Der blaue Regenschirm

I didn't think that you can actually capture the vibration of a city through umbrellas. I love to see open-minded people that have crazy ideas. And I love more to see their ideas put into practice. This short is the case. Together with the soundtrack, which is as cool as the one used in "Piper", Pixar won my heat for the 2nd time.

I know this is animation and we're supposed to be dazzled, but I had the opposite reaction. I did love it, I do marvel at it, but it's so well done I allowed myself to believe it was real. That's the goal, I think, of this kind of animation work, this advancement and it was so advanced beyond what we've come to expect I said YES and went along with it. Of course, I know the truth ... but my 7-year old nephew who watched it with me did not think it was animation. For him and for children, inanimate objects can come to life, they can have faces, they can have drama. So I watched from his perspective and it was marvelous.

I hope this kind of work continues and becomes so accepted that audiences will stop talking about the technical and come back to the story. (Or as much.)

I will note that in my opinion, the storytellers worked very hard to prevent any decision of male or female for their humans. There was only one moment when I thought "that's a woman" -- otherwise, it could have been two men, two women, one of each ... I wonder if people are assuming male/female because of the colors of the umbrellas and boots? Or because the umbrellas' faces have been rendered with choice of male/female? Then again, that's ME making an assumption, that long eyelashes and coy looks are female. And that's not necessarily so!

As far as the idea of coupling it with MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, I think it's a great idea. As I said, I watched it with my nephew and he has watched it over and over and over again, making my purchase of the DVD even more worth its value than if he was just watching an obviously animated movie. I'm happy for him that he also got a smaller packaged gift of suspension of disbelief.

The Blue Umbrella (2013)

*** (out of 4)

Fun short from Pixar, which was shown before their feature MONSTERS UNIVERSITY. This film here deals with a blue umbrella who sees a red umbrella and quickly falls in love. The rest of the film pretty much as the blue umbrella going through a wide range of events trying to make its way over to the red one. This idea might seem quite simple but director Saschka Unseld does a very good job at making it move at a very good pace and also keeping the viewer interested in what's going on. The most amazing thing about this short is how real all the animation looks. There were times when we see a large number of umbrellas from the top that you'll actually think you're looking at something real and not just a piece of animation. There's also some funny moments where various items "come to life" to try and prevent the blue umbrella from being hurt. I'm not sure how much kids are going to enjoy this one but parents should be fascinated by the animation and the style, which really looks like some avant garde stuff from the 1920s.

The Blue Umbrella is yet again a brilliant and heartwarming short film that Pixar pulled off very well.When it first came on before Monsters University I thought it seemed really stupid,i said to myself,'how am I suppose to feel any love for an umbrella?',but they did it and I actually enjoyed this short even more than some previous shorts Pixar did (La Luna,Lifted,One Man Band,etc.) and I was so surprised that I cared so much about this male umbrella reuniting with the female umbrella,and the animation was just beautiful.Its not Pixar's best short,but anyone who's a fan of their previous shorts will definitely appreciate this.

A blue umbrella meets a red umbrella that he falls in love with,when the two separate,the blue umbrella escapes from his owners hands to find the female umbrella.

This is yet another Disney/Pixar computer-animated short shown before their main feature which in this case is Monsters University. This one has a different look as initially, it looks like real live action with the depiction of city streets in the rain. But then, the title character comes to life-complete with eyes and a smile-and as the score starts playing, so do many of the city's inanimate objects also come to life. And then, this blue umbrella sees a red one and...well, watch the short if you want to know. In summary, The Blue Umbrella has a wonderful charming atmosphere that permeates throughout the brief running time and should leave a long enough smile on your face as you wait for the main feature to begin...