Horrifying animation totally transforms the Pixar logo

Good old Pixar. Everybody's go-to studio for warm, fuzzy, feel-good films. Until now. In a fan-made 3D animation, the famous Pixar opening ident has been transformed into a traumatising horror short, culminating in death-by-desk-lamp. It's one of the most horrifying things we saw in 2020 – and that's saying something. 

The original famous ident features said desk lamp, Luxo Jr, bouncing past the word Pixar, before jumping atop, squashing and replacing the 'i'. It's all fun and games until you imagine the scene from the 'i's perspective – which is exactly what Ratboi Pleb's 3D rendering (below) does. Check out our best 3D modelling software if you feel like creating a nightmare of your own.

Tickets to Vertex 2021: £25 per person
Fancy hearing from creatives at Pixar, Lucasfilm and much more? Get your ticket to Vertex, the hottest event for 2D and 3D artists. Returning on 25 February, the virtual event promises an extravaganza of industry insight from across the world of digital art.

View Deal

Needless to say, the 'i' isn't having a good time. Soundtracked by terrified breathing and ominous, rumbling music, the video puts the viewer in the 'i's perspective – which makes the final lamp-bludgeoning a lot more terrifying. After watching this, the original Pixar ident (below) will never not seem sinister. 

The video has proved a hit online, with over 2.5M views on YouTube. "I'll never be able to watch a Pixar movie in the same way again," one user comments, while another adds, "If Pixar ever makes a horror movie, they should use this". We doubt it'll ever happen, but the idea of a Pixar horror movie is strangely intriguing – with their imaginations, we're sure Pixar's animators could come up with some pretty awful stuff.

Anyway, for now we'll have to do with this surreal short. Made using Blender (take a look at the best Blender tutorials), what the slightly crude animation lacks in polish, it makes up for in atmosphere and pure terror – we're feeling pretty wary of our own desk lamp right now.

Read more

• Cyberpunk 2077 creator apologises for disastrous console game release
• New Nintendo Switch design has Super Mario fans fuming
• iPhone 13 design leaks (there's good news and bad news)