402 #18 - Sparkshorts: Purl (2019)

Purl is a Pixar Sparkshort released in 2019 that is 3D animated. The plot centres around a ball of yarn joining a completely male human office and having to change herself to fit in, but then understanding that she should still be herself. Although the base message is a very repeated one of 'being yourself' the short is also clearly metaphorical for male dominated workplaces and the difficulty women can have being able to use those workplaces.

I quite liked the models in the short because of their detail. Purl and the other balls of yarn have those bits of fluff real material has, which I found really impressive, especially for a model intended for expressive animation.

Something I didn't like much about this short that I have some issue with in some other Pixar films is the backgrounds are more realistic and nice looking while the character models are overly cartoony in proportion and movement, which doesn't blend all that well. The humans models in this short fit in well enough since the proportions aren't too exaggerated, but Purl and the other yarn characters stick out style-wise too much.

I do very much like the animation motion of the yarn characters, as the humans all have weight and more restricted movement (like real life) but the yarn don't have bone structure or heavy weight, so the yarn characters have little weight, their limbs can get tied up, and the rest of their yarn can move if the string limbs are pulled or moved too much.