Paperman

You may not have seen Paperman, unless you saw Wreck-It Ralph in theatres this past fall. Paperman is the animated short from Walt Disney Animation that ran before the feature film. Yesterday, Disney made this available for all to watch through YouTube.

This is an amazing little film. It is a successful blending of the hand-drawn animation and CG animation techniques. Personally, the novelty of the stylized hyper-realized CG look of animated films has started to fade. It was important for a film to emerge without that plastic look. One that utilized the technology but didn’t sacrifice the integrity of the story or the overall styling.

Paperman is set in the 40s or 50s in Manhattan. Besides the excellent story-telling, the camera angles are inventive and dynamic and the lighting really helps to create an atmosphere which allows the viewers to immerse themselves wholly in the film. The setting, while at times being dramatic or exaggerated is still believable. I was always hoping to see more of an animator’s drawing in the final look of the film. And now, here it is: