'Lava' Discussion Panel and First Look at Uku's Counterpart, Lele

Pixar's upcoming short film, Lava, tells the story of a lonely volcano named Uku, who sings about finding his soul mate. The director of the film, James Ford Murphy, was inspired by the islands and culture of Hawaii. In a interview with Yahoo! Movies, Murphy said that “I thought that if I could marry the rich imagery and with the power and emotion of music, then I could really make something cool." Check out the behind-the-scenes clip below which features Murphy, producer Andrea Warren, and singer Kuana Torres Kahele (voice of Uku), as they chat about Pixar's Lava.

Source: Hawaiian Skies

In the video above there is some never before scene footage from Lava as well, including the opening helicopter shot over the volcano, and the first look at Uku's love interest, Lele. The singing voice of Lele is Napua Greig.

Lava will be in theaters on June 19, and it will play before Pixar's highly anticipated feature film, Inside Out.

Two New Images From 'Lava'

Pixar's upcoming short film, Lava, will play before Inside Out. Lava tells the story of a lonely volcano named Uku, who sings about a dream to find his true love. The short is inspired by the splendor of tropical islands and explosive appeal of volcanoes. Here are a couple new images from Lava:

As you can see, the photo-realism in Lava is astounding. Pixar always brings up their technology up to the next level with every film. Also, he turtles from the first image have a very similar resemblance to the one's from Finding Nemo!

James Ford Murphy, the director of Lava, said that he thought it would be cool to fall in love with a place who is also a character. He goes on to say: "This whole story has been an exercise in contrast. Volcanoes are so destructive, but they're so creative. They’re so powerful in their eruptions but they’re so peaceful." Watch James discuss his inspiration and ideas for the short film:

Here is a another interview James did with Collider, in which he talks about his early days at Pixar and many different aspects about the making of Lava.

Lava will premiere with Inside Out in theaters on June 19th, 2015.

Watch the First Clip For 'Lava'

Pixar's next theatrical short film, Lava, is a musical love story inspired by the beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes. The film stars a volcano named Uku, who sings about his dream. Watch the new clip below:

The director of Lava, James Ford Murphy, wrote a Hawaiian-inspired song for the ukulele. “I thought that if I could marry the rich imagery and with the power and emotion of music, then I could really make something cool," says Murphy (Yahoo! Movies) The ukulele song is sung by Hawaiian entertainer Kuana Torres Kahele. Kuana describes Uku as a "lonely volcano searching millions and millions of years for his one true love." His message to people who want to see the Lava is "Bring a tissue. You're going to need it for the first two or three minutes."

"I thought it would be so cool to fall in love with a place who’s also a character," James Murphy said in an interview (LATimes). "I wanted to make Uku appealing and likable but also look like he’s been carved out of lava flows. This whole story has been an exercise in contrast. Volcanoes are so destructive, but they're so creative. They’re so powerful in their eruptions but they’re so peaceful." He and his producer, Andrea Warren, attempted to achieve the feeling of the scale live-action filmmakers attain from a helicopter shot, but within the 3-D universe of animation.

Lava, will play in theaters in front of Pixar's next movie, Inside Out, on June 19th of next year.

First Image From 'Lava'

Meet Uku, Pixar's newest character. Uku is a mountain who is “crusty and prone to eruptions, but (he has) a warm core underneath." He's a volcano from Lava, Pixar's next theatrical short film. Lava a seven-minute musical love story starring Uku (seen below) and Lele. The film is inspired by the beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes. 

Image from Lava

James Ford Murphy, the director of Lava, said that he thought it would be cool to fall in love with a place who is also a character. He goes on to say: "This whole story has been an exercise in contrast. Volcanoes are so destructive, but they're so creative. They’re so powerful in their eruptions but they’re so peaceful."

For this musical love story, James Murphy wrote a Hawaiian-inspired song for the Ukelele. The song is sung by Kuana Torres Kahele and Napua Greig. According to Pixar Post, the music goes for the same emotional feeling as Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

Lava will premiere at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival next month, and arrives in theaters on June 19, 2015 before Inside Out.

(Source: The LA Times)

'Lava' Will Premiere in Front of 'Inside Out'

Pixar's Facebook profile just revealed that the short film to play before Inside Out is titled, Lava. They described the short as a musical love story inspired by the beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes. Lava is directed by James Ford Murphy (animator at Pixar since A Bug's Life) and produced by Andrea Warren (production manager on WALL-E and Brave). Pixar also posted an image of a poster for the film:

Lava was first rumored when Animated Views discovered that the short was included in a list of upcoming Pixar films in the LinkedIn profile of Pixar layout artist Shaun Seong-Young Kim, but the short was not confirmed until today.

Pixar also posted a picture of Pete Docter (director of Monsters Inc., Up, and Inside Out) with the words: Pete Docter would like to share a little Joy with you. Inside Out opens in theaters one year from today!

Watch Lava in front of Inside Out on June 19, 2015!