Knick Knack facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Knick Knack
Poster for Knick Knack
Directed by	John Lasseter
Written by	John Lasseter
Music by	Bobby McFerrin
Studio	Pixar Animation Studios
Release date(s)	September 1, 1989 (SIGGRAPH) May 30, 2003 (with Finding Nemo) October 20, 2006 (with The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D)
Running time	4 minutes

Knick Knack is a funny computer-animated short film made by Pixar in 1989. It was written and directed by John Lasseter. The story is about a snowman who lives inside a snow globe. He really wants to join other souvenir toys at a sunny party. But the glass globe keeps him trapped. So, he tries many silly ways to break free! Knick Knack was Pixar's fourth short film. It was also the last one made while Pixar was still mainly a computer hardware company.

This short film is special because it uses pure comedy to tell its story. It was inspired by classic cartoons like Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes. The famous animators Chuck Jones and Tex Avery also gave ideas. John Lasseter and his wife collected snow globes and travel souvenirs. These collections helped inspire the film. The music was made by singer Bobby McFerrin. He created the entire a cappella (voice-only) soundtrack on the spot while watching the film.

Knick Knack first showed at a big computer graphics event called SIGGRAPH in 1989. It was even shown in 3D! The short film has received many good reviews. It has also been shown at many film festivals around the world.

The Story of Knick Knack

On a shelf full of vacation-themed souvenirs, there's a lonely snowman named Knick. He lives in a Nome, Alaska snow globe. Knick really wants to join a "Sunny Miami" souvenir. This souvenir shows a person relaxing by a pool.

Knick tries many funny ways to escape his globe.

• He rams the glass with his igloo backdrop.
• He uses his carrot nose and a hammer.
• He tries a jackhammer, which makes his face fall off!
• He attempts to cut the glass with a blowtorch.
• He even uses TNT explosives!

The TNT makes the globe fall off the shelf. Just before it falls, Knick finds an emergency exit at the bottom. He frees himself right before the globe lands in a fishbowl. Inside the fishbowl, Knick sees another souvenir, a mermaid from "Sunny Atlantis". He tries to run towards her, but his globe settles to the bottom. Knick gets trapped again, which makes him very annoyed!

How Knick Knack Was Made

In 1988, Pixar's third short film, Tin Toy, won an Academy Award. This was for Best Animated Short Film. It was the first computer-animated film to win this award. This win was important for Pixar, which was still trying to sell its main product, the Pixar Image Computer.

John Lasseter, who directed Tin Toy, used to work at Disney. He was fired for supporting computer animation. But after Tin Toy's Oscar win, Disney wanted him back. Lasseter decided to stay at Pixar. He told Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull, "I can go to Disney and be a director, or I can stay here and make history." At Pixar, Lasseter had full creative freedom.

After the challenges of animating a baby in Tin Toy, Lasseter wanted to make something simpler. The team agreed to create a short film that wouldn't be too difficult. Lasseter was inspired by the wild and fun cartoons of Tex Avery and Chuck Jones. Instead of trying to push the limits of computer animation, they decided to focus on geometric shapes. This was something computers were good at.

Lasseter collected snow globes and travel souvenirs. These ideas came together to create Knick Knack. The team also loved Tom and Jerry cartoons. They found the idea of cartoon violence very funny. Animator Flip Phillips and coordinator Deirdre Warin came up with the idea of the snow globe falling into a fishbowl. Craig Good suggested the "iris out" ending, like in Looney Tunes.

The singer Bobby McFerrin created the music for the film. He improvised the entire a cappella (voice-only) soundtrack while watching a rough version of the film. He even sang the words "blah-blah-blah-blah" because that's what the placeholder credits said! McFerrin did the music for free because he thought the film was cool. Gary Rydstrom from Lucasfilm made all the sound effects.

Release and Later Versions

Knick Knack first showed at the 1989 SIGGRAPH event in Boston. It was one of the last films Lasseter personally animated while Pixar was an independent company. In 1990, it won an award at the Seattle International Film Festival. When it was shown in London in 1991, critics loved it. The Independent newspaper called it "a four-minute masterpiece."

After Knick Knack, Pixar took a break from making short films. They focused on creating TV commercials to earn money and hire new animators.

The film has been released in two main versions. Both have been shown in 3-D and 2-D. The original 3D version was shown in 1989. It was also released on VHS and LaserDisc collections.

A new version of the short film was released in theaters on May 30, 2003. It played before the movie Finding Nemo. This updated version starts with a message: "In 1989, six years before Toy Story, Pixar Animation Studios made this short film." This version is available on the Finding Nemo DVD and Blu-ray. It's also on the Pixar Short Films Collection – Volume 1 and on streaming services like Disney+. A 3-D version of this new edition was shown before the 2006 3D release of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Images for kids

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  Poster for Knick Knack

See also

In Spanish: Knick Knack para niños