Pixar’s newly minted Spark Short’s first film is here and it’s
delightfully aimed at adults.
Taking on the modern work place, commenting on the toxic boys’
club of the office, a new recruit arrives and it’s a pink ball of yarn named
Purl. She’s happy, bright and friendly, not what her co-workers were expecting.
She’s tries to join in with jokes and pitch in ideas at the office meeting but
she’s left on the outside and excluded from fun after work drinks. So, she
decides to act like them and is eventually excepted but when new recruit Lacy,
a yellow ball of yarn, arrives Purl at first makes jokes but sees that she can
make a change and invites Lacy to drinks. Flash forward and Purl is showing around
the latest recruit to the office which is now full of different coloured yarn balls
and happy co-workers.
From reading various pieces on ‘Purl’ it’s making an impression,
being shared around the internet. Pixar isn’t one to shy away from the tougher
topics in their film but the fact that this new short, written and directed by Kristen Lester, is purposely for adults is a
barrier worth breaking. With adult jokes and swearing (apparently there is
swearing, but I might be desensitised to these things) and very obviously taking
on what it feels like to be the odd yarn ball out. Reading around the internet,
the short has hit a cord with lots of women (of course, we’re the yarn) and
myself included as we’ve all felt like Purl at some point in our working lives
and even non-working lives.
Although there
are all kinds of yarns at the end, the other part of the short that was very obvious
is that the office is in no way diverse, all the ‘bros workers’ are Caucasian,
which doesn’t exactly mirror the work place. This is, I’m sure, been noted by others.
Others who have been annoyed by the more ‘adult’ dialogue and themes.
At just under 9 minutes
long, the story cover ground and in my opinion, not subtle. It delicately encapsulates
what the ‘toxic masculine environment’ is like and shows that it just takes one
person, or one ball of yarn, to make a positive difference, as well as showing that
we should help each other up. Life isn’t as simple as a Pixar short but the
message is clear and the animation brilliant.
You can see Purl
on the Disney/Pixar YouTube channel HERE.