Today I got the chance to see the new Pixar movie Inside Out and I was not in the least disappointed. You’ll hear more about that in the next post. But let’s not let my enthusiasm for Inside Out allow me to forget the delightful little short they had before the feature film called Lava.
Directed by James Ford Murphy Lava is a simple short that is a love letter to Hawaii and Hawaiian music (you know I will love that!). The artwork in Lava is gorgeous. We get wide swooping shots of both the Hawaiian mountains and the beautiful ocean. We see whales jumping up out of the water and everything sounds so peaceful and serene.
As we dive in closer we see that the volcano has a face and we learn he is singing a Hawaiian song. The volcano named Uku is voiced by Kuana Torres Kahele and the song he sings is a sweet plea to the Island Gods to allow him to find the love he see’s all around him. I love Hawaiian music so that was great!
I like that the volcano looks like a jolly old soul but he kind of reminds me of Jabba from Return of the Jedi!
Luckily his song is heard by another volcano but it is buried deep in the ocean. The female volcano is named Lele and she begins singing her own song to Uku. It’s a peaceful lovely duet.
Like I said this isn’t one of their more groundbreaking shorts but I did enjoy it. Anytime I can look at Hawaii, hear Hawaii, think about Hawaii I’m a fan. It’s a sweet little love story. Can’t go wrong with that.
