Huffington Post — The online premiere of Disney’s “Paperman”

Jim Hill

12 years ago

Huffington Post — The online premiere of Disney's "Paperman"

So what do you know about "Paperman," that new Walt Disney Animation Studios production which was recently nominated for a Best Animated Short Oscar?

Well, you may have heard that this mostly black-and-white film uses a new technology, which Disney senior software engineer Brian Whited created to merge CG and hand-drawn animation. Or that this 7 minute-long film (which was helmed by John Kahrs,
a first-time director) is kind of an urban fairytale. In that it
recounts one man's desperate efforts to attract the attention of a
beautiful young lady in the skyscraper directly across the way.

But unless you caught "Wreck-It Ralph" during its theatrical run, you haven't yet had the chance to see "Paperman"
in its entirety. Not 'til today, that is. Which is when I present an
exclusive piece of Disney magic, the online premiere of this Academy
Award-nominated animated short.

Now don't let this charming, deceptively simple-looking film fool you. Though "Paperman"
may have a limited color palette (i.e. grey, white, black & red),
the sky's the limit when it comes to the innovative technology that
actually made this animated short possible. Which brings the expressive
& organic feel of traditional hand-drawn Disney animation to the CG
world.

Which is pretty impressive unto itself. But in the end, what you're going to remember about "Paperman"
isn't the set of software tools that gave this animated short its
signature look. But — rather — the sweet story that Kahrs and his
relatively tiny team at WDAS (we're talking just a core group of 11 or
12 people. Including first-time art director Jeff Turley and animation supervisor Patrick Osborne)
crafted about how a chance meeting on a subway platform can sometimes
lead to love. Providing that you know how to properly fold a paper
airplane, that is.

Look, I know that February 14th is still more than two weeks away at this point. But trust me, folks. "Paperman"
is just the sort of early St. Valentine's Day present that you're going to want to share with the someone you care
about today. So if you'd like to check out this Academy Award-nominated animated short ASAP, you can either click on the headline at the very top of this page or
follow this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-hill/paperman-short-video-disney_b_2574348.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment