Spoilers. Here, just watch the short first:

After Pixar introduced its SparkShorts program with the boldly adult and feminist “Purl,” Pixar’s second entry in the series feels like its playing in contrast to that and reminding audiences that this is still coming out of Pixar. “Smash and Grab” is, other than some very unique and gorgeous design work, nothing we haven’t seen out of the studio before. Two pantomime robots with human qualities want to go beyond their programming to spend time together, except this time it’s not as romantically coded as it was in WALL-E (the relationship seems to be written so that it could represent a wide variety of bonds such as brothers, friends, or possibly even a parent and child – did anybody else get a family escaping slavery vibe from this?) and the two robots just want to share a hearty fistbump. To achieve this simple interaction, they have to go against their societal roles and possibly – I got this implication anyway? – greatly shorten their lifespans. “Quit your job to do what you love and to spend time with the people you love,” is no new message in entertainment from any studio – and honestly I sometimes question if our society’s desire to avoid things we don’t want to do is healthy without some clarification – but darnit if Pixar can’t still make me emotional over it. Just because I knew pretty much exactly where this story was going doesn’t mean I wasn’t cheering any less when those two robots finally got to fistbump. I really love robots, alright?



There was one element to “Smash and Grab”‘s story that was refreshingly subversive. Most films about relationships, especially in the often idealistically child-friendly realm of animation, forget to mention that relationships are still a commitment that requires work and maintenance and sacrifice even after you win over the friend or lover. Smash and Grab end the film freed of a horrible thankless job in a dystopian society, but forever attached to each other, unable to haphazardly come and go from each other’s lives. Our heroes are clearly better off than they were, but the ending makes it clear that they still have a challenging adventure ahead of them. As each SparkShort is released, I get more excited for what adventure these up-and-coming artists are going to lead us into next.