The Blue Umbrella
Tags: cute, sentimental

Plot synopsis:
A city scene is brought to life by a rainstorm. Many objects along the street – signs, lights, awnings, mailboxes, buildings, drains, drain pipes, rain gutters, windows, doors – appear to come to life and develop faces and expressions of their own, enjoying the shower. People pass on the street under their umbrellas, all of which are seemly black, except for a singular blue umbrella. As his owner stops at a street corner, the blue umbrella sees a pretty red umbrella next to him. The two exchange nervous glances, and soon become smitten with each other, but their owners' paths diverge.
Seeing this, the objects along the street begin to work with each other to bring the owners together. As the blue umbrella is about to be taken into the subway, a sign allows the wind to blow the umbrella from his owner's hands. The umbrella is floating through the air toward his destination when a sudden gust of wind caused by a passing bus veers him off course and he lands in the street. With the umbrella in danger from the traffic, the objects attempt to protect him from oncoming cars: a construction sign lights up to redirect an oncoming vehicle, a gurgling drain pipe spews water to push him out of the way, another construction sign falls on him to fling him away from another car, and a drain blasts him into the air, but he is hit by a truck, visibly upsetting the objects that have tried to help him.
Battered and bruised, the umbrella is found by his owner who straightens him out just as the owner of the red umbrella approaches, reuniting the two of them. The objects of the city silently celebrate their reunion as the umbrellas' owners sit down together at a local cafe, allowing the two umbrellas to be together after all.

Review: The Blue Umbrella is yet another charming Disney/Pixar short.
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....
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.
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 do think this was a great animated short.
PIXAR really outdid themselves with the hyper-realistic CGI in here, and the simple story of a blue umbrella falling for a red umbrella in a sea of indifferent, monochromatic umbrellas.
The subtle expressions of their surrounding environment can really captivate future animators who're looking for something to build off of.Unfortunately, it's slightly awkward to watch in a theater, as it comes before Monsters University, and it makes me feel as though some people may have walked into the wrong movie.
I really want them to enjoy it, but because of its placement, it's hard to do so.I'm sure PIXAR had good intentions placing it before Monsters University started, but with a bunch of kids coming in to watch MU, I don't think it will garner much positive attention.
This simple story is about two umbrellas who meet in the city one rainy night.
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.
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.
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.
Very Sweet and Different Short From Pixar,.
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..
A very sweet, simple story about a blue umbrella falling in love with a red umbrella.
The animation is gorgeous and the soundtrack is fittingly charming.Though giving the red umbrella (and the red umbrella alone, in a sea of umbrellas) extra long eyelashes and her human rain boots with 3" heels felt a bit unnecessary.
I didn't think that you can actually capture the vibration of a city through umbrellas.
Maybe not one of Pixar's absolute best short films in the same way Geri's Game, One Man Band, Presto and Knick-Knack are, but that can be ignored because The Blue Umbrella doesn't disappoint at all.
The story, effective in its simplicity, keeps ones attention even with the brief(perhaps too brief?) running time and never feels too obvious, it has a lot of whimsy and heart, as well being very touching.
That is not to say though that The Blue Umbrella isn't without funny moments, there are some but done subtly and gently without being in-your-face.
The characters are simple but really sweet, carrying the story beautifully.
Overall, beautiful and heartfelt, not one of the best Pixar short films but it didn't need to be to be good.
9/10 Bethany Cox. A very moving short film.
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.
but my 7-year old nephew who watched it with me did not think it was animation.
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.
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?
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.
'THE BLUE UMBRELLA': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Another magical Disney/Pixar computer animated short; this one tells the story of two umbrellas that fall in love in a rainy/singing city.
The blue umbrella must brave all sorts of harsh weather conditions in order to unite with the object of his affection (a red umbrella).
The film was directed by Saschka Unseld, who's worked in the animation department on such popular Pixar animated features as 'TOY STORY 3', 'CARS 2' and 'BRAVE'.
It's a seven minute short that debuted in theaters before 'MONSTERS UNIVERSITY' and it features a new rendering technique for lighting, shading and compositing called global illumination.
