Brad and Gary (lost Illumination animated short film; 2011)

A still from the short.

Status: Lost

Brad & Gary is a 2011 computer-animated short film of Flanimals from Illumination Entertainment, a unit of Universal Pictures best known for the Despicable Me series. It was directed by Pierre Coffin (who also voices Brad in the short) and animated at the then-newly formed Illumination Mac Guff in France. In September 2012, the short was selected as part of the Reel Shorts Film Festival.^[1]

Here is the short's synopsis as follows:

"This short film created by director Pyer Coffin is the story of Brad and Gary, two creatures living in an unknown world. The plot revolves around the big idea that joining forces to overcome one's shortcomings really is the only way out. Or in. Or maybe out again? It's also a tale about friendship, its ups and downs, ins and outs... This fresh look on solidarity was brought to life by the Illumination Mac Guff Studio, the team behind the success of Despicable Me."

Two short animated snippets of an incomplete render of the Brad & Gary short can be found on Jean-Michel Ponthieux-Mondoloni's animation reel uploaded on Vimeo (from 2:01-2:18), one of the animators who made said short, with a backing soundtrack and voice-acting. It is unclear however if said snippets were finalized and made it to the final cut of the Brad & Gary short. An entire storyboard for the short can be found on Didler Ah Koon's Slideshare as well.^[2]

Very little is known about this short, and it has yet to be released in any form as of 2023.