Fans of Pixar’s short animated features can now watch “Float,” the studio’s first short that featured characters of Filipino descent, on YouTube.
“Float” tells the story of a Filipino-American father who desperately tries to keep his unusually floating son out of people’s sight.
The short, directed by Filipino-American animator Bobby Rubio, was released by Pixar on Saturday in the wake of recent anti-Asian acts of aggression in the United States. Following racist attacks towards members of Asian and Asian-American communities in the days following Chinese New Year in the US, Pixar decided to release two films from its SparkShorts program that revolve around Asian culture.
The other film is “Wind.” Directed by Edwin Chang, the nine-minute short tells a story of sacrifice between a Korean grandmother and her grandson who dreams of escaping a mysterious chasm full of floating rocks and debris.
“Float” and “Wind,” which premiered in November 2019 and November 2020 respectively as part of the latest season of SparkShorts, used to be Disney+ exclusives. SparkShorts is a program initiated by Pixar Animation Studios that lets its employees develop animated short films with a limited budget for six months.
Upon making “Float” and “Wind” available to a wider audience, Pixar issued a statement expressing their solidarity against “Anti-Asian hate”:
Last February 25, Disney also released a statement manifesting their support towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community amidst rampant racist attacks.
Watch “Float” here:
Watch “Wind” here:
