La Luna is a 2011 Pixar short film that was nominated for an Oscar and is well regarded by many. However, I find it to be one of company’s lesser efforts.
The story is my main issue here. Yes, it is very endearing and even so romantic, but it is overly ambiguous, at least to me. I didn’t know if that was all a metaphor or not. It is a charming flick that benefits from its intriguing sense of wonder and magic, but is undone by its ambiguous and problematic storytelling. It starts and ends well, but the whole middle part is flawed.
The characters are effervescent. The boy is great and of course the father and the grandpa are very entertaining with their quarreling. And their evident care for the boy is what makes it so beautiful. And I like how authentic the characters are here with their design and nationality.
The animation is superb. Although it was a bit too dark for my taste, the blue colors of the night and the yellow of the stars nicely contrast and make it look so wonderful and even magical. Everything is beautiful to look at and once they get on the moon, the animation just gets better and more imaginative. It is also a well paced and directed short and I liked the score as well. It just is weak in the storytelling department.
La Luna is one of the lesser efforts from Pixar. It is too ambiguous and flawed in its storytelling, but it still has charming characters, endearing tone to it and wonderful animation.
La Luna Review
