The Blue Umbrella

Voices of: Sarah Jaffe
Directed by: Saschka Unseld
Rating: G
Genre: Short, Animation
Length: 7 minutes
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two umbrellas fall in love in a city during a rainstorm.

Review:

Tim: At this point, we should all be familiar with Pixar's short films. The Blue Umbrella is the 15th original short and it follows the prescribed formula. There's little-to-no dialogue, cute characters, underlying emotions, all packaged together in a small, adorable package. While this is a solid short film, it's hard not to feel like we haven't seen this all before. The formula might be effective, but this one followed it a little too closely. I enjoyed the movie, but it's ultimately a bit too forgettable.

The big appeal of this film is the incredible animation. The photorealistic animation was truly stunning. Multiple times I asked myself, "Is all this animated, or is it a mix of live action and animation?" At various points in the film, I honestly couldn't tell the difference. That is amazing and from a technical standpoint, this movie deserves great acclaim. It's a gorgeously depicted film. From the color of the umbrella, to the brilliant way faces show up throughout the city, the look and feel of this film is fantastic.

The story itself doesn't live up to the visuals. It's a straightforward love story. An umbrella sees another umbrella, falls in love, but loses her amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. He goes to great lengths to be reunited with her. It's simple, but it never tries to be anything more. It felt like this movie just adapted this story with umbrellas instead of people, but that was the extent of the difference. The story just felt average to me.

I liked The Blue Umbrella, but it's truly more for the visuals than the story. Pixar has done such a fantastic job with its stories over the years, this one feels just a bit below average. My kids enjoyed the short, but more because of the visual spectacle than anything else. This is a film I'd likely revisit, but again, to see the animation.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Partly Cloudy, Day and Night