Partly Cloudy

‘Partly Cloudy’ is Pixar’s latest short film released around the beginning of August this year, being shown at cinemas before ‘Up’.  Directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Kevin Reher it is one of many short films by Pixar, including ‘Your Friend the Rat’, ‘Lifted’, ‘Geri’s Game’, ‘One Man Band’, ‘Poundin’’ and ‘Presto’.  Click here to find out more about all of these short films.

The story is based around a lonely, grey cloud called Gus and his stork friend Peck.  The clouds spend their days laughing, joking and sculpting adorable little babies from the fluffy cloud around them, whilst their delivery stalks carry them to their joyful and awaiting parents on Earth below.  However Gus seems to have a knack for creating dangerous animals with sharp teeth, horns and attitude providing tricky and hazardous cargo for Peck.  Will Peck be able to carry on with his deliveries and assisting his good friend Gus?

The animation in this film is excellent, but then again we expect nothing less from Pixar.  It is a beautiful and poetic animation for children to enjoy and for adults it reminds them of that childhood innocence.  I hadn’t given much thought to any morals, simply just enjoyed the animation, however loyalty and acceptance of everyone is perhaps the key.  Funny and sympathetic, it is pretty impossible not to crack a smile.  Watch the approx 5 min clip here.

To celebrate the last 20 years of Pixar animation, between August and November this year, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan is holding an ongoing major exhibition showcasing some of their finest work and much-loved characters.  Bringing the stories to life, the exhibition contains a mix of storyboards, sculptures, sketches, paintings and interactive elements.  The tour of this exhibition has been all over the world, starting in New York back in 2005 and set for its last stop in Mexico after Taiwan.  Personally I missed the exhibition in London 2006, and for those of you in the same boat, seeing as I’m guessing not many of us will get to experience it first-hand, it is definitely worth having a quick peek at some of the pics up and around on the net.