First Look At Pixar’s Newest Short Film: ‘Partly Cloudy’

Most of the attention on Pixar always gets directed straight at the main feature they produce every couple of years (although for the last three years in a row they have released one every year), with the always accompanying short film only really being paid attention to once it’s been shown with the main feature.

Well thanks to our good friends over at /Film, we get our first info about the short film which will appear before Up, entitled Partly Cloudy. The short film is the directorial debut of storyboard artist, animator and voice-artist (he was the voice of Emile in Ratatouille) Peter Sohn. And thanks to AWN, we get our first look at an image from it:

A scene from Pixar’s ‘Partly Cloudy’

Wow.

Sometimes I think Pixar has a special machine hidden away that allows them to make things look more realistic than real life itself. If it weren’t for the stork and the face on the cloud you’d think that was simply a really well photographed shot of the sky.

Just when you think they couldn’t do any better…

The short films which always accompany Pixar’s main feature are part of the experience for me. They set up the main film nicely, simultaneously complimenting it and yet standing firmly alone.

What is that still image all about, I hear you ask? Here is the synopsis:

Everyone knows that the stork delivers babies, but where do the storks get the babies from? The answer lies up in the stratosphere, where cloud people sculpt babies from clouds and bring them to life. Gus, a lonely and insecure grey cloud, is a master at creating “dangerous” babies. Crocodiles, porcupines, rams and more-Gus’s beloved creations are works of art, but more than a handful for his loyal delivery stork partner, Peck. As Gus’s creations become more and more rambunctious, Peck’s job gets harder and harder. How will Peck manage to handle both his hazardous cargo and his friend’s fiery temperament?

That just sounds like a wonderful idea although is it just me or does that seem as if it could fill up a whole feature length movie? It’ll be interesting to see how they tell that ambitious story within about five minutes or so.

Partly Cloudy will precede Up when it gets released on May 29th 2009.

Sources: /Film and AWN