Smash and Grab (2019 film)

Smash and Grab, two antiquated robots who live on a futuristic Mars-like planet, have spent all of their lives trapped in a giant train fueled by glowing rocks. Smash breaks the rocks apart, and tosses them to Grab, who feeds them to the engine. They attempt to amuse themselves but are hindered from moving freely about the room or seeing out the window by their power cables, which are also kept short enough that they cannot touch each other, even to high-five after a good day's work, much to Smash's frustration.

One day, Smash is able to build a stack of rocks and see out the window. It learns there is a world outside the train, and that all the free robots move about unhindered thanks to spherical batteries that attach via cable to their power ports. Seeing that some of these batteries have been loaded onto the train, Smash cuts its power cable and uses what little power it has left to steal two batteries, attaching one to itself and the other to Grab so they can flee the engine room together.

Security robots pursue Smash and Grab and attempt to kill them before they reach freedom. Trapped atop the train, Smash catches and throws security robots to Grab when they come through the door. Grab flings them against obstacles the train passes, noticing their batteries explode if damaged. One security robot manages to shoot Grab's arm off, and Grab becomes temporarily deactivated. Smash attempts to revive its friend and is cornered by eight security robots. Angered, Smash deliberately damages its battery and throws it at the security robots. The battery explodes, causing a chain reaction which kills the security robots and derails the train.

In the crater left by the explosion, Grab reactivates, finds a powered down but intact Smash, and connects its battery to Smash via a cable so they can share its power. The two high five for the first time, and set out to explore the outside world together.

Smash and Grab is the second short of Pixar's "SparkShorts" program, which consists in Pixar giving employees six months and limited budgets to produce short animated films.[4] Writer/director Brian Larsen was inspired by the concept of people wanting a change in routine, particularly him wanting a change in his work as a head of story in Pixar.[2] Larsen used robots as main characters in the film because he felt it was "a nice way to express" the idea of wanting a change.[2] As the film focused on robots, Larsen developed it as a science fiction film, which departs from most of Pixar's previous projects (with the exception of WALL-E).[2]

Larsen and the animators used Art Deco designs for the film, as Larson felt that "it felt heavy, it felt fast".[3] The animators also used "simple" character designs in the short, which Larsen described as "almost like appliance toasters".[3] The animators also used motion-capture for Smash and Grab's movements, while having screens in the same room to animate their movements as the characters, something Larsen said it was in order "to capture data and very quickly get [the character's movements] into the computer".[3] Larsen was very pleased with the film's production, stating that he "[loves] making [the] story come to life".[3]

Barney Jones, who composed the music for the Pixar short film Float, composed the music for Smash and Grab. The score was released on April 19, 2019.[5]

Smash and Grab received generally positive reviews from critics, with many positively comparing the short to Pixar's feature film WALL-E. Jacob Oller, of Syfy Wire, wrote that the short "is a delightful bit of art deco sci-fi outside of Wall-E's decrepit view of the future".[6] Chelsea Steiner, of The Mary Sue, said that "Smash and Grab, like its predecessor Purl, takes a simple idea and expands it with delightful and entertaining results. It makes us root for two wordless robots and care for them over the course of an 8-minute runtime. That’s animation at its finest".[7] Andy Meek, of BGR, wrote: "if you loved Wall-E, you’ll definitely want to check out these ridiculously adorable robots performing mindless, factory-like jobs and somehow managing to exude charm and likeability with their beeps and boops, human-like motion and luminescent eyes a la our protagonist from Wall-E".[8] Similarly, Michelle Jaworski, of The Daily Dot, said that "Smash and Grab will instantly invoke images and comparisons to Wall-E for its futuristic feel and the robotic focus".[9] Alex Reif, of Laughing Place, said that "[f]ans of WALL-E will feel instantly welcomed into the world of Smash and Grab", and felt that the short has "a clear message inspired by a major societal issue. However, it handles it far more delicately and with a lot more subtlety. This story about two workers who don’t get the same luxuries as those who control them also doesn’t present a sugary solution to a problem while ignoring others".[10]

Smash and Grab had its world premiere, along with the shorts Purl and Kitbull, on January 18, 2019, at the El Capitan Theatre.[11] The short was released on Pixar's YouTube channel on February 11, 2019, and on Disney+ on November 12, 2019, alongside fellow "SparkShorts" entries Purl, Kitbull, and Float.[11][1]

• Smash and Grab at IMDb
• Smash and Grab on Disney+