Luxo Jr.

*(Please note, that Luxo Jr. and the Luxo Jr. short series both influenced this article, though Pixar and PixarFan 8695 are independent of each other)*

## Physical description

### Height

12 inches

**Luxo Jr.** is the main short film, of the same name, Pixar's mascot, and the main character of the Luxo Jr. Short Series. He is a small, anthropomorphic light-gray desk lamp (although he has sometimes looked more of a white than light-gray lamp) who loves to play with bouncy balls.

## Appearance

Luxo Jr. is a young balance armed desk lamp. Being a child, he looks much different than his father, Luxo Sr, though he still has the same color and similar shape. He mainly moves around by hopping with his base. He mainly moves things around with his lampshade or grips things with his power cord.

## Personality

Luxo Jr. is very kind, curious, playful, and energetic. He mostly always has a happy attitude and carefree spirit. He can be extremely curious about little things, exploring the world around him. This has helped him make many friends, like Paxel, Maxo, Spaxer, Jaxon, JL Senior, Luna Jr., Paxel Jr., and Rexo, (these are characters from Pixarfan8695's series, except for Rexo, who was originally created by Logan Gregor). Luxo Jr. is mostly happy all the time, though there are sometimes he can be sad or even scared (seen in various shorts). Despite this, he can feel happy again very quickly. However, the one weakness he can be naive sometimes (as seen in "Luxo Jr." when Luxo Jr. (who's only a baby at this time) doesn't correctly play with his ball in one scene and in "Front and Back" he spins himself to the point of becoming ridiculously dizzy), though he always seems to learn from his little mistakes.

Luxo Jr. also has a very good relationship with his father, Luxo Sr, who he loves very much. They play together a lot, and Luxo Sr. always tries to keep Luxo Jr. as happy as can be, and gives him plenty of room to explore the world.

## Creation

    John Lasseter used a Luxo lamp on his drawing table as a graphics rendering model. Lasseter experimented with the model, using it for motion studies. He demonstrated the animated Luxo model at an animation festival in Brussels. Lasseter did not plan on creating a story for the lamp, but the Belgian animator Raoul Servais urged him to write a plot. Servais said that "No matter how short it is, it should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Don't forget the story." Servais persuaded Lasseter that the length of the animation would not impede the story, telling him "You can tell a story in ten seconds."

The inspiration for the Luxo Jr. character came from Lasseter's interactions with Spencer, the young son of Tom Porter, a Pixar team member. Lasseter wondered if the body proportions of a child could be applied to a lamp. Lasseter said that "Spencer was about one and a half, and seeing him hold his arms up over his head made me laugh because he couldn't really touch the top of his head yet. After he left, I started thinking, what would a baby lamp look like?" He changed the proportions of the lamp model to make it more infant-like, giving a large head and a small body. Lasseter did not modify the size of the light bulb. He imagined that the store-bought bulb was separate from the "body" of the lamp and did not age.

## Trivia

* The animation of Luxo Jr. in the Pixar production logo was done by Pete Docter.
* In 2012, three design students, Adam Ben-Dror, Shanshan Zhou & Joss Doggett created a real-life, animatronic version of Luxo Jr. They called the project Pinokio.
* Since the short's release, the Luxo Ball has appeared in almost every Pixar production to date.
* In To Infinity and Beyond!: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios, a book of Pixar's history up through January 2007, film critic Leonard Maltin said that he "likes the fact that Luxo Jr. still has significance to the people at Pixar", and remarked that it was something like Disney's Mickey Mouse.
* The short was later released on November 24, 1999, in theaters with Toy Story 2. This version is preceded with the modern Pixar logo and the message "In 1986, Pixar Animation Studios produced its first film. This is why we have a hopping lamp in our logo". This would carry over to the VHS and DVD releases of Toy Story 2 in 2000. There is also a scene in Toy Story 2 where Hamm frantically flicks through TV channels to find a certain commercial. One of the channels is showing Luxo Jr.
* In Tin Toy, a picture of Luxo Jr. appears.
* In Red's Dream, an older lamp appears.
* At Disney California Adventure, an animatronic Luxo Jr. greets people on the way into Pixar Pier and Paradise Gardens Park
* An audio-animatronic version of Luxo Jr. used to appear in Pixar Place at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.
* Luxo Jr. also appears in Disney Infinity.
* The Pixar logo was parodied by the comedy website CollegeHumor in a short titled "Pixar Intro Parody." The logo plays out as normal but Luxo Jr. kills the letter I. As the other letters mourn the loss of capital I, Luxo Jr. is tried for murder and subsequently sentenced to the electric chair, leaving the other letters of the logo to celebrate his "death.
* An online animator known as "PixarFan8695" has created a fan YouTube series known as the "Luxo Jr. Short Series" which is about the playful adventures of Luxo Jr.'s exciting life, along with his loving father, Luxo Sr, and his friends.
Luxo Jr. appears as a playable character in Lego The Incredibles.