Lou (I) (2017) User Reviews (20)

Yet another win for Pixar animation.

[Hellmant · 8/10 · 29 June 2017]

'LOU': Four Stars (Out of Five)

A 6-minute Pixar animated short film, which plays before 'CARS 3' in theaters, about a monster that lives inside a lost-and-found box. The short was written and directed by debut filmmaker Dave Mullins; a veteran animator who's previously worked on multiple feature Pixar films (including 'CARS' and 'CARS 2'). The short, like everything from Pixar, is of course visually beautiful to watch, at all times. It's also funny, creative and it even has a great message about not bullying others (at the end). It has pretty much everything you've come to expect from a Pixar short film. This one isn't quite as emotional as my favorite Pixar shorts are though, even though it touches on a subject very close to me (bullying). Which I've had to deal with all of my life, including adulthood. Still it's always visually creative and amusing to watch. It's definitely entertaining too, for kids and adults, and it does have a very positive message. The short is yet another win for Pixar animation.

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LOU is quite an amusing and touching animated short

[tavm · 8/10 · 21 June 2017]

This Disney-Pixar short was shown before Cars 3. During recess, a bully takes all the kids' toys or other of their valuables and puts them in a box. A flashback is provided that explains some of his behavior... I'll stop there and just say there's some amusing stuff concerning a creature that can only exist in an animated cartoon but it's believable enough to suspend logical thought and it contributed enormously to my enjoyment of this short. Really, all I'll say now is I recommend LOU.

Nothing particularly special but considering what it's running against, it's odds on favorite to win the Oscar.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 12 February 2018]

Pixar Studios has won a lot of Oscars over the years--many of them for Best Animated Short. "LOU" is their latest nomination and is a very pleasant little film. However, it's NOT among the studio's best shorts and is relatively pedestrian....but I still think it will win this year...mostly because the other nominees are a very weak bunch. As I noticed one other reviewer say in their summary, "Yet another win for Pixar animation"!

The film is hard to describe. It's set on a playground at a school and somehow a pile of lost and found objects have become sentient and take on a weird form. Later, they teach a bully a lesson.

The film, start to finish, looks great. This is no surprise at all as the best animated films in the world are coming from Pixar and Disney Studios. While I liked it and respect the quality of the production, it also seemed very safe and not particularly inspiring or out of the ordinary.

How odd

[ericstevenson · 9/10 · 17 June 2017]

This was the short film released before the screening of "Cars 3". It really is a very strange short film as it features a lost and found box and a creature that lives within it. What I don't understand is what this creature even is. I mean, it seems to just be a random combination of lost items. At the end however, we see all the parts of the creature being played with. So was it some single entity possessing these parts? It was so strange. Still, this was a great cartoon. "Cars 3" was a decent movie, but this little cartoon is better.

I really appreciate how unique the idea is. It makes you think about what goes on in a lost and found box. This short features a bully who takes other kids' stuff because he misses his own toy that got taken from him. The lost and found things then come alive and convince him to return them. Okay, it's kind of a goofy premise, but the execution is great. We get some very creative visuals with the lost and found creature and everything works out for all the kids in the end. There's no dialogue which further demonstrates how visually nice it is. It's quite strange, but it's still a very entertaining little short. ***1/2

LOU poses the question to America, "What would happen if a Big Bully . . . "

[oscaralbert · 9/10 · 29 June 2017]

" . . . could be persuaded to have a change-of-heart, and totally Reform?" LOU opens with the proverbial playground tyrant stealing other kids' stuff on his elementary school playground, and otherwise tormenting them, with NO adult supervision in sight. It is unlikely, of course, that any perceptive U.S. Citizen will be able to watch these Deplorable outrages without being immediately put in mind of Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin and his Puppet, Rump. Fortunately for the children at this particular location, Putin's U.S. Secretary of Miseducation--Billionaire Fat Cat Betsey "Amway Calling" DeVos--has not yet turned it into one of her For-Profit Charter Brainwashing Shacks (which she has used to destroy the Detroit School System, so that virtually no polling place workers will have the skills to tally legal votes in that True Blue Loyal Union Label Stronghold in coming years). A magic Lost and Found Box gives LOU his comeuppance as this animated short concludes. Hopefully, Putin and Rump will open a similarly benign Pandora's Box BEFORE the outbreak of Armageddon.

