This is a list of animated short films produced by Pixar Animation Studios.
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.
Pixar produced four CGI shorts for the educational TV series Sesame Street between 1990 and 1994. The shorts illustrate different weights and directions starring Luxo Jr. and Luxo — Light & Heavy, Surprise, Up and Down, and Front and Back.[2]
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]
Toy Story 4 was the first film not to have a theatrical short before it. Coco and Onward had theatrical shorts from other subsidiaries related to Disney. Luca, Lightyear and Inside Out 2 had no theatrical shorts before them. Elemental was the first film, released theatrically in the United States, to have a Pixar-produced short in front of it since Incredibles 2.[6]
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Initial release with | Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theatrical | Home[7] /Premiere | ||||||
| align=left | The Adventures of André & Wally B.[8] | 1984 | Toy Story | ||||
| align=left | Luxo Jr. | 1986 | Toy Story 2[9] | ||||
| align=left | Red's Dream | 1987 | Home on the Range | ||||
| align=left | Tin Toy | 1988 | Toy Story | ||||
| align=left | Knick Knack | 1989 | Finding Nemo[10] (first release) The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (second release) | Finding Nemo | |||
| align=left | Geri's Game | 1997 | A Bug's Life | rowspan=2 | |||
| align=left | For the Birds | 2000 | Monsters, Inc. (first release) Luca (second release) | Monsters, Inc. | |||
| align=left | Boundin' | 2003 | The Incredibles | rowspan=4 | |||
| align=left | One Man Band | 2006 | Cars | ||||
| align=left | Lifted | 2007 | Ratatouille | ||||
| align=left | Presto | 2008 | WALL-E | ||||
| align=left | Partly Cloudy | 2009 | Up | [11] | |||
| align=left | Day & Night[12] | 2010 | Toy Story 3 | rowspan=2 | |||
| align=left | La Luna[13] | 2011 | Brave | ||||
| align=left | The Blue Umbrella[14] | 2013 | Saschka Unseld | Monsters University | rowspan=2 | ||
| align=left | Lava[15] | 2014 | Inside Out | ||||
| align=left | Sanjay's Super Team[16] | 2015 | The Good Dinosaur | ||||
| align=left | Piper[17] | 2016 | Finding Dory | ||||
| align=left | Lou[18] | 2017 | Cars 3 | ||||
| align=left | Bao[19] | 2018 | Incredibles 2 | ||||
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Initial release with | Associated Feature Film | Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theatrical | Home[20] /Premiere | ||||||
| align=left | Mike's New Car | 2002 | Pete Docter and Roger Gould | rowspan=10 | Monsters, Inc. | ||
| align=left | Exploring the Reef | 2003 | Roger Gould | Finding Nemo | rowspan="19" | ||
| align=left | Jack-Jack Attack | 2005 | The Incredibles | ||||
| align=left | Mr. Incredible and Pals | Roger Gould | |||||
| align=left | Mater and the Ghostlight | 2006 | John Lasseter | Cars | |||
| align=left | Your Friend the Rat | 2007 | Ratatouille | ||||
| align=left | BURN-E | 2008 | WALL-E | ||||
| align=left | Dug's Special Mission | 2009 | Up | ||||
| align=left | George and A.J. | Josh Cooley | |||||
| align=left | The Legend of Mor'du[21] | 2012 | Brian Larsen | Brave | |||
| align=left | Party Central[22] | 2013 | Muppets Most Wanted | Monsters University | |||
| align=left | Riley's First Date?[23] [24] | 2015 | Josh Cooley | rowspan=9 | Inside Out | ||
| align=left | Marine Life Interviews | 2016 | Ross Haldane Stevenson | Finding Dory | |||
| align=left | Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool[25] | 2017 | James Ford Murphy | Cars 3 | |||
| align=left | Dante's Lunch | Jason Katz | Coco | ||||
| align=left | Auntie Edna[26] | 2018 | Ted Mathot | Incredibles 2 | |||
| align=left | Lamp Life[27] [28] | 2020 | Valerie LaPointe | Disney+ | Toy Story 4 | ||
| align=left | 22 vs. Earth[29] | 2021 | Kevin Nolting | Soul | |||
| align=left | Ciao Alberto[30] | McKenna Harris | Luca | ||||
See main article: article and SparkShorts. 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.
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Premiered | Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Purl[31] [32] | 2019 | Kristen Lester | rowspan="2" | |
| align=left | Smash and Grab[33] [34] | Brian Larsen | |||
| align=left | Kitbull | YouTube Theatrical with Turning Red | |||
| align=left | Float | Bobby Alcid Rubio | rowspan="3" | ||
| align=left | Wind | Edwin Chang | |||
| align=left | Loop | 2020 | Erica Milsom | ||
| align=left | Out | Steven Clay Hunter | [35] | ||
| align=left | Burrow[36] | Madeline Sharafian | Disney+ Theatrical with Soul | ||
| align=left | Twenty Something[37] | 2021 | Aphton Corbin | Disney+ | rowspan="3" |
| align=left | Nona | Louis Gonzales | |||
| align=left | Self[38] | 2024 | Searit Kahsay Huluf |
| Title | Associated Feature Film | Year(s) | Director(s) | Premiere |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To Fitness and Beyond | Toy Story 4 | 2021 | Adam Rodriguez | Disney+ |
| Unparalleled Parking | Cars 3 | James Ford Murphy | ||
| Dory Finding | Finding Dory | Michal Makarewicz | ||
| Soul of the City | Soul | Christopher Chua | ||
| Fluffy Stuff with Ducky and Bunny: Love | Toy Story 4 | Robert H. Russ | ||
| Chore Day the Incredibles Way | Incredibles 2 | Alan Barillaro | ||
| A Day in the Life of the Dead | Coco | Allison Rutland | ||
| Fluffy Stuff with Ducky and Bunny: Three Heads | Toy Story 4 | Robert H. Russ | ||
| Dancing with the Cars | Cars 3 | Juan Carlos Navarro Carrión | ||
| Cookie Num Num | Incredibles 2 | Jae Hyung Kim |
See main article: article and Cars Toons.
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Premiered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rescue Squad Mater | 2008 | Toon Disney | |
| Mater the Greater | |||
| El Materdor | |||
| Tokyo Mater[39] | Theatrical with Bolt | ||
| Unidentified Flying Mater | 2009 | Disney Channel | |
| Monster Truck Mater | 2010 | ||
| Heavy Metal Mater | |||
| Moon Mater[40] | Robert Gibbs | DVD + Blu-ray with Mater's Tall Tales | |
| Mater Private Eye[41] | |||
| Air Mater[42] | 2011 | DVD + Blu-ray with Cars 2 | |
| Time Travel Mater[43] | 2012 | Disney Channel |
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Premiered | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiccups | 2013 | Jeremy Lasky | Disney Channel | |
| Bugged | ||||
| Spinning | ||||
| The Radiator Springs 500½ | 2014 | Robert Gibbs | Disney Movies Anywhere |
See main article: article and Toy Story Toons.
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Premiered | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaiian Vacation[44] [45] | 2011 | Gary Rydstrom | Theatrical with Cars 2 | |
| Small Fry[46] | Angus MacLane | Theatrical with The Muppets | ||
| Partysaurus Rex[47] | 2012 | Mark Walsh | Theatrical with Finding Nemo 3D |
See main article: article and Forky Asks a Question.
| Title | Year(s) | Director(s) | Premiered |
|---|---|---|---|
| What Is Money? | 2019 | Disney+ | |
| What Is a Friend? | |||
| What Is Art? | |||
| What Is Time? | |||
| What Is Love? | |||
| What Is a Computer? | |||
| What Is a Leader? | |||
| What Is a Pet? | |||
| What Is Cheese? | 2020 | ||
| What Is Reading? |
See main article: article and Dug Days.
| Title | Year(s) | Director(s) | Premiered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squirrel! | 2021 | Disney+ | |
| Puppies | |||
| Flowers | |||
| Smell | |||
| Science | |||
| Carl's Date[48] | 2023 | Theatrical with Elemental |
See main article: article and Cars on the Road.
