Pixar Unveils New Short "The Blue Umbrella"

With every new year comes not only a brand new feature film from Pixar, but also a magnificent little short which seems to always break new ground. Each of the studio's shorts is usually only around five minutes long, and yet they have such a powerful impact on those who see them, and each one is even more breathtaking than the last. This year Pixar presents a short film unlike any other they've ever done; The Blue Umbrella.

Have a look at a brief yet incredibly appetite-wetting 30-second clip of the short below:

Not even a full minute of footage and already this looks set to be one of the most astounding shorts Pixar has ever set out to make. YouTube commenters are saying things such as "30 seconds and already a better love story than Twilight" (and I quite agree).

The Blue Umbrella is six minutes long, directed by Pixar technical artist Saschka Unseld and tells the story of a lonely little blue umbrella falling for a red one in a world where inanimate objects come alive (and we all know how much Pixar loves bringing the inanimate to life). The short marks the first time that the studio attempts to create something that looks absolutely photorealistic, which you probably noticed when watching the short clip above. The crew had to overcome several challenges in order to nail the look, and who knows, now that they seem to have mastered how to do so we may see a full-length feature Pixar film done like this in the future.

I can't express how excited I am to see this, it looks like Pixar's most unique, spectacular short film to date - but I probably say that for every new short from the studio.

Read more over at The Wall Street Journal, and be sure to follow the short's director on Twitter, as well as the official viral marketing account for the short. Catch The Blue Umbrella in theaters this summer in front of Monsters University!