Review: 21357 Disney Pixar Luxo Jr. from LEGO® Ideas

1986 was a historic year.  The world was rocked by some tragedies; the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch and the Chernobyl disaster remains the worst nuclear accident in the history of nuclear power generation. On a lighter note, the disposable camera was invented by Fujifilm, and the animated short film Luxo Jr. was produced and released by Pixar Animation Studios.

The next LEGO® Ideas set to be released is 21357 Disney Pixar Luxo Jr., a LEGO version of the baby lamp and ball featured in the short film, which remains a icon of the company today.

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

21357 Disney Pixar Luxo Jr.

• Release date: 1 June 2025, pre-orders available now from links below
• Pieces: 613

Price: 

• US$ 69.99 on LEGO.com US
• CA$ 89.99 on LEGO.com Canada
• GB£ 59.99 on LEGO.com UK
• AU$ 109.99 on LEGO.com Australia
• NZ$ 129.99 on LEGO.com New Zealand
• DE€ 69,99 on LEGO.com Deutschland
• NL€ 69,99 on LEGO.com Nederland
• FR€ 69,99 on LEGO.com France
• PLN .99 on LEGO.com Polska
• NOK 949,90 on LEGO.com Norge
• DKK 599.95 on LEGO.com Danmark

Other countries click here

About Luxo Jr. and the LEGO version

Luxo Jr. is a computer animated 2-minute film written and directed by John Lasseter, released by the fledgling Pixar Animation Studios in 1986. Pixar began as a division of Lucasfilm in 1979 before Steve Jobs of Apple funded their formation as a separate company. Their first feature, Toy Story, would not be released until 1995 but Luxo Jr. was their opening salvo, marking a declaration of intent to the world of what was truly possible with computer generated animation.

 

© 1986-2025 Disney · Pixar

The simple storyline is summarised as:

A baby lamp finds a ball to play with and it's all fun and games until the ball bursts. Just when the elder Luxo thinks his kid will settle down for a bit, Luxo Jr. finds another ball—ten times larger.

The short was unveiled in August 1986 at the computer graphics conference SIGGRAPH and the audience were astonished by how computer generated images could be so expressive. The idea of traditional animation techniques being married with CGI was so revolutionary, it was difficult to fathom. One attendee approached Lasseter to ask, "It was so funny, what software did you use?" 

It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film, becoming the first CGI film to be nominated in that category. Walt Disney Pictures was the distributor of the early Pixar movies before acquiring Pixar in 2006. Today, 15 of Pixar's films are in the 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time. 

 

LEGO set 21357 Disney Pixar Luxo Jr. is developed from the fan model submitted by Toby Brett (also known as Toby1Kenobi) on the LEGO Ideas platform. His project submission passed review in September 2024, so it's great to see the set hit the shelves so soon.

New moulds

We are treated to two new moulds in this set, always a bonus with LEGO Ideas sets as new moulds are not common occurrences within this theme.

Brick Round Curved 6 x 6 x 1 (7426)

There are two different prints provided of this new mould:

• 2x Brick Round Curved 6 x 6 x 1 with Red star in Yellow (6560646)
• 4x Brick Round Curved 6 x 6 x 1 with Dark Azure stripe in Yellow (6560647)

This shallow 6x6 dome matches the circle made by four of the Slope, Curved 3 x 3 Corner Round (76797). The underside of the new mould is versatile, with a central axle hole option as well as traditional antistuds/tubes. More importantly, it's more stable than using 4 of the quarters, and suitable for printing.

Technic 10 x 11 x 5.5 Curved Half Bell (7345)

• 10 x 11 x 5.5 Curved Half Bell with Light Bluish Gray Lines print in White (6527804 | 7345)

Geometry

This half bell panel is 10 modules in height with 5 connections: 4 Technic pin holes and a single axle hole. 

The smaller end is 4 modules in diameter, while the larger end is 11.

There are 2 existing 11-module hemispheres that connect nicely to the completed bell shape:

• Technic Panel Dome 11 x 11 with Pin Holes in Bright Light Orange (6510120 | 4413)
• Dome Hemisphere 11 x 11 with 2 x 2 Studs on Top (98107, 99199)

While I needed an axle to connect the LEGO® Technic System dome (using an axle down to the cross axle), the LEGO® System dome slotted beautifully and securely into place just using its extended tabs. However these domes were only produced in 2012 and 2013, for the LEGO® Star Wars™ Planet series, and plain ones were never official released.

Recolours

There are 6 recolours in this relatively small set.