| Title | Year(s) | Director(s) | Premiered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dino Park | 2022 | Disney+ | |
| Lights Out | |||
| Salt Fever | Brian Fee | ||
| The Legend | |||
| Show Time | Bobby Podesta | ||
| Trucks | |||
| B-Movie | Brian Fee | ||
| Road Rumblers | Steve Purcell | ||
| Gettin’ Hitched | Bobby Podesta |
| Compilation title | Release date | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiny Toy Stories | October 29, 1996 | VHS | |
| Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 1 | November 6, 2007 | DVD, Blu-ray, Digital download | |
| Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales | November 2, 2010 | ||
| Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 2 | November 13, 2012 | ||
| Toy Story of Terror!/Toy Story Toons | August 19, 2014 | DVD, Blu-ray | |
| Cars Toons: Bonus Disc | 2013 | DVD | |
| The Radiator Springs 500½ | 2014 | DVD | |
| Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 3 | November 13, 2018 | DVD, Blu-ray, Digital download |
Pixar made a series of shorts featuring Luxo Jr. for Sesame Street, which were Light & Heavy, Surprise, Up and Down, and Front and Back.[2] Pixar also produced numerous animation tests, commonly confused with theatrical shorts, including Beach Chair and Flags and Waves. They also produced several commercials after selling their software division to support themselves until Toy Story became successful. Pixar continues to produce commercials related to their films.
Furthermore, in 1988, Apple's Advanced Technology Group produced "Pencil Test," a computer-animated short to showcase the Apple Macintosh II line.[49] [50] 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. John Lasseter was credited as "Coach" in the credits of the film.[51]
Some of their other work includes:
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Blowin' in the Wind[52] | 1985 | |
| Beach Chair[53] | 1986 | |
| Flags and Waves | ||
| Volume Visualization with the Pixar Image Computer[54] | 1987 |
| Title | Year | Commissioned for |
|---|---|---|
| Dance of the Waterlilies | 1989 | Toppan Printing |
| Wake Up[55] | Tropicana | |
| Babies | 1990 | Life Savers |
| Galaxy | Toppan Printing | |
| Dancing Cards | California Lottery | |
| Quite a Package | Trident | |
| La Nouvelle Polo | Volkswagen | |
| Pump | Pillsbury | |
| Boxer | Listerine | |
| Light & Heavy and Surprise | 1991 | Sesame Street |
| Cracks | Fleischmann's | |
| Moving Target | Cellular One | |
| Gummie Savers Conga-Clio-award winner | Life Savers | |
| Life At The Beach | ||
| Orange Kiwi Passion | Tropicana | |
| Warehouse | ||
| Three Fruits Dancing | ||
| Grand Opening | Toys "R" Us | |
| Lunchbox | Tetra Pak | |
| Knight | Listerine | |
| Introduction[56] | Apple Mac Classic | |
| Interview | 1992 | Volkswagen Polo |
| Swinging Bottle | Listerine | |
| Daydream | Tetra Pak | |
| Balloon | Kellogg's All-Bran | |
| Hourglass | ||
| Chomp Chomp | IncrediBites | |
| Ladybug | La Poste | |
| In the Mood | Bunn Coffee Makers | |
| Cello | 1993 | Kellogg's All-Bran |
| Sprinkler | ||
| Up and Down | Sesame Street | |
| Hungry | Bank South | |
| Chase | ||
| Stranded | Tetra Pak | |
| Bursting | Carefree | |
| Chuckling Straws | Fresca | |
| Launching Magic | Jordan Magic Toothbrush | |
| Ideas at Work | Dow Corning | |
| Arrows-Clio-award winner | 1994 | Listerine |
| Mission | ||
