Kitbull

Plot

A kitten lives in the garbage cans behind a building in San Francisco's Mission District. While foraging for food on the streets, the kitten is offered food by a passerby but runs away. He sleeps in a cardboard box in a dilapidated building's garbage heap, nuzzling a stuffed animal. Later, a fighting pit bull is moved to a doghouse behind the building, and chained to a cinder block. Though the kitten is initially very scared of the dog, the two somewhat bond while playing with a bottlecap.

One night, after the pit bull is taken inside the building, he ends up getting heavily injured in a fight and is thrown back outside. The pit bull then goes to help the kitten, who is trapped in plastic pack rings after being scared by a storm, but the frightened kitten scratches the dog upon seeing his fangs. Saddened, the pit bull retreats to his doghouse, where he is later joined by the kitten, who comforts him. The next day, the two escape the backyard just before the yard's owner can find them. Some time later, the kitten and the pit bull are playing out on the street when the kitten is found by the passerby from before. The woman is startled when the pit bull appears, but after the kitten shows its affection for the dog, she and her husband adopt both of them. After some time, the two animals play happily on top of a hill and join their new family to see a view of the city.

Production

Kitbull is the third short of Pixar's SparkShorts program, which consists in Pixar giving employees six months and limited budgets to produce animated short films. The short was directed and written by Rosana Sullivan. Sullivan described the SparkShorts program as "a huge game-changer" since the studio had started "investing in the unconventional, unknown and diverse voices". Kitbull was produced by Kathryn Hendrickson, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Domee Shi, director of the Academy Award-winning short film Bao, Peter Sohn, director of the feature film The Good Dinosaur, and Kristen Lester, director of the short film Purl, were part of Sullivan's story trust on Kitbull. The short was edited by Katie Schaefer Bishop.

Sullivan said that a cat video had initiated the idea behind the short, mentioning that she enjoyed looking at cat videos whenever she felt stressed. According to Sullivan, she "started sketching this little black kitten in 2013" while "working on a feature film project at the time at Pixar". One of her colleagues showed her "a video of a cat arching its back and trying to act tough, then promptly falling off a counter"; Sullivan was "so entertained" by the difference between the cat's "self-perception" and the reality, which prompted her desire to "draw a tiny kitten who embodied" this contrast. She stated that she had "just wanted to draw a little kitten doing something silly and very, very cat-like". She had initially wished to depict something that appealed to her and was enjoyable, but "it evolved into something more personal" to her in the end. Sullivan "started to crave something more", with the story eventually turning into one about "a lonely cat" and a dog forming a connection. Sullivan said she had "always had a deep love for animals", which made her wish "to tell a story through the lens of animal welfare".

Sullivan first encountered pit bulls while "working in shelters during college" and felt they were "sweet, awesome dogs"; at the same time, she started learning that "there was a negative reputation around them". Sullivan commented that all frames are hand-drawn and hand-painted, adding that while the creators had used computers when drawing, "everything was directly from the artists' hands onto the screen". Sullivan said that she "had always wanted to do a 2D animated short" since she had grown up "watching hand-drawn animation". She stated that she had always enjoyed "the charm of a hand-drawn image", mentioning that every artist has their own way of drawing. Sullivan commented that "the kitten could not have been done without the hand-drawn quality" since "the kitten's character itself is unpredictable and spastic". According to her, "the kitten's frenetic energy could best be captured through hand-drawn animation, especially within [the creators'] limited resources and six-month production timeline".

Music

Andrew Jimenez, who co-directed the Pixar short film One Man Band with Mark Andrews, composed the music for Kitbull. The score was released on April 5, 2019.

Release

Kitbull was first shown along with the shorts Purl and Smash and Grab on January 18, 2019, during a limited release at the El Capitan Theatre that lasted for a week; following this, the short premiered live on Pixar's YouTube channel on February 18, 2019. The short was also released on Disney+ on November 12, 2019, alongside fellow "SparkShorts" entries Purl, Smash and Grab, and Float. Kitbull debuted in theaters in front of Turning Red on February 9, 2024.

Reception

Critical response

Kitbull has received a largely positive critical response, being regarded as "adorable", "beautiful", moving, "sweet", "amazing", "emotionally tantalizing", as well as "a timeless tale of unlikely animal friendships". Dan Sarto of Animation World Network described the short as "charming, compelling and thoroughly enjoyable", and he stated that it "delivers us everything we could ask for". IndieWire's Zack Sharf said that the short is "going to break your heart in typical Pixar fashion". Chris Pastrick of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote that Kitbull presents a "heartwarming", "tear-jerking storyline". Mashable's Shannon Connellan stated that the short would make viewers become "a puddle of tears". Benjamin Bullard of Syfy Wire commented that Kitbull would "trash your animal-loving heart before the inevitable happy ending comes to the rescue"; he described the short as a "wordless gem that unfolds a details-loaded vignette through one heart-wrenching emotional roller coaster of a ride". Bridget Sharkey of Arizona Daily Star said that despite being "less than nine minutes long", Kitbull "packs a seriously powerful emotional punch in that period of time"; she stated that the short contains a "sweetly satisfying story" that would "make even the toughest and steeliest watcher eventually tear up", adding that it conveys "a powerful message" and is "an incredible piece of film". PopSugar's Kate Schweitzer mentioned that Pixar had "truly outdone itself by achieving full-scale weeps in a matter of mere minutes" through Kitbull, and she characterized the short as "simple and sweet". Nicole Clark of San Francisco Chronicle said that Kitbull uses "unlikely animal companionship to tell a larger story about compassion, friendship and redemption". She stated that the short "ends with a beautiful, sweeping vista of San Francisco, from the top of Bernal Hill", adding that "the location perfectly captures the full emotional swell of the short", "the warmth of a new friendship" and "the hope of a new beginning".

The short's use of traditional animation has been praised by critics. Chris Pastrick said that the short "is special in that [it is] the first entirely hand-drawn feature from the studio known for its cutting-edge digital animation". James White of Empire described Kitbull as "a sweet and beautifully animated piece" that uses "hand-drawn 2D techniques blended with all the computing power that Pixar can muster"; he felt that the short "explores a style unlike anything the company [had] produced". Bridget Sharkey wrote that Kitbull is "exquisitely created via hand-drawing" and consists of "simple, life-like animation that is also compulsively watchable". Jennifer Wolfe of Animation World Network commented that the short is "packed with hand-drawn goodness", and Benjamin Bullard stated that it is "rendered in a super-rich 2D cel-shaded style". Shannon Connellan said that Kitbull being a "2D animated short" is not "the usual realm for Pixar". Paste's Garrett Martin mentioned that seeing the short is "exciting", especially since it was created by "a studio that [is not] known for this style of animation". Dan Sarto felt that the short is "beautifully designed", and he said it is "hard to imagine this story being any more engaging or enjoyable had the filmmakers chosen to use any other animation technique". Sarto stated that "in an entertainment world dominated more and more by 3D, Kitbull exemplifies how 2D animation, in the right hands, telling the right story, remains something truly special", being "unequalled".