It's not quite as inspiring and emotionally moving as Disney's greatest animated short film ('PAPERMAN', from last year) but it's still an enormously impressive animated work of art that is far superior to the feature it accompanied, once again (in my opinion).
My favorite part of seeing Disney and Pixar films in the theater is getting to see the animated shorts that often precede them.
My favorite part of seeing Disney and Pixar films in the theater is getting to see the animated shorts that often precede them.
Amidst a sea of black umbrellas, a blue umbrella falls for a red umbrella and risks everything to be with her.Holy cow, just looking at the almost unanimously glowing reviews here you would think that The Blue Umbrella was a work of both pure genius and originality, revolutionary in terms of storytelling and in technical execution.
It's an overly twee short blessed with excellent CGI animation that frequently verges on realism but saddled with a predictable narrative and a saccharine sweet ending.I'm also rather surprised that no-one has mentioned just how weird it is to see umbrellas—inanimate objects with zero control over where they go—fall in love; it's a bizarre concept that just doesn't work for me (and one that raises too many questions in my mind about how they might take their relationship to the next level).5/10, largely for the technical skill that went into creating such photo-realistic animation..
This short animation tells the story of a happy blue umbrella in the crowd of unhappy umbrellas.
He meets a red umbrella by chance, and they fall in love.I cannot quite believe that a film that is only seven minutes can still be far too long.
The only time when things get a little exciting is when the umbrella gets blown over.
The only good point is that no human faces are shown, even though the film is actually related to the owners of the umbrellas..
Without any spoilers I can say it is incredible, with photo-realistic animation; yet with a Disney-like touch, cartoony faces that look almost super-imposed onto the umbrellas.
With a classical touch and beautiful musical score, this short deserves to win an Oscar.
With a charming cast of characters, and a familiar setting, I found it an excellent short, and set the mood for the proceeding film.
And very well may go down in history as one of Pixar's best short subjects..
Pixar continues its tradition of airing entertaining shorts prior to its main feature with "The Blue Umbrella" prior to "Monsters University." From the short film's beginning, I immediately noticed that the scene didn't feel cartoony or animated at all.
Pixar continues its tradition of airing entertaining shorts prior to its main feature with "The Blue Umbrella" prior to "Monsters University." From the short film's beginning, I immediately noticed that the scene didn't feel cartoony or animated at all.
Simply beautiful is its mood and execution.The plot quickly becomes unveiled as an unknown man's blue umbrella catches sight (and is smitten with) an unknown woman's red umbrella amidst the multitude of black umbrellas.
Simply beautiful is its mood and execution.The plot quickly becomes unveiled as an unknown man's blue umbrella catches sight (and is smitten with) an unknown woman's red umbrella amidst the multitude of black umbrellas.
As the whole city's mechanical, architectural and functional denizens observe and participate in the love affair, the blue umbrella maneuvers his way to the one that could be his perfect mate for rain and life.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the film's warming plot, breath-holding twists, realistic graphics, well-matched musical score and heartwarming ending..
As the whole city's mechanical, architectural and functional denizens observe and participate in the love affair, the blue umbrella maneuvers his way to the one that could be his perfect mate for rain and life.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the film's warming plot, breath-holding twists, realistic graphics, well-matched musical score and heartwarming ending..
Our hero, the title character, meets a red umbrella and it's love at first sight.
I quite liked the use of colors in this one and it was also sweet how they used his owner and the woman as human equivalents of the umbrellas.
He worked on several high-profile Pixar films already and I hope he gets to make his own at some point.
In my opinion, this is one of the best short films from 2013 and people should definitely watch it.
A sweet, funny and simple Pixar short.
I saw this short at the cinema with my mum today before 'Monster's University' and while it's not as good as 'Knick Knack' and 'Day and Night,' it's better than 'Partly Cloudy' and has intelligent ideas.The plot is straightforward yet effective, which is helped by the realistic street, the simple yet cute facial expressions on the red and blue umbrellas and the humanistic features on the buildings, traffic lights, water spout and the manhole cover to name just a few - they made me laugh and reminded me of the Toyota Yaris Hybrid commercials where objects in the street come to life and the Zoopla adverts where the houses actually talk like human beings.