| Kaleidoscope | Coca-Cola | |
| About to Uncover | Arm & Hammer | |
| Here, There and Everywhere | ||
| Woman Getting What She Wants | Levi's | |
| We've Got Taste | Nutri Grain | |
| Wacky Frootz-Clio-award winner | Life Savers | |
| Fresh Salad | Boston Chicken | |
| Shaping Up Nicely | Prime Option Credit Card | |
| Strong Option | ||
| Front and Back | Sesame Street | |
| Balloon | 1995 | Chips Ahoy |
| Circus | ||
| Flamingo | Ortho | |
| Pinheads | Dockers | |
| Amazin' Straws | Hershey's | |
| Learning Lesson | Coca-Cola | |
| Secret Weapon | ||
| Pin Box | ||
| Toy Story video game commercial | Disney Interactive | |
| Art Store Break | McDonald's | |
| Christmas Conga | Tower Records | |
| Magic Desktop | 1996 | Sun Microsystems |
| Magnets-Clio-award winner | Hallmark | |
| Check Me Out | Twizzlers | |
| Let Me In | ||
| 68th Academy Awards (Toy Story segment) | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | |
| The Tastetations | Hershey's | |
| Toy Story CD-ROM – "Out of the Box" | Disney Interactive | |
| Wild Frijoles | Rosarita | |
| Shake It | Levi's | |
| Toy Story Treats | ABC | |
| Look Away | 1997 | Nickelodeon & UNICEF |
| A Bug's Life – "Belt Loop 1" | 1998 | McDonald's |
| A Bug's Life – "Belt Loop 2" | ||
| A Bug's Life – "Big Toys" | ||
| A Bug's Life – "Nothing Good on TV" | ||
| A Bug's Life – "Nothing Good on TV Jr." | ||
| A Bug's Life – "Ponkickies" | 1999 | Fuji Television |
| 71st Academy Awards (A Bug's Life segment) | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | |
| Toy Story 2 – "Up Periscope" | McDonald's | |
| Toy Story 2 – "Remote" | ||
| Toy Story 2 – "Toys vs. Candy" | ||
| Toy Story 2 – "Surveillance" | ||
| Toy Story 2 Bumpers | ABC | |
| Toy Story 2 | Monday Night Football | |
| Toy Story 2 – "Ponkickies" | Fuji Television | |
| 72nd Academy Awards (Toy Story 2 segment) | 2000 | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
| Jessie's Acceptance Speech | Cowgirl Hall of Fame | |
| SIGGRAPH 2001 Opening Video (Buzz Lightyear sequence) | 2001 | SIGGRAPH |
| Monsters, Inc. Bumpers | ABC | |
| Monsters, Inc. | Monday Night Football | |
| Monsters, Inc. — "Happy Meal Toy" | McDonald's | |
| Monsters, Inc. — "Ponkickies" | Fuji Television | |
| Buzz Blasts | 2002 | Kellogg's |
| Disney Cereal — "CDs" (Buzz Lightyear sequence) | ||
| Finding Nemo — "Ponkickies" | 2003 | Fuji Television |
| Finding Nemo — "Schoolfish" | ABC | |
| Finding Nemo — "Laugh" | McDonald's | |
| The Incredibles — "Happy Meal Toys" | 2004 | |
| The Incredibles — "SBC YAHOO!" | Yahoo! | |
| Vowellett – An Essay by Sarah Vowell | 2005 | The Incredibles two-disc collector's edition DVD set |
| Cars — "Happy Meal Toys" | 2006 | McDonald's |
| Cars — "State Farm" | State Farm | |
| Cars — "Walmart" | Walmart | |
| Cars — "Hertz" | Hertz | |
| Cars — "Opel Promotion 1" | Opel | |
| Cars — "Opel Promotion 2" | ||
| Cars — "AT&T Yahoo Broadband" | AT&T | |
| Cars — "Energizer" | Energizer | |
| Wal-Mart Exclusive Cars DVD 2-pack Advertisement | Wal-Mart | |
| Ratatouille — "Nissan Note" | 2007 | Nissan |
| Up — "Aflac" | 2009 | Aflac |
| Toy Story 3 | 2010 | USPS |
| Toy Story 3 — "Target" | Target | |
| Toy Story 3 — "Visa" | Visa | |
| Toy Story 3 — "Aflac" | Aflac | |
| Toy Story's Search Story[57] | ||
| Toy Story The Third Dimension | Dolby | |
| Cars 2 — "Mom on a Mission" | 2011 | Target |
| Cars 2 — "State Farm" | State Farm | |
