Pixar's 'Borrowed Time' Directors Indulge About Loss, Mourning & Forgiveness; Short Film Released For Free

Pixar Animation Studios recently released a short film, entitled "Borrowed Time" about the pain associated with loss, the mourning that comes naturally with it, and ultimately, forgiveness. Though the nameless characters in the story are adults, even the children can benefit from it.

"Borrowed Time," which was said to take five years to finish, centers on the life of a sheriff, who has been haunted by an excruciatingly painful memory, where instead of saving the life of a family, his father, the sheriff accidentally caused his untimely death.

Confronted with such guilt, the sheriff went back to the place where the accident took place and re-lived every detail of his memory as if it just happened yesterday. In an interview posted on Vimeo, where the "Borrowed Time" was also launched for public viewing, Hamou-Lhadj, one of the film directors, said they wanted to create something divergent, but at the same time, would still fit for children.

 "We really wanted to make something that was a little bit more adult in the thematic choices, and show that animation could be a medium to tell any sort of story," Hamou-Lhadj, said on a video posted on Vimeo.

Andre Coats, the other director also said on the video that in making short films, one can try different things and tell a lot of different stories and even make risks because there are no monetary gains involved.

"We really wanted to make something that was a little bit more adult in the thematic choices, and show that animation could be a medium to tell any sort of story," Hamou-Lhadj continued.

Pixar Animation Studios is known to make films that have a touch of something dark and bold in its plots and the dark-themed "Borrowed Time" did not come a surprise. The short film was a well-received side project that has also been featured in several film festivals, according to The Verge.