Burrow

This Pixar short - a result of their SparkShorts program that gives their directors six months and a limited budget to make their film with the aim of fostering new talent - should have screened before Soul in a Covid-free world, but made its way to Disney+ instead. It's sweetly old fashioned, both in its style, which made me think of my own childhood picture books - Sharafian has said she was inspired by the likes of Richard Scarry - and its theme of someone building a new home.

Bunny is in the business of burrowing, blueprint in paw. Her plan is a simple one, involving a bed and, potentially, a bit of a disco... but then the neighbours start dropping in. Embarrassed by everyone else's deluxe dwellings - and the way she hugs her plan close to her says it all - the bunny finds herself digging deeper, with plenty of slapstick along the way until she runs into something she didn't expect and which might mean she needs some friends after all.

By keeping the story simple, director Madeline Sharafian has made it accessible even for the youngest audiences, who will doubtless find her encounters with everything from a worm in a bath to a family of mice funny and rewatchable. The burrow idea helps the film to flow at speed, as bunny keeps on tunnelling no matter what, pausing just long enough with every encounter to make sure that we get the joke before shovelling soil away into the next. Sharafian may not be breaking as much new ground as bunny but she charmingly remodels the familiar.