The popularity of short films is rising as streaming platforms set out to create more. The new Disney+ six-minute short film, “Self,” was released on Friday, Feb. 2. The short focuses on a young girl’s challenges through self-discovery as she appears to be different than those surrounding her.
Before the frame pans over to the young girl, hearing the intricate sounds of her wrist turning sets a theme for the rest of the film. Viewers know the short film will rely heavily on sounds and visuals rather than speech. After walking up the escalator, she steps into a world with beautiful chiming tunes. These tunes come from the gold people; they communicate with one another by tapping on their skin to create different tunes.
Immediately, it’s noticeable that she is different from the rest. The others have gold skin and slicked-back hair, while the young girl is made of wood with curly hair. Excitedly, she attempts to talk to the gold people, but they ignore her. Noticing this, she tries to communicate with them by tapping on her chest. While she does make a sound when she taps on her chest, it doesn’t come off as soft and chimeful but instead hollow. She realizes she is not like the others and starts feeling left out.
After multiple attempts to communicate, viewers see the anxiety begin to build as the young girl fiddles more with her wrist. Not too soon after, she begins to hyperventilate, bumping into someone and then falling on the floor, breaking her wrist. This scene is incredibly interesting; without words and relying on sound effects, it displays what it is like to feel the overwhelming, impending doom of anxiety.
During her multiple attempts to fix her wrist, she sees a shooting star. It is assumed that she wishes to be like the gold people because shortly after, a gold figure falls from the sky, and a loud shimmering bell sounds as it falls to the floor. Without spoiling the rest of the short, with each passing day, the young girl begins to divert from her true self and tries to become more like the gold people.
By the end of the short, the young girl realizes she was never meant to be exactly like the others; she was always meant to be a wooden girl. As she became more like the gold people, she was given the choice to have a gold face. Switching out her old mask for a gold one, the young girl finally went to communicate with the gold people. But in the process, she stepped on the old mask and broke it. From a viewer’s perspective, it appears the gold people begin to truly see her for who she is after seeing her broken mask on the floor.
Within Pixar Animation Studio, “Self” was created through the SparkShorts Program. A YouTube video titled “Introducting Pixar SparkShorts” by Pixar explains how the program creates indie films within six months. Bobby Rubio, a writer and director of the short “Float,” said in the YouTube video, “I see it as a wonderful opportunity to tell a story.” If there were different visuals and mediums used to create “Self,” the impact and meaning of the story would be drastically different from what it is now.
With the message of self-discovery and uncovering what it means to love yourself, the six-minute “Self” short is perfect for all audiences. It is also great for when you want to watch something fun but have a small gap between classes. Sometimes, we all need reminders of the importance of self-love and acceptance, and “Self” will do exactly that.
Rating: 5/5