Exclusive interview with the designer of LEGO Ideas|Disney Pixar Luxo Jr.

At the beginning of every unique, heartwarming, and laugh-out-loud Pixar movie, the first character that audiences see is Luxo Jr.

This adorable and familiar character leaps playfully up and down on the letter I in the word Pixar, until it is squished flat, and then they look directly at us knowing full well they’ll probably get in trouble for that.

It sets the tone for the film that follows and so has been a mascot of Pixar for decades.

As we launch the LEGO Ideas|Disney Pixar Luxo Jr. set, we spoke to LEGO Designer Tom Gerardin, who worked on the fan submission from LEGO Ideas to get Luxo Jr. ready for its debut.

Meet the most mischievous mascot in movies

“I have always been a massive Pixar fan!” says Tom. “It started when I was a child and my mum would take me to the cinema. Our favourite thing to see was the latest Pixar movie. Being a huge fan, designing a Disney PIXAR set was a dream come true!”

Well, it’s nice to know that dreams really can come true, and they certainly did with this set.

This LEGO Ideas|Disney Pixar Luxo Jr. is fully articulated to recreate the character’s distinct movements and allow it to be posed; it also comes with a Disney Pixar Ball that has become another icon of the studio.

But where does a designer start on a set as complicated and unique as this?

“I started the design process by watching the original Luxo Jr. short and the opening to the Pixar movies to see it in action, to study how it moved and figure out how to bring it to life in LEGO bricks,” says Tom. “Then, I printed out a blueprint to use as a 1:1 reference for proportions and scale, so that I could be as faithful as possible to how you see it on screen.”

So far, so simple, but Tom knew that the Luxo Jr. set would have to be able to move like it does in the animated short film, including sitting on top of the Pixar Ball. This can be achieved by removing two of the rounded plates and attaching the ball to the base piece.

Bet that wasn’t easy?

“By far the most challenging things about designing Luxo Jr. was getting the accuracy visually and getting him to pose as seen in the short,” he agrees.

“Trying to capture all his lines and funky angles was tricky. Luxo Jr. had to be skinny like the reference but strong enough to be played with in a jumping motion that would, fingers crossed, never fail.”

So, how do you solve that problem and create the required motion?

“To create the movement of Luxo Jr., we found a rubber band allowed him to move, and then resume his iconic pose when not in motion.”

Paying tribute to the masters of Easter eggs

Over the years, Pixar has always delighted in Easter eggs. Fans pour over every frame of every film searching for tiny details that the creators have hidden in the movie that might link to other films the studio has made.

So, the bar was high when it came to hiding a few surprises within this set.

“One of the amazing things about the Pixar movies is the Easter eggs in their movies. So, when designing the model, that was something I really tried my best to do.”

Many of these are contained within the ball. Under each of the rounded sides, there is a hidden Easter egg from a Pixar movie, including references to Up, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Cars.

Oh, and if you glance behind the shade, you might even see a reference to a certain food delivery vehicle that has appeared in some form in almost every single Pixar movie to date. All we can say is “Yo”!

To infinity and beyond!

This set is sure to be popular with fans of Disney and Pixar, and we asked Tom what he thought fans would love.

The answer is one of the things most distinct about Pixar films.

“I hope they will love this story” he says. “A fan uploaded this amazing project to LEGO Ideas, and then another fan got to turn it into a full LEGO set.”

And, like many Pixar films, this is a story with a happy ending.