Somewhere in the Arctic is one of the two student films made by Andrew Stanton; the other being A Story. The short film was made at CalArts and was completed in 1986. This short film is featured in the Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 2 DVD.
Plot[]
In the arctic, a polar bear is running away from a trio of Eskimos. During the chase, the bear proceeds to pull out a radio from the ground, and as the Eskimos charge towards him, the radio begins to play "My Girl" by The Temptations. As the Eskimos dance to the song, the bear proceeds to leave. Realizing they've been tricked, the Eskimos proceed to go back to chasing the bear.
Moments later, the bear arrives with a book, and as the Eskimos advance towards, the bear shushes them, putting a sign reading "LIBRARY". The Eskimos read the sign and, understanding what it says, proceed to read their own respective books. With the Eskimos distracted once again, the bear leaves, and the Eskimos, realizing they were tricked yet again, immediately resume their chase.
The moment the Eskimos leave, the bear proceeds to take a flight of stairs to reach a lower level, where he now sits in front of the screen like at a theater. The Eskimos arrive, and one of them spots the bear sitting in front of the screen. After being waved to by the bear, the Eskimos use the same flight of stairs to get the bear. After a brief chase, the bear and Eskimos run back up the stairs.
Now back in the arctic, the bear discovers that during the chase up the stairs, the Eskimos somehow shrunk in size. Realizing how massive the bear is compared to them, the Eskimos run away in fear. The bear walks up to the mountain backdrop, jumps behind it, and activates it like a car. After donning some goggles, the bear zips off.
Voice Cast[]
- Andrew Stanton as Bahr, a polar bear
- Rich Moore as Oohk, an Eskimo
- Jeff Pidgeon as Uhk, an Eskimo
- Broose Johnson as Eehk, an Eskimo
Trivia[]
- This student film was made in the year Pixar Animation Studios was found.
- This short film was entered in a film festival. It was next to one of John Lasseter's student films and that is how the two of them met.
- This short film has absolutely no camera movement.
Video[]
Andrew Stanton's CalArts Student Film, 'Somewhere in the Arctic'-0