How to make Lost and Found captivating in 7 short minutes

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 23 July 2017]

Being a big fan of Pixar since forever, both their feature films and short films, of course expectations for 'LOU' were high. Luckily, those high expectations were not just met, in some ways they were exceeded.

'LOU' is not quite among Pixar's best short films like 'Presto', 'One Man Band', 'Knick Knack', 'Piper' and 'Geri's Game'. However, it is one of the biggest examples of the short film being much better than the feature film. Didn't care for 'Cars 3', finding that despite the great animation that it never really got into gear and was highly suggestive of the 'Cars' franchise running out of gas, but loved 'LOU' and that it alone is worth the admission. The premise could have been potentially goofy, but was a long way from that. It's not exactly unique but is incredibly well handled that that is insignificant.

The animation is fantastic, one of Pixar's best-looking later short films and perhaps overall, some of its fluidity, colour and detail being among Pixar's overall best perhaps. Which is huge praise, considering that even in their lesser efforts like 'The Good Dinosaur' and 'Cars 2 and 3' for features and 'Mater and the Gaslight' and 'Lava' for shorts (this said, as blasphemous as this may sound, 'Cars 3' is the only one that didn't do much for me) the animation is always one of the best assets. The music score has whimsical energy and a suitably understated quality at points, not using a repetitive song to make an impression and is never ham-fisted or intrusive.

What stood out about 'LOU' was its mood, how one really connects with it and how well it did with its idea. Story-wise it is slight and not much of one, but that didn't matter too much and the short duration flies by and makes one wish for more actually. Watching 'LOU' was such an uplifting and heartfelt experience for me, parts are amusing but not in an overt way and it is hard not to be touched too. The mix of gentle (and in other efforts of theirs riotous) humour and heart-wrenching pathos was always a strength with Pixar, 'LOU' is not an exception by any stretch of the imagination.

It also has charm by the bucket-loads and it was incredibly cute without being too sickly or sugary. It even prompts some thought-provoking questions and thoughts. The characters are appealing and engage you, even the bully (which usually would be an impossible feat).

Overall, captivating and 7 short minutes of joy and beauty. 9/10 Bethany Cox

play it up

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 16 January 2019]

The point of the Academy Award-nominated "Lou" seems to be that we all have good in our hearts, we sometimes just need motivation to find it. I do agree that motivation and reminding someone of goodness works better than punishment. Not any kind of masterpiece, but worth seeing.

fine Pixar short

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 20 November 2017]

LOU is an unseen creature made out of stuff from the LOst and foUnd box in the schoolyard. It cleans up after the kids while they are in class. It is dismayed at J.J. bullying the other kids. It battles J.J. to return stuff stolen from the other children.

This is a Pixar short that comes with the movie Cars 3. It's perfectly fine family viewing especially for the kids. In a way, it fits well with Cars 3 which is also perfectly fine. The creature design of random objects is a little usual. It is able to be cute without being creepy. This is perfectly fine.

Really good

[elifnur-07493 · 10/10 · 17 August 2021]

I really like this short animation. I think it shows this too; when lou gave the lost thinks to children for give back ,it means lou destroy yourself. Cause lou belong these lost thinks. And this movie shows sacrifite too.

Very cute idea that does nothing new.

