Beginning with Pixar's second film A Bug's Life, all subsequent Pixar feature films have been shown in theatres along with a Pixar-created short. Other Pixar shorts, released only on home media, were created to showcase what Pixar can do (either technologically or cinematically), or were created specifically for a client.
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Pixar's ideas and technical capabilities have developed by producing shorts since the 1980s. The first shorts were made while Pixar was still a computer hardware company, when John Lasseter was the only professional animator in the company's tiny animation department. Starting with Geri's Game, after Pixar had turned into an animation studio, all later shorts have been produced with a larger crew and budget.
In 1991, Pixar made four CGI shorts produced for the TV series Sesame Street. The shorts illustrates different weights and directions starring Luxo Jr. and Luxo — Light and Heavy (1990), Surprise (1991), Up and Down (1993), and Front and Back (1994).
Also, beginning with A Bug's Life, Pixar has created extra content for each of their films that is not part of the main story. For their early theatrical releases, this content was in the form of "movie outtakes" and appeared as part of the film's credits. For each of their films, this content was a short made exclusively for the DVD release of the film.
Feature-related
Other work
Pixar animated a series of clips featuring Luxo and Luxo Jr. for Sesame Street, which were Light & Heavy, and Surprise. Pixar also produced numerous animation tests, commonly confused with theatrical shorts, including Beach Chair and Flag and Waves. They also produced over 30 commercials after selling their software division to support themselves before Toy Story entered production. Some of their other work includes:
Furthermore, in 1988, Apple Computer's Advanced Technology Group produced "Pencil Test," a computer-animated short to showcase the Apple Macintosh II line. Although Pixar was not officially affiliated with this film, several members of the Pixar staff advised and worked on it, including directors John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and producer Galyn Susman.