Burrow (film)

***Burrow*** is a 2020 American 2D animated short film written and directed by Madeline Sharafian, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The plot features a young rabbit as she tries to build the burrow of her dreams, becoming embarrassed each time she accidentally digs into a neighbor's home. The eighth short film in the *SparkShorts* series, the short was released on Disney+ on December 25, 2020, alongside *Soul*. The short was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.

## Plot

A little brown rabbit has drawn a rough, childish sketch of her dream home on a piece of lined paper. When she starts to dig, two of her new neighbors, a mole and a field mouse, both eagerly offer their assistance, showing off the elaborate blueprints and floor plans of burrows they constructed for their families. Embarrassed at the simplicity and inexperience of her own drawing, the rabbit hides it from them, pretends she has somewhere to be, and starts frantically digging deeper to get away from them, leaving them confused.

During the course of her dig, she keeps bursting in on other underground neighbors by accident, including some frogs who own a library, some hedgehog bakers who offer her muffins, some bathing newts who offer her towels, and some partying beetles and ants who think she is their entertainment for the evening. These incidents further her embarrassment, despite the fact none of the neighbors seem to mind her intrusions. After accidentally waking up a grumpy-sounding animal in a dark cave, she flees down to the bedrock. Finally away from the others, she attempts to widen the hole and form some sort of burrow, only to hit the water table. The released water starts to flood up her hole towards the neighbors' burrows.

In tears, the rabbit flees up to the dark cave and wakes the animal again, to explain her mistake. The scary-sounding animal turns out to be an easy-going, sleepy badger, who roars to summon the other neighbors. Together with the rabbit, they dig a side tunnel to divert the water to the surface, forming a spring and saving their homes. Grateful, the rabbit shows her drawing to the neighbors, who help her improve it logistically but still build a home like what she imagined, even down to the disco ball she drew in the bathroom.

## Production

### Development

In September 2020, Pixar announced a 2D animated short film titled *Burrow* would have premiered in theaters before the feature film *Soul*. The short is directed by Madeline Sharafian and produced by Mike Capbarat. On October 9, 2020, it was announced the short would instead premiere on Disney+.

## Music

While no composer has been officially credited, the music in the short was based on that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (including the third movement of his Oboe Concerto), who was listed as a Special Thanks.

## Release

### Streaming

*Burrow* was released on Disney+ on December 25, 2020. The short was originally scheduled to be released theatrically in front of *Soul* on November 20, 2020. However, the theatrical release of *Soul* and *Burrow* was cancelled in North America and they instead both premiered on Disney+. In other countries where Disney+ wasn't available, the short was released theatrically alongside *Soul* as planned.

### Reception

Liz Kocan, of *Decider*, gave *Burrow* a positive review, saying "Stream It! *Burrow* was set to appear ahead of *Soul* in theaters, but now that both are debuting directly on Disney+, it's still well worth your six minutes. It's sweet and charming, beautifully animated, and, as many other Pixar shorts are, full of heart", while Tara Bennett, of *Syfy Wire*, also gave a positive review by saying the short's "warm, illustrative style looks like it's been plucked from the pages of a favorite storybook, much like the Winnie-the-Pooh animated films".

### Awards

*Burrow* was nominated for a Ursa Major Award in the Best Dramatic Short Work category. The Ursa Major Awards are given in the field of furry fandom works and are the main awards in the field of anthropomorphism. It was nominated for a Academy Award for Best Animated Short, but lost to the Netflix short film *If Anything Happens I Love You*.