie. This one, called La Lune, was no exception. I have to say this one nearly brought a tear to my eye. The simple story of three generations caring for the moon was delightful. It was simple, whimsical and touching. La Lune is worthy of any award we can throw at it.
The studio moved forward with this financial mindset in place and created Brave, a film which was helmed by three different writer/directors over the course of its production. First was Brenda Chapman, director of The Prince of Egypt, who had initially set most of the movie in a snowy environment. She was later replaced due to creative differences by Mark Andrews, director of the Pixar short One Man Band, who promptly got rid of the wintry setting. Steve Purcell, from Sam & Max fame, was also brought in to co-direct alongside Andrews and Chapman.
La Luna tells an amusing tale of characters to whom I became emotionally attached. This, combined with the stunning visuals, makes for a short worth the price of admission alone. La Luna is a beautiful piece of animated storytelling, and easily stands as my favorite Pixar short to date; I look forward to more from Enrico Casarosa as he writes the script for the 2014 Pixar film The Good Dinosaur.
Michael is a dramatic writer. He writes for film, theatre, and television and is now in his senior year at Hampshire College. Along with writing and directing his short film, "Even The Dogs Know," he is working on three spec television scripts for his thesis.
SUPER excited to share the first teaser poster for Lucky Brave's Sunshine, my animated short film I'm creating with MATTE! A limited run of these 3 color screen-printed posters will be made available through a kickstarter campaign starting in May. Honored to be working with some amazing artists and friends on this project! Updates on the film will be made on the 18th of each month until the film's completion. More details and info soon!
My passion has always been to be a storyteller. From the first drawings I did as a kid about me and my family on our trips, to my comics about my adventures with my friends in high school. I have constantly come up with new stories and characters based on my life and dreams. That combined with the last decade of working on various illustrations and tv shows like #AdventureTime & #RegularShow, I'm ready for the next chapter as an artist & storyteller.
I'm very excited to announce my short film, LUCKY BRAVE'S SUNSHINE, based on my short story and characters. I'm working with MATT ( ), an amazing animation studio based in Ecuador. I'm honored & fortunate to collaborate & produce this short with Andrs "ICHI" Aguilar and his super talented crew of animators to bring my story and vision to life!
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