I also liked how the first raindrops moved in time with the quirky yet harmonious music and the clever ending where the owners of the blue and red umbrellas are sitting outside a café called La Parapluie (French for umbrella).
To conclude, this isn't Pixar's best short but it is still sweet, simple and amusing.
Another winner from Pixar's short films dept.
The Blue Umbrella is the short Pixar film which accompanies the cinema release of Monsters University.
Like all Pixar shorts, it is highly accomplished, very entertaining, and completely distinctive.
And, apart from animated features, it appears to be completely live action.
Of course, it is not, but Pixar's strengths are such that what they put on screen can be indistinguishable from reality: it may well be that all this film is animated.Whatever.
This is just rumination from an animation fan, and consideration of technicalities should not spoil the enjoyment of this simple but effective movie which makes excellent use of 3D..
A typically touching Pixar short, The Blue Umbrella is not Pixar at its best yet it's heartfelt story shall move you.
Grade: BB / 60%My screening for Monsters University began with Pixar short called 'The Blue Umbrella'.
Not surprising as Pixar is known for screening a short film before its main features, but Indian theaters never played one perhaps, until today.A typically touching Pixar short on a blue colored umbrella (with little eyes) enamored with a red colored umbrella-ina (also with little eyes) one rainy night, The Blue Umbrella is a familiar tale yet Pixar livens up this film with its little magical moments.
Its not just about to umbrellas here, but about two people - the owners of these umbrellas - who meet for the first time, after the blue umbrella chases after it's or rather his lady love, using the wind to move.And the entire street -the drain pipes, the traffic signal, the street lights, the building windows -  witnesses this incident with their little eyes.
When a car threatens to mangle the blue umbrella that's helplessly lying in the middle of the road, the drain it's lying on blows out steam so it can avert the accident.It's not Pixar at its best; for that you'll need to catch 'Geri's Game', 'Knicks Knack', 'Lifted', 'For The Birds' and ''Presto'.
But you'd surely shed a tear or two at the very end because you'd find 'The Blue Umbrella' simple yet very heartfelt..
A delightful and whimsical animated short.
What I like about this animated short is the photorealistic animation and lighting.
I like the way various objects in this film have faces with expressions.
These objects include street signs, street lights, awnings, mailboxes, windows, drain pipes, rain gutters, etc.
All these objects come to life during a rain storm.
Umbrellas also have faces during this rainstorm including a blue umbrella and a red umbrella who meet and fall in love.
There is no dialogue in this animated short only facial expressions.
I think it is very artistic the way a story is told with just imagery and facial expressions This animated short also includes a pleasant musical score.
So I find 'The Blue Umbrella' delightful..
This is a Pixar animated film short, not quite 7 minutes long.
It is contained as an "extra" on the DVD of the Pixar movie, "Monsters University." The animated setting is any large city, in the early evening, probably in winter as it is already dark and the crowds are off work and headed to their homes or other evening destinations.
It starts to rain.In a sea of black umbrellas we see a bright blue one, masculine with eyes and a smile.
Soon it notices a bright red umbrella, feminine and also with eyes and a bit more glamour.
They make eye contact, they are attracted to each other.As the sea of umbrellas movie, and the man carrying the blue umbrella enters an underground station, a gust of updraft strips the umbrella away, and it is carried aloft, some distance.
With the help of gutters gushing water at the right time, or a street construction sign directing traffic away, the blue umbrella survives the traffic, barely.
But as he is carried to a nearby café, he finds that the man is meeting a lady, the one with the red umbrella.
But maybe not, because "Parapluie" is simply the French word for "Umbrella."A clever and entertaining short film..
and say just because the Pixar imprint is on BLUE UMBRELLA, it must be rated a "10" out of 10, and acclaimed as the best thing ever to come out since bug spray was invented.
The fact of the matter is that THE BLUE UMBRELLA cannot hold a candle to last year's winning inanimate object cartoon short, PAPER AIRPLANE.
Based on my experience with other reviews, someone from Pixar will soon read this, feel it is not 1000% worshipful of BLUE UMBRELLA, and have it deleted from this site.