It’s remarkable that since his career launched somewhere around 1991, the prolific Spike Jonze has only directed three feature films. I still say “prolific” because the man is a whirlwind when it comes to cranking out short films, music videos, skateboard videos and assorted side projects. His latest, a short he co-directs with Simon Cahn, can be seen on Nowness.com. We have it here:



Set in a Parisian bookstore after hours, the short is a sort of Toy Story for novels, where the inhabitants of some classic works come to life once the shopkeeper has left for the night. It’s titled Mourir Auprès de Toi (To Die By Your Side), and it’s far more surreal and tragic than any Pixar work. It is inspired by designer Olympia Le-Tan's handbags, believe it or not, and is far more sentimental than Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are.

“Me and Olympia both wanted to make a love story, and it was fun to do it with these characters,” Jonze tells the site. “It evolved naturally and it all just started with the feeling. From there you entertain yourself with ideas that excite you.”

Nothing has excited Jonze enough to book his next feature, so for now, we’ll have to rely on shorts like this to provide us with our Spike of creativity.