Pixar's Lava: Behind the scenes of a love story spanning millions of years

Can it still count as a short if it takes place over eons?

Pixar has been at the forefront of bringing back short films as preludes to their features for a very long time, and for Inside Out, which hits theaters this Friday, the opening act is a six-minute musical that spans millions of years.

Lava is about a gigantic chunk of rock who looks across the lonely surface of the Pacific Ocean and sings about his yearning for love. Or “love-a” as he puts it.

The extremely catchy song has been released on iTunes, and the writer and director of Lava, James Ford Murphy, worked as an animator on A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille, among many others. Here’s what he had to say about the movie’s creation.