GTA VI references are going to be everywhere over the next couple of months – even in Pixar animations. Any "couple in crime" story has the potential to remind audiences of Rockstar's long-awaited open-world game, and that's something Pixar's new artist short Fruit & Nut seeks to tap into with the pink and cyan neon sign that reveals its title.
But Pixar's latest animation quickly takes some unexpected turns, turning into a surreal, psychedelic origin story with a very unexpected animation style.
Pixar bills the seven-minute film Fruit & Nut as the "untold story of the most famous duo of all time". It was directed by Pixar artists Rej Bourdages and Tony Maki, who previously worked on films including Coco, Soul, Inside Out 2, Elio and Hoppers.
They used a handcrafted stop-motion animation with tangible puppets and sets, combined with 2D animation sequences. The result has a quirky indie look that gives Fruit & Nut a very different feel from Pixar's feature films with their 3D CGI animation style. In fact, it's only the second stop-motion film that Pixar has released to date, following the experimental short Self in 2024.
As for the plot, it's a deliberately absurd origin story for a popular snack presented as a Thelma & Louise style road trip adventure. A lonely peanut inadvertently becomes a getaway driver for a bank robbery after picking up a hitchhiking strawberry while making a run from dive bar without paying. They're another surprising twist at the end.
Many of those commenting on the short have highlighted its meme potential along with surprise that Pixar would release an animation with such a boldly different direction.
That's the beauty and value of the studio's internal artist-driven programme, which is intended to give employees freedom to experiment with different styles and techniques – a kind of spiritual successor to the earlier SparkShorts initiative. While the films are shorts only released online, they could help inspire Pixar to consider new directions: it's already expanded its stylistic range with the 2D animation of upcoming Gatto.
