Disney PixarA newly released Disney Pixar animated short will have you reaching for the hankies and the number to your local rescue centre.
Kitbull tells the story of an abused dog’s road to recovery through friendship with an unlikely pal in the shape of a tiny, wide-eyed alley cat.
The pitbull’s tale begins with a nasty human who keeps him chained to a concrete slab, outside in all weathers, with only a small cage for barely-there shelter. It’s an all-too familiar story.
The film, a production of Pixar’s new SparkShorts program directed by Rosana Sullivan and produced by Kathryn Hendrickson, tells a heart-wrenching story of an ‘unlikely connection that sparks between two creatures’ under dire circumstances.
As the narrative progresses, it becomes clear the adorably-drawn white pup is being used in illegal fights, left outside in the cold with all manner of canine-inflicted injuries.
Needless to say, things look pretty bleak for the pitbull. The dog breed has unjustly garnered a bad reputation for ill behaviour and violence through years of humans breeding the pups for nefarious purposes and dog fights.
The pitbull of the Disney Pixar short has befallen the same fate.
Until a little black cat, initially wary of the dog’s big teeth and imposing frame, sees how much pain and anguish is being inflicted upon man’s best friend.
With the help of the cat, the pitbull manages to escape his evil owner and, thankfully, there’s a happy ever after for the pair of cross-species pals.
So much so, the viewing public have hailed the wonderfully-animated short as a beautiful tear-jerker, with both aesthetic prowess in its depiction of animal emotion, and a great moralising arc.
It was first published on February 18 and has since been watched over 8 million times, at the time of writing.
Grab a hanky and join them by watching the full short film below:
Now, show me someone who says that wasn’t a deserved happy ever after and I’ll show you a heartless liar.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.