Welcome to our new blog series where we will be introducing you to a collection of wonderful animated short movies for you to enjoy watching with your child. The best thing about animated shorts is that they are very, you know, short. In less than 10 minutes, the movie will make sure your child has fun, learn something new and maybe give you and them something to discuss after.
We have a long list of movies and we’ll be sharing one with you every four weeks so stay tuned.
The first animated short we’d like to talk to you about is Pixar’s Loop.
Let’s talk about Loop
Loop is a 9 minutes animated short produced by Pixar as part of their Spark Short program. It’s directed by Erica Milsom, who has previously volunteered with autistic children, and wanted to share part of their story and experience with the world.
Loop tells the story of Renee, a non-verbal autistic girl, who goes canoeing with Marcus, a chatty teenage boy. At first, Marcus and Renee don’t seem to be able to find a way to communicate with each other without words but soon they find it. Marcus asks Renee where she would like to go and using her phone she asks to go to the outhouse. As they paddle around the lake, Renee reaches out and touches a reed with her hand. Marcus realises that Renee doesn’t actually want to go to the outhouse, she would rather keep touching the reed, so he keeps paddling around the reed in a loop so Renee can touch it and enjoy the feeling.
What’s Loop trying to show us?
Miscommunication or rather difficulty communicating with others can be experienced in many different ways. Even though Marcus is sociable, he finds out he usually only communicates using words and this particular skill is not helpful when trying to communicate with Renee. He decides to find another way for them to connect and once he puts in the effort to understand Renee, they click.
Another experience we get to see in Loop is sensory experiences for non-verbal autistic people. Renee finds immense joy in touching the reed and letting it glide through her fingers. She also enjoys the sound of her ringtone and plays it multiple times. But at the same time when a speed boat passes by making loud noises, Renee is visibly uncomfortable and feels overwhelmed.
The movie also does a great job of dealing with Renee’s avoidance of direct eye contact. Every time we get a close up of Marcus’s face, the camera feels like it’s positioned outside the boat so the viewer knows that Renee isn’t actually looking at Marcus.
Making Loop
Erica Milsom and the team at Pixar worked closely with consultants from Autistic Self Advocacy Network to build up the characteristics that identify Renee as autistic and non-verbal. Erica said that a motto she read online before: “Nothing about us without us.” is what made her make sure her team included autistic consultants and that Renee is voiced by an autistic actress.
Loop is available to watch on Disney+ so make sure you catch it some time with your child. We’re sure you will love it!
