The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2014: Animation

Very Sweet and Different Short From Pixar,

Walt Disney Feature Animation - 500 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Jon Brion, Saschka Unseld, and Sarah Jaffe in The Blue Umbrella (2013)

Sarah Jaffe

Saschka Unseld

Amidst the rain in a singing city, two umbrellas - one blue, one not - fall eternally in love.

The Blue Umbrella

A very moving short film

I know this is animation and we&apos;re supposed to be dazzled, but I had the opposite reaction. I did love it, I do marvel at it, but it&apos;s so well done I allowed myself to believe it was real. That&apos;s the goal, I think, of this kind of animation work, this advancement and it was so advanced beyond what we&apos;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 &quot;that&apos;s a woman&quot; -- 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&apos; faces have been rendered with choice of male/female? Then again, that&apos;s ME making an assumption, that long eyelashes and coy looks are female. And that&apos;s not necessarily so!

As far as the idea of coupling it with MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, I think it&apos;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&apos;m happy for him that he also got a smaller packaged gift of suspension of disbelief.

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.

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