• 1x Plate Special 8 x 8 with Grille [Hole in Center] in Dark Orange (6561357 | 4151)
• 2x Dome 6 x 3 x 3 Half in Bright Light Yellow (6551573 | 7202)
• 2 x Technic Ball Joint with Through Axle Hole in Light Bluish Gray (6551714 | 53585)

• 1x Plate Round Corners 4 x 4 x 2/3 Circle with 2 x 2 Opening in White (6564917 | 79387)
• 1x Technic Axle Connector 2 x 3 with Ball Socket, Closed Sides in White (6560445 | 67695) – note this colour did exist with the older mould variation.
• 1x Technic Axle and Pin Connector Angled Triple - 60° in White (6559579 | 7329) this is the first recolour since we saw this mould debut in 10347 Petite Sunny Bouquet last month.

Recolour, or back from the past?

There are 2x Rubber Bands 3 x 3 in Light Bluish Gray (6564266) supplied in the set. Surprisingly, these colour-match ones from 35 years ago.

The 3x3 rubber band came in a shade of light grey in six sets back in the 1990s, and the nature of the rubber material means the colours are very similar, despite the production being 3 decades apart. They don't match old light grey bricks, nor the current light bluish grey – they're lighter – but they do match one another. The old version, shown top right from 1990, is rather rare and expensive on the secondary marketplace, so it's great to see it return once more.

426 White v.3 and 427 Cool Yellow v.3

We noticed that some of known white elements had new element IDs in the inventory, a few of which are pictured above. This set uses the updated colour 426 White v.3 for many of the white elements.

Bright Light Yellow [TLG name 226 Cool Yellow] has also had its formulation changed, and the parts in this set use the new shade, 427 Cool Yellow v.3:

Above left you see three 2x4 tiles in the old shade 226 Cool Yellow, and on the right, the tiles are 427 Cool Yellow v.3, from LEGO® Art set 31215 Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers. The 1x1 round and half-hemispheres are from Luxo Jr., and are clearly the new shade.

For more information on both updates, see my recent article about the LEGO colour changes to White and Cool Yellow. 

New prints

The 3 new prints appear on the elements I already mentioned as new moulds, but for completionism, we have:

• 2x Brick Round Curved 6 x 6 x 1 with Red star in Yellow (6560646)
• 4x Brick Round Curved 6 x 6 x 1 with Dark Azure stripe in Yellow (6560647)
• 2x 10 x 11 x 5.5 Curved Half Bell with Light Bluish Gray Lines print in White (6527804 | 7345)

There are no other printed elements, and no sticker sheet in the set.

Rare elements

Three elements are rare, having only appeared in one or two sets.

• 8 x Road Sign Clip-on Triangular with Open O Clip in Yellow (6534027 | 65676) has only been in 10355 Blacktron Renegade
• 1 x Technic Brick 2 x 2 with Ball Socket in Green (6462425 | 67696) in 2 other sets
• 2 x Plate Round Half 3 x 6 with 1 x 2 Cutout in Reddish Brown (6430291 | 18646) in 2 other sets

The build

The ball

The ball is built first, and there are some delightful Easter eggs during the build process. 

In the central section of the ball's innards, a selection of pairs of Pixar characters are depicted using stacked plates. Do you recognise all 4 pairs? Also, another Pixar reference is found in the internal area of the structure shown below. Answers at the end of the review, for those who need a bit of help.

This structure is built twice, for either side of the ball, to create the supports for the triangular road signs as well as attachment points for the new 6x6 shallow dome elements. Clever use of droid arms creates the perfect angle for the triangular road signs in each corner, by attaching the signs to the bar sections of the arms. 

Packed with Easter eggs, the internal structure is robust and now ready for the 6 new 6x6 curved brick elements to be positioned. The end result is a very satisfying LEGO depiction of the iconic ball.

As soon as we saw the initial images of the ball, we had a sense of déjà vu here at New Elementary. Two MOCs created for articles by Moko (above left) and Thomas Jenkins (right) have used a similar outer structure with triangular road signs and 6x6 circular elements.

You can see a breakdown of Moko's ball and compare it with a breakdown of Thomas' umbrella ball on the original articles; all three balls have solved the geometry in slightly different ways.

The lamp

The first part of the lamp to be built is the base. 

There's actually a lot going on inside, with many more Easter eggs to be found – I think I found 7 characters. Again, my guesses are at the end.

Technic Brick 2 x 2 with Ball Socket in Green (6462425 | 67696) is used in combination with one of the newly recolored Technic Ball Joint with Through Axle Hole in Light Bluish Grey (6551714 | 53585) to create the right angled joint. 