[Jared9001 · 6/10 · 21 June 2017]

LOU is a great example of a great idea not given enough room to breathe. LOU is about the Lost and Found bin at a school or daycare that is somehow sentient, with all the items inside the bin forming a its own mismatched being, One day, LOU sees a bully on the playground taking things from other kids, and in retaliation steals back the kids lost toys through an adorable slapstick-filled chase scene, and barters with the kid to give back all the items that have been put in the lost and found over time, in exchange for the bully's lost stuffed puppy. As more and more items are given back, LOU disappears, as there's nothing left in the lost and found for him to inhabit, and the kid learns a lesson about being nice. It's perfectly fine and a tad sad, but it's not doing anything that kids animation hasn't done before, which is what holds it back, and also is completely ripped apart by the simple question "why did one kid have to return everything, why didn't the kids just get their lost toys themselves"? However, the core idea of this short, the idea of a Lost and Found come to life, has a lot of potential and is representative of the creativity Pixar is known for. Definitely a cute short, just nothing super special. 6.5/10

Must-see with kids!! It teaches us the importance of sharing things with others.

[MK_Movie_Reviews · 9/10 · 23 August 2021]

One boy was so selfish and greedy. He wants to get everything and he took many goods from box of Lost and found.

But one day he learned to share things with people so he gave back goods to other students. This movie teaches us the importance of sharing things with people and that made people happy.

I love this movie.

Congrats to Pixer, one more time.

Skip to my LOU and think outside the box

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 17 November 2017]

Oh yes I did. "LOU" is a 7-minute animated short film from this year and it is certainly already now among the most seen and most successful short films of 2017. This has to do with the fact that it is another collaboration between Disney and Pixar and as such a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the Best Animated Short Film category at the Oscars 2018. The writer and director is Dave Mullins and he has worked in the animation department of quite a few Pixar films already, but this here is the moment of truth for him as the man in charge. Voice actor Jack Bright is also not new to the Pixar universe. Now the story here takes place at a school yard and we have the kids having fun until they are disturbed by a bully. The title character though is once again for Pixar not human, but the lost and found boy standing nearby that seems to possess some kind of spirit or artificial intelligence inside as the contents in there keep becoming all kinds of creatures in leading the bully kid back to the path of kindness. The inclusion of his favorite stuffed animal when he was way younger is where Pixar delivers emotionally as always, even if it may go a bit over the top eventually with the idea of self-sacrifice for the good cause. And the first 2-3 minutes also did not impress me at all. But luckily, there is a great deal of improvement in the second half of this little movie. And finally, yes it is Disney and Pixar and yes we sure expect the animation and character design to be really as good as it gets, but we should still not take it for granted that it is in fact on a very high level visually again. Overall, this should be a surefire for an Oscar nomination, but I am not entirely sold on it to win. Same for me personally. I think it will end up on my list of favorite animated short films from 2017, but I cannot really see it reaching the top spot, maybe not even the podium. But of course, it is definitely worth checking out if you love (modern) animation. I give it a thumbs-up.

A Weak Pixar Short that Never Engrossed me,

[lesleyharris30 · 5/10 · 28 August 2017]

LOU is a mediocre short film with a lackluster plot that does not succeed in getting its point across. There is, of course, no denying that the animation itself is stellar, the world is captured beautifully and the way in which the title character himself is rendered is very effective, with each and every piece of the character making movements and sounds that is realistic.

As far as Pixar short goes, it failed to intrigue me in any way. The studio has done breath taking work in the past several years with their short films, and it is no surprise that many of them have taken away Academy Awards. They have the power to make their audience feel in the space of less than ten minutes, LOU does not manage to be anyway as near in terms of effectiveness.

The film also fails to get its message across, it was very clear that it was trying to capture something to us, but not clear what that something was. When the credits began to roll, I was underwhelmed that I did not feel anything as a result of how vague it all was.

A forgettable endeavour. Some Pixar fans may still love it, but LOU never managed to grab me.

The items of a lost and found box come to life to teach a troublesome student a lesson.

"LOU" brings children heartwarming delights.

[henrypixar · 10/10 · 3 November 2017]

As far as Pixar short films go, "LOU" was a gem as a family treat. As a Pixar shorts lover, I was a tyke after the early Pixar shorts came into the world. Really gave me the steadiest interest of Disney/Pixar films. I hope you would get a chance to shine the face of nature.

