Partly Cloudy (2009)

A Disappointing Continuation

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

As we all know, babies of all types are delivered by storks, which