| Cars 2 — "V12 TV" | V12 TV | |
| Cars 2 — "RTS" | Russian Traffic Safety | |
| Cars 2 — "Profil Plus" / "Answer Seguros" | Profil Plus | |
| Publicité Oscaro Cars 2 pour l'émission Tout le sport | Oscaro | |
| Oscaro.com, partenaire de la saga Cars Oscaro | ||
| Mater Sheds Some Lights at Cars Land | 2012 | Cars Land |
| Cars Land Opening Day | ||
| Mater Bells | ||
| Monsters University — "Mess" | 2013 | Swiffer |
| Toy Story of Terror! — "Sky" | Sky UK | |
| Toy Story That Time Forgot — "Sky" | 2014 | |
| Inside Out — "Clorox" | 2015 | Clorox |
| Inside Out — "State Farm" | State Farm | |
| Inside Out — "Sky" | Sky UK | |
| Inside Out — "Lunch" | Subway | |
| 88th Academy Awards (Woody and Buzz segment) | 2016 | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
| Finding Dory — "Coppertone" | Coppertone | |
| Finding Dory — "Hide and Seek" | Band-Aid | |
| Finding Dory — "Kellogg's" | Kellogg's | |
| Cars 3 — "Alamo Promo Ad" | 2017 | Alamo Rent a Car |
| Cars 3 — "Broken Part" | Allianz | |
| Cars 3 — "Die neue Allianz Autoversicherung" | ||
| Cars 3 — "Every Car Has a Personality" | Autotrader.com | |
| Cars 3 — "Sun Protection" | Coppertone | |
| Cars 3 — "Duracell Breaking News" | Duracell | |
| Cars 3 x Oscaro | Oscaro | |
| Incredibles 2 — "Sky" | 2018 | Sky UK |
| Incredibles 2 — "Happy Meal" | McDonald's | |
| Toy Story 4 — "Happy Meal" | 2019 | |
| Toy Story 4 — "Dance Party" | Chrysler Pacifica | |
| Toy Story 4 — "Snack Attack" | Babybel | |
| Toy Story 4 | Seiban | |
| Toy Story 4 2 | ||
| Toy Story 4 — "Make Joy Happen" | JD.com | |
| Toy Story 4 AR | Regal Cinemas | |
| Pixar: 30 Years of Art & Animation | Vivid Sydney | |
| Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort | Disneyland Resort | |
| Onward — "Happy Meal" | 2020 | McDonald's |
| Onward | Whirlpool Corporation | |
| Soul | Allianz | |
| Soul — "Happy Meal" | McDonald's | |
| Luca — "Happy Meal" | 2021 | |
| Lightyear — "Happy Meal" | 2022 | |
| Elemental — "Happy Meal" | 2023 | |
| Inside Out 2 — "Happy Meal" | 2024 | |
| Inside Out 2 — "Uber" | Uber |
The Pixar Co-op Program, a part of the Pixar University professional development program, allows their animators to use Pixar resources to produce independent films.[58] [59]
Some of their Co-op work includes:
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Premiered | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dam Keeper | 2014 | 64th Berlin International Film Festival[60] [61] [62] | ||
| Borrowed Time | 2016 | Austin Film Festival[63] | ||
| Weekends | 2017 | Warsaw International Film Festival[64] | ||
| Automaton | 2020 | Krzysztof Rost | SIGGRAPH[65] | |
| Pete | 2022 | Brett Parker | Tribeca Film Festival[66] | |
| Starling | 2023 | Mitra Shahidi | Tribeca Film Festival[67] [68] [69] |
A half-hour television sequel to the short Tin Toy was considered, but Pixar felt convinced they could produce a feature film.[70] The project later became Toy Story.
In 2013, it was revealed a fourth short of Toy Story Toons was in the works, entitled Mythic Rock.[71] However, it was never released.
At the 2013 Disney D23 Expo, it was announced that a fifth episode of Cars Toons: Tales from Radiator Springs, entitled To Protect and Serve, was in production.[72] [73] However, it was never released.
Pixar was working on an untitled follow-up series, but it was quietly cancelled.[74] [75] [76]