
Knick Knack is an animated Pixar short film released in 1989. It was directed by John Lasseter.
Plot synopsis[]
Things like a flamingo, a skeleton, a pyramid, a cactus, 2 trees and a lady in a pool from Miami enjoy summer shame about the snowman stuck in his own home since he wanted to go out he decided to use some things to break out of his glass home. None of his things that he used was working then the glass home fell down and the snowman saw a door to get out and lands in a fish bowl then he sees a mermaid from Atlantis and now he's ready to kiss her but he's trapped again in his snowy glass home.
Cast[]
- Mel Blanc as the snowman
Versions[]
The film has been released in two versions, and each of these have been shown in both 3-D and 2-D.
It was originally shown in 3-D at the 2005 SIGGRAPH Animation Show. The original edition (though in conventional 2-D).
The film was completely rebuilt and re-rendered for release in theatres preceding Finding Nemo. In this version the girl on the "Miami" knick knack and the mermaid in the fish bowl have undergone a breast reduction, and the mermaid is now wearing a bra rather than just pasties, presumably to make the short more family friendly. This version is available on the Finding Nemo DVD set, the Pixar Shorts DVD, and through the iTunes Store. A 3-D version of the "small breasts" edition played to the public as a short attached to the 2010 Disney Digital 3-D release of Toy Story 3.
References to Knick Knack in other movies[]
- One of the books on the bookshelf in the film Toy Story when the toys are having a 'staff meeting' is called Knick Knack.
- The snowman can be seen (very briefly) in a snow globe in the film Cars during the scene where Lightning McQueen is patronizing Radiator Springs' curio shop. Also, during the big race at the beginning, the flamingos can be seen in a pool of some sort in front of one of the watching trailers.
- In 2007, a series of adverts released in the UK for BUPA featured the Knick Knack theme tune as their soundtrack.
- In Toy Story 2 the snowman could be spotted very subliminally while Hamm is flipping through the channels quickly
- The short is referenced in the Simpsons Movie: the dome scene as well as the jackhammer scene are a parody of Knick Knack's snow globe chaos.
Trivia[]
- Whenever John and Nancy Lasseter go anywhere on vacation, she always makes a point of buying a snow globe from that particular place. It was from this practice that the initial idea for the film was born.
- This is the second time a Pixar animated film features toys that are alive. The first time was in Tin Toy and more recently this theme has been seen in the Toy Stories.
- Bobby McFerrin recorded his vocals to a rough draft of the short, which had the words "blah blah blah" in place of the end credits. McFerrin decided to sing the "blah-blah-blah"s, and it was included in the final recording.
- Knick Knack will be released in cinemas again in 2021 alongside Luca.
- In the 2021 version, The pool girl now wears a rubber ring and skeleton's trunks are off.
Awards[]
- 1990 - Seattle International Film Festival - Best Short Film
External links[]
- Information at Pixar's site
- Knick Knack at the Internet Movie Database
- The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for Knick Knack