Lava

With a runtime of approximately ten minutes, "Lava" is a "musical love story." It tells the tale of Uku, a "male volcano" about three miles in diameter, and his love for the female volcano Lele—a passion as intense, scorching, and eruptive as lava—set in his home of Hawaii. The director of this short film, Pixar animation supervisor James Ford Murphy, shared that the inspiration came from his honeymoon in Hawaii over twenty years ago. To "bring the volcanoes to life," the Pixar team surrounded them with birds, dolphins, whales, clouds, and lava, using camera work and the volcanoes' unique facial expressions to create a sense of motion. Of course, Hawaii's distinctive natural and cultural scenery, along with local music accompanied by the ukulele, are essential elements of the film. In the story, the names of the "male volcano" Uku and his beloved "female volcano" Lele combine to form the word "ukulele." "Lava" premiered in North America on June 19, 2015, alongside "Inside Out."