Paperman

'PAPERMAN': Five Stars (Out of Five)

A Disney animated short film (that debuted in theaters before 'WRECK-IT RALPH') that tells the story of a New York office worker (sometime in the mid-20th century) who falls for a woman he just met, on his way to work, and is drawn to her through paper (paper airplanes to be more specific). It was directed by first time director John Kahrs (who's other film experience has been in the animation department for Disney animated features) and written by Clio Chiang and Kendelle Hoyer (the duo also worked on the script for Disney's 2011 'WINNIE THE POOH' animated feature). It's a black-and-white short and combines traditional hand-drawn animation with computer animation. I absolutely loved the film; it's about as good a short film as I've ever seen (live action or animated)! It's so emotionally moving and beautifully magical that I have to admit I got a little teary eyed. At 7 minutes it's hard to rate in comparison with feature length films, so to say this is one of the best movies I've seen all year might be an overstatement, but it's definitely one of the best shorts I've ever seen!

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What a delightful short this is. Beautiful animation and music with a sweet, romantic story told with no dialogue. The story's about a man who meets a woman on a train platform on his way to work. There's instant chemistry but he doesn't act quickly enough and, before he knows it, the girl is gone. But, as fate would have it, he sees her again when he arrives to work at a high-rise office building. The only problem is he sees her through his office window as she's in the building across the street. I won't spoil the rest of it for you but it's the kind of story that should put a smile on the face of anyone who isn't a total grouch.

The tone of the picture is so cute that I was excited to start to watch this film . Papers are drawn lively, showing the passion of the man who has fallen in love. Paper airplanes flying from the window to the window are very beautiful. They are sometimes hit by a gust of wind, sometimes interrupted by a group of birds. A white paper airplane shines on the black and white screen. Also, the appearance of old city is wonderful and has certain atmosphere. The story is very common. A man is taken with a woman at the first meeting, so he is destined to find her and follow her, then his passion reaches her and they reunite. It's a 7-minute short film, however, it tells us the beginning of love and let us imagine the story which should be continued.

Paperman is shown before Wreck-It Ralph. It looks and feels like an elaborate daydream, and even features a story not unlike the wish- fulfillment fantasies that compose our most wonderful daydreams. Like our wish-fulfillment fantasy though, it is pretty simple and cheesy, but that's perhaps the very point of this short (and I can appreciate that). Its animation is breathtaking and you really have to watch it just to appreciate how great it is. It fills you with that wonder you felt when you watched amazing animation for the first time. I definitely recalled feeling that feeling when I first saw Toy Story when I was 4.

Wonderful short to play before Wreck-It Ralph (which plays more like a CRAZY, elaborate dream). Like Wreck-It Ralph, it's destined to be remember for a long, long time.

This short animated feature, shown before Wreck it Ralph, is a powerful example of the emotional impact that can be achieved with animation. Not a word is spoken during the film, and I found myself choked up. Paperman is the perfect mix of laughter, romance and fantasy. The black and white style is visually stunning! The animators have outdone themselves with the classic style that almost makes the technology disappear, which is a wonderful change of pace in the 3-D crazy animated film department. This is one of the best pieces of animation to come out of the Walt Disney Company in years! Wreck it Ralph is a fun film and it is worth going to see. Especially since this gem precedes it. I highly recommend seeing both, in non-3-D versions of course.