Good thing, the studio worked really hard, along with making Cars 3, to put extreme amounts of effort, dedication, creativity, hard-work, perseverance, and colorful twist to this film. I'm sure Pixar done the best story-line like the previous shorts: "Geri's Game," "Piper," "Tin Toy," "For the Birds," and "Luxo Jr.."

The animation itself never failed to disappoint any/every-one when it comes to films and previews. The direction and usage of few characters are well-done as well as the CGI. Some aspects carried more and more usual tone than ever. Comedy was used, and heartwarming emotions coming together to form a deep, deep lesson. Also, music carried over some strong, intense mood that suits the main point of the story. Even the conclusion produced more dynamic. "LOU" gives children a gift of joy, childhood, awesomeness, and positivity.

Believe me, I'm a Pixar fan and seen many short films before feature films start and I noticed that Pixar has a strong work-ethic between commitments. It felt so dedicated to keep this tradition.

Overall, this short film is a "must" for families and friends. I guarantee you will love this 6-7 minute event before seeing Cars 3 and getting a warm, fuzzy feeling on the way after you seen this. Grade: A+

It Warms Your Soul

[mihai_alexandru_chindris · 8/10 · 15 April 2018]

It feels good to give back. This would be the message of this lovely short. You see, in life not everything is about us. It's also about others and the way we can enjoy this movie called life together, in peace and harmony. The world would change tremendously if we could change behaviours from time to time.

lovely

[Kirpianuscus · 1 March 2018]

An old fashion moral lesson. so simple than it could be more than convincing. about a bully, a wood box and...something. this simple story has the perfect clothes. because Pixar does more than a good job but a moving one because the sender is the memory of viewer. slices from school period. the bad boy and a precious lesson about respect. a film who does not demonstrate something. or give fun. or define things. only being good opportunity for remind to you yourself. and to define the life out of the sparkles of trends. so, a film like a hot chocolate cup.

Pixar vs. bullying

[Elvis-Del-Valle · 9/10 · 18 January 2024]

There are two things that make Pixar a fairly beloved production company in the world of animation despite its ups and downs. The first is the artistic and visual quality of the films it produces. The second is the stories that his films tell and that leave a thoughtful moral that goes for both children and adults. Lou is a fairly short animated short that offers a glimpse into what happens inside schools. Everything is narrated through a mysterious creature made up of the objects that the children lose at recess and who ends up confronting the school bully, but leaving the story with a moving ending. You could say that this short film does one thing well and that is trying to understand a little about the topic of bullying at school. From both this short film and various psychological analyses, it is clear that bullies are children with repressed feelings or a traumatic life that they try to hide, making themselves feel strong and respected through intimidation. The short film gives an idea of what is the source that leads a bully to do what he does and how to solve it, although there are times in which bullies are impossible to correct depending on the mind of each person. Still, the purpose of this short film is quite appreciated and that makes Lou another Pixar project worth checking out. My final rating for this short film is a 9/10.

Does not stick the landing

[CubsandCulture · 7/10 · 18 January 2021]

This is a funny short and the animation is some of the zaniest that Pixar has done. But the redemption of the bully is unearned because it is ultimately transactional. It is very funny and enjoyable but it is missing the depth of other Pixar works.

Lou

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 28 April 2019]

LOU is a Lost & Found box in a school filled with associated items that have been discarded.

As the school bully plays pranks and takes away other kids toys and football etc. The items in the box get together to teach the bully a lesson by trying to take away its backpack.

I am not sure the story works and it was underwhelming. If the items in the box belonged to other kids, why did they not go there in the first place?

The animation is frenetic and well detailed but not the strongest of the Pixar shorts.

.

Sweet

[Gordon-11 · 15 November 2017]

This short animated film tells the story of a playground bully in a school, who snatches toys away from other children. A mysterious being teaches him a lesson on how to behave appropriately with his peers in school.

It is a sweet animation, and the children are very cute. However, it is not as heartwarming or touching as I expected. It is a good animation, but it falls short of the Pixar's very high standards.