The Blue Umbrella

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.

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.

This simple story is about two umbrellas who meet in the city one rainy night. But, they are soon separated and it sure looks as if the boy umbrella will never again meet the lady umbrella. As far as the story for "The Blue Umbrella" goes, it's good….but that's NOT the reason to watch the film—especially since the story is incredibly simple and lacks complexity. Instead, it's like Pixar's showing off to the world just how good they can do CGI, as the film often looks like it was filmed live---it's THAT good. This is especially true at the very beginning. Then, slowly, it becomes obvious that it's NOT real, as you see an anthropomorphic city—but one that is amazingly well rendered. In fact, it's so well done it makes you wonder just how much longer it will be until they create films where you simply cannot tell it's not filmed live and with real live actors!

UPDATE: Since I reviewed this film many months ago, the list of Oscar nominated animated shorts was released and I went to a special showing of the nominees today. "The Blue Umbrella" was not nominated and I assume this is because another Disney short, "Get a Horse!" was nominated (and I think each studio can submit only one short--though I could be wrong here). "Get a Horse!", in my opinion, is by far the best of the films I saw today--but "The Blue Umbrella" was awfully close. Confused? Well, in the last few years, in addition to showing the five nominees, the show also present a few so-called 'Commended Films'--ones that weren't nominated but which are awfully good--and "The Blue Umbrella" was one of them. Sadly, "The Blue Umbrella" was better than any of the nominees other than "Get a Horse!" and will probably be overshadowed by it. But it's a nice and lovable film on it's own merit.

The animation and sound design in this are surreal. The story is super simple and bland but what can I say, sometimes I'm just tryna feel good.

This short made me feel good.

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.