Self is the titular protagonist of the 2024 SparkShorts short of the same name.
Background[]
Self is an African woman who experiences her life in an urban city full of gold people in her wooden doll form. During her experience at the city, the people ignored her and did not see her, which made Self feel uncomfortable that they are unable to get her attention. One day, Self wishes that she could communicate with them so they could understand. As she fully replaces her wooden parts with the golden parts she wished for, the people she sees finally sees her, but Self accidentally steps on her original wooden face. Feeling sad about this, Self places her original wooden face onto her head as the gold people finally understand each other - whether in wooden form or in gold form.
Development[]
The character of Self was inspired by Searit Huluf's roots where the story of the short centered around Self's experience at an urban city where people ignored her. For the animation of Self, the character in her wooden puppet form was animated using stop-motion technology while all the other characters she sees are entirely animated in CGI form in an attempt to blend in a stop-motion element with computer-animated elements in the short. The Self puppet was made at Tippett Studios where she was handcrafted through the use of an African influence - specifically in an Ethiopian-style design. The puppet used for Self took about five months to make at Tippett Studios in California. During animation tests, CGI layouts of Self in her wooden form were done first where the scenes were shot first before the scenes where she appears in her wooden form were finalized. The reference footage where Self appears in her wooden form was brought to the stop-motion production team and then said character's puppet was placed and then pieced together with all the computer-animated elements in order to blend a stop-motion element within a CGI scene.[1]
Role in the short[]
Self is first seen in her wooden doll form where she experiences her life in an urban city where she approaches three gold people. Just as she tries to interact with them, she feels sad when they ignore her. As she wanders around the city, Self feels ignored that no one is interacting with her just as she accidentally bumps into one of the citizens, much to their worry. Self later notices that she has a detached wooden hand, which she tries to run away. She later finds herself on a building where she makes a wish to communicate with the people that she saw earlier. As she wishes, she finds a golden hand which she uses it to replace her detached wooden hand, much to Self's surprise. The next day, Self finds two golden legs which she uses to replace her wooden legs, followed by two arms she finds to replace her wooden arms. Furthermore, she finds a golden torso to replace the wooden one and then a golden face to replace her wooden face just before plummeting down.
The following day, Self finds herself all in solid gold (save for her hair) where she encounters three gold people who notice that she has a solid gold appearance, but accidentally cracks her wooden face, sad that this wish put her in trouble, seeing all the scattered parts of her original form lying all around the city. Releasing her stress, three gold people approach Self who are worried of her feeling uncomfortable of trying to be like them so she can communicate with the gold people. As a result, Self puts back her original wooden face back. The gold people then understand Self's communication, as they finally communicate with her.
During the credits of the short, illustrations of Self are seen replacing her gold parts with the wooden parts she detached, forming her back to her original form.
Trivia[]
- Self's wooden puppet form makes her the first Pixar character to be animated using stop-motion technology. The stop-motion animation for Self in her wooden doll form was made at Tippett Studios in Berkeley, California.[1]
- Self's hair has a striking resemblance to that of director Searit Huluf's hair design, which she closely resembles.