Loop (2020 Film)

''Loop'' is a 2020 American computer-animated drama short film directed and written by Erica Milsom with the story being written by Adam Burke, Matthias De Clercq and Milsom, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sixth short film in Pixar's '' SparkShorts'' program and focuses on a non-verbal autistic girl and a chatty boy, learning to understand each other. The short was released on Disney+ on January 10, 2020.

Plot

Renee, a 13-year-old non-verbal autistic girl, sits patiently in a canoe waiting for a partner while playing with a sound app on her phone. Marcus arrives late and the camp counselor tells him to partner with her, much to his annoyance. Marcus attempts to speak with Renee, who is only able to mutter and make noises to express her feelings. When Marcus attempts to show off his paddling skills, Renee is unimpressed and starts rocking the boat. Marcus asks her to tell him what she wants and she responds by showing a poop emoji on her phone and signaling to a couple of outhouses. Marcus obliges and paddles her to land.

When they pass by some reeds, Renee reaches out to let them brush past her arms. She has Marcus paddle through multiple times, and he realizes that she did not actually need to use an outhouse, but just wanted to touch the reeds. He tries doing the same thing, and then Renee goes back to her phone. This gives Marcus an idea to connect with her. He paddles them to a tunnel and has Renee play her phone so that the sound can reverberate. At first, she enjoys it. Then a speedboat races by and the sound of that boat reverberates, overwhelming Renee. She frantically paddles out of the tunnel, nearly colliding with the speedboat in the process. When they crash onto land, Renee has a meltdown and throws her phone, which falls into the lake. Sobbing, she hides under the canoe while Marcus watches this unfold in bewilderment.

Eventually, Marcus pulls up a reed and places it next to the canoe where Renee can see it. He sits nearby until Renee calms down. She sits up, takes the reed, and begins to giggle. The two repeat the sound that the phone made together. The two of them get back into the canoe and paddle back to the camp.

In a post-credits scene, Renee's recovered phone is resting in a bowl of rice and it receives a message from Marcus asking if she wants to go canoeing again.

Cast

* Madison Bandy as Renee
* Christiano (Chachi) Delgado as Marcus
* Louis Gonzales as Camp Counselor

Additional voice cast

* Asher Brodkey
* Erica Milsom

Production

''Loop'' was directed and written by Erica Milsom, with a story created by Adam Burke, Erica Milsom and Matthias De Clercq. Michael Warch and Krissy Cababa produced the short.

The team brought in consultants from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network to ensure that Renee's portrayal would be authentic.

''Loop'' features Madison Bandy in the role of ''Renee'', who herself is non-speaking and autistic. The audio recording for her voice performance was done by Vince Caro, on location in her home, as part of an effort to make the recording process as comfortable as possible.

The director and animators on ''Loop'' spoke with the consultants to gain a sense of the way that a non-speaking person might communicate their feelings differently. They then developed a gestural language for Renee, equating specific behaviors, like holding her ears, or poking her cell phone, with specific emotional states

Music

Mark Orton composed the music for ''Loop''. The score was released on February 28, 2020.

Track listing

Release

''Loop'' was released on Disney+ on January 10, 2020.

Reception

''Loop'' received mostly positive reviews. Reviewers commented on its decision to portray the world through Renee's eyes. Jonathon Briggs wrote "By training our eyes to imagine what the world might look like from someone else's perspective, ''Loop'' encourages us to practice empathy in what feels like an increasingly divisive and judgmental world."

The autistic community responded enthusiastically to ''Loop''. Autistic people on ''Twitter'' expressed excitement prior to the film's release. Autistic reviewers praised the portrayal of Renee for being positive and authentic.

''Loop'' won the SIGGRAPH 2020 Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater Best in Show-winning award in 2021.

It was also nominated that year for an NAACP Image Award.

References

External links

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{{Pixar Animation Studios
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2020s animated short films
2020s Disney animated short films
2020 computer-animated films
2020 drama films
2020s English-language films
2020 short films
American animated short films
Films about autism
Films about summer camps
Films scored by Mark Orton
SparkShorts
Films about disability