Purl is a 2018 American computer-animated short film directed and written by Kristen Lester with the story written by Michael Daley, Bradley Furnish, Lester, and James Robertson, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the first short released as part of Pixar's SparkShorts program, and focuses on a ball of yarn named Purl, who gets employed in a male-dominant company, which causes her to be ignored by her fellow employees. The short was previewed at SIGGRAPH on August 14, 2018, premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on January 18, 2019 and released on YouTube on February 4, 2019, and on Disney+ on November 12, 2019 to universal acclaim from critics, particularly for its themes.
Plot
Purl, an anthropomorphic pink-colored ball of yarn, begins an entry-level position at a company named B.R.O. Capital. While excited at first to work there, she soon realizes that her partners barely notice her, in spite of her attempts to fit in. After being left alone while her coworkers go out for a group lunch, Purl observes from photos of the company's capital team that it is composed entirely of white men in similar power suits and hairstyles. This inspires her to change her appearance and personality to resemble theirs. After the other employees return, Purl, now talking and acting like everyone else, is noticed by her coworkers, who invite her out for drinks. Before the group leaves, however, a yellow-colored ball of yarn named Lacy arrives at the office to begin working. When she notices the new ball of yarn is also ignored, Purl befriends Lacy and invites her to join them for drinks. After some time has passed, Purl has returned to her original appearance, and B.R.O. Capital is shown to be staffed by a more diverse combination of men and balls of yarn, who work together as a team.
Cast
Bret Parker as Purl
Emily Davis as Lacy
Pixar employees Michael Daley, Michael Frederickson, Erik Langley, Jimmy Lillard, Austin Madison, Kelsey Mann, Kyle McDaniel, Victor Navone and Michael Yates provided the voices for the male employees at B.R.O. Capital, while Aphton Corbin, Mitra Shahidi, and Pixar director Domee Shi voiced the female employees.
Production
Purl is the first short of Pixar's "SparkShorts" program, in which employees at Pixar are given six months and limited budgets to produce short animated films. Producer Gillian Libbert-Duncan described the short as "a movie about belonging". Writer/director Kristen Lester was inspired by her first experiences working in animation, in which she was the lone female, in writing the film's story. Lester related that to fit in, she "sort of became one of the guys"; her move to Pixar where she worked on a team with female employees helped her rediscover the female aspects of herself that she had suppressed. When she explained the story and concept to Libbert, Libbert also related to being a woman in a male-dominated world.
Lester described the B.R.O. Capital office as "a hyperreal office". Animators developed the office so it could seem "modern and sleek", so the character of Purl, whom she described as "fluffy" and "fuzzy", could be easier to portray "as an outsider". Lester explained that her choice of depicting Purl as a ball of yarn was inspired by her hobby of yarn bombing, and how that activity demonstrated the versatility of yarn. Lester also borrowed elements from movies like Working Girl and 9 to 5 for the story. Purl is one of the first original Pixar productions not to involve former Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, who left Pixar in June 2018 due to allegations of sexual misconduct towards female employees.
Music
The short's music was composed by Pinar Toprak, who was inspired by jazz music for the score's sound style. Toprak first hinted the score's release in a soundtrack on February 22, 2019. The film's soundtrack, featuring Toprak's score, was released on March 15, 2019, making Purl the first Pixar short to have a soundtrack released, the second Pixar non-film product to have a soundtrack released (after Toy Story of Terror!), and the third Pixar short to have its original music released (after Lava, and Partysaurus Rex, both of whom released songs created for the shorts).