Borrowed Time

One of my favourite short movies that came out of the Pixar studios was what is now known as the beginning of “Up”. Animated features have long been neglected in the public perception – short features in general seem to appeal to only a smaller number of viewers, whereas feature films seem to get all the glory. “Up” stole my heart and I still adore the idea, the music and the setting of that beginning.

Pixar recently released its newest short, “Borrowed time”, and it is one of the darkest ones, yet. Just like in “Up”, the short delves into the topic of death and what influence the death of someone close has on us. Dark topics have long been of interest in Pixar movies, like the near-death and destruction of Woody and his friends at the end of Toy Story 3, the heroic feat Bing Bong choses to undertake in “Inside Out” and the loss of a lover and partner at the beginning of “Up”.

What if something made you change your mind

Borrowed Time looks fantastic and sets a very dark and specific atmosphere. The details in the design are spectacular and although the short tells a very human and somehow relatable story about the loss of a parent, which may even have been the protagonist’s fault, its implications on him and how he choses to live with that burden, it does so in the familiar Pixar style of making the humans look too overdrawn to be a hundred percent realistic. But this discrepancy between reality and animation doesn’t take away from the story. It somehow enhances its message.

If you have a couple of minutes, watch it. It will make some sort of impact on you. I watched it yesterday and can’t shake the feeling it left me with. It’s not a cheerful short, but it might still lift your spirits in the end.

image credit: Ashley St. John, via unsplash.com