The base is solid and robust; perfect to withstand the hopping action Luxo Jr. is known for.

The lamp shade utilises LEGO Technic System beams and connectors, while the light bulb is made of LEGO System elements. A simple 2 x 2 plate with pin on bottom (2476, 48241) unites the two sections, making it easy to remove the bulb should you want to reveal yet another Easter egg within. Do you know this one?

The clever use of the rubber bands within the angled structure of the lamp allows a 'springing' action, to recreate the hopping motion of the playful lamp.

There's an optional little stand that allows one of the classic poses to be recreated, when Luxo Jr. hops onto the ball, resulting in a deflation. To recreate this, 2 of the Brick Round Curved 6 x 6 x 1 are removed. The stand requires a stud inversion for the ball to be attached, which is artfully and simply achieved using the recoloured Plate Special 8 x 8 with Grille in Dark Orange (6561357 | 4151).

The final appearance looks great. The proportions seem right and there's no doubt that this is Luxo Jr.  I'm so pleased a new element was created for the lampshade portion, as I think it really brings the character to life. Those little head tilts can be achieved, with plenty of poseability, as we'll examine next.

Play feature

The design of the lamp gives plenty of options to pose.  It can rotate at the base and then both flex and turn thanks to the joint at the lampshade.

The iconic hopping motion can be mimicked nicely thanks to the use of the rubber bands to spring the joints into the upright position once more.

Conclusion

As someone who has grown up with Pixar's groundbreaking animations over the decades, I'll admit that I am both a fan of Pixar and also the childlike Luxo Jr. character.

I am very pleased with the final appearance of the LEGO version of the character, but also it is a lot of fun to build the set. There are many more Easter eggs than I have mentioned; in fact, its product designer Tom Gerardin challenged folks to find the 32 different Easter eggs within the model! I don't want to point out all the surprises as it's enjoyable build process. 

There's something fun about brick-built household objects, and this one has the added benefit of being an iconic character for many of us. Of course, like all LEGO sets, this won't be for everyone but I personally enjoyed the build process and the final model. Now I want to build appropriately scaled P, X, A and R letters to complete the model.

The final model has improved upon Toby's submission (above) while still retaining the overall size and appearance of the model that everyone originally voted for. 

Set 21357 Luxo Jr. has 613 elements and is priced at US$69.99/ £59.99/ 69.99€/ AU$109.99, which gives a price per part value of 11.4c/9.8p/11.4c. Not too bad, given the 'IP tax' plus some large new elements with prints in there.  

Pre-order 21357 Disney Pixar Luxo Jr from LEGO® Ideas

Answers

Did you know all these characters from Pixar movies?

Left to right:

• Carl & Russel from the movie Up
• Sully & Mike from Monsters, Inc.
• Woody & Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story movies
• Alfredo Linguini & Remy from Ratatouille

The round black and red structures represent The Incredibles.

In the lamp base, I could spy:

• Dory and Nemo from Finding Dory and Finding Nemo represented by the (mainly) 1x2 bricks. 
• Coco with two Aztec marigold flowers in one corner from Coco.
• From the Cars movies, Lightning McQueen could be the red 1 x 1 Half Circle (24246) and perhaps Mater next to him as a 1x1 reddish brown plate? Although the 1x1 transparent orange tile also reminded me of Flame from Elemental.
• Joy and Sadness from Inside Out are represented by the stacked 1x1 round plates and tiles.

The bulb Easter egg is the little Pizza Planet truck – this is like a LEGO Easter egg of a Pixar Easter egg! – this iconic pickup truck appears in almost every Pixar film.

READ MORE: 10360 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is now available: we review its new pieces and incredible construction

Help New Elementary keep publishing articles like this. Become a Patron!

A huge thank you to all our patrons for your support, especially our 'Vibrant Coral' tier: London AFOLs, Antonio Serra, Beyond the Brick, Huw Millington, Dave Schefcik, David and Breda Fennell, Gerald Lasser, Baixo LMmodels, Sue Ann Barber and Trevor Clark, Markus Rollbühler, Elspeth De Montes, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Chuck Hagenbuch, Jf, Wayne R. Tyler, Daniel Church, Lukas Kurth (StoneWars), Timo Luehnen, Chris Wight, Jonathan Breidert, Brick Owl, BrickCats, Erin and Dale and our newest top-tier patron, Thunderdave! You folks are better than inverted cheese slopes.

All text and images are ©2025 New Elementary unless otherwise attributed.