Lava is a charming short animation from Pixar.

The story is simple, a volcanic mountain in the middle of the ocean is singing for companionship. A female lava or should I say lover.

As the centuries turn into millenniums then into millions of years, the lonely volcano is sinking beneath the sea in extinction but right at the bottom for all this years was a female volcano who forever has been enchanted with his song who rises out from the bottom of the ocean just as he dips beneath it.

Can the old volcano make his lava stir one more time and find true love?

A simple, elegant original cartoon with a catchy song and wonderful animation.

After reading a lot of mixed reviews for Lava, from those who really loved (or shall we say 'lavad' it) and from those who consider it Pixar's worst short film. Lava is not one of my favourites from Pixar, and is perhaps one of their weaker short films (a contrast from seeing it with one of Pixar's best, and their return to form, Inside Out),but it is still very sweet and touching as well as well-made so it's still a winner.

The only real problem for me with Lava was the song. It is a lovely, beautifully sung and well-meaning one, and fits nicely within the short (also did like how the story was told through the song),but felt a touch overlong and repetitive, which dragged the pace a tad and one does wish that there was a little more story, while effectively simple it was like a lot of attention went into the song and it dominated everything else. However as always from Pixar the animation in Lava is wonderful, the character designs of the lover volcanoes are appealing but even better are the vibrant colours, gorgeously rich backgrounds and the nature surrounding visuals. The time elapse of a thousand years on the volcano is a visual masterstroke and very cleverly done.

No matter how slight or predictable the story is, it is difficult to deny how truly sweet and touching it is, it really resonated with me emotionally. The characters are very cute and it was easy to feel their charming romantic chemistry, while the singing voices are beautiful and soulful which does help to give the song, no matter whether you like it or not, the emotion it does clearly have. All in all, an above-decent short film from Pixar, if not one of their best, almost did 'lava' it. 8/10 Bethany Cox

It's the life of a volcano named Uku in the south Pacific. He is slowly collapsing back into the sea when a new volcano named Lele rises.

I like the south Pacific music in this Pixar short. The concept is cool. Only the life cycle of a volcano isn't right. One may not expect correct nature in a cartoon but a Pixar animation should be better. I wanted coral and more of the marine life. As a volcano erode, a ring of coral spreads around it. The coral could have been a halo for the volcano as it sinks back into the sea. I still like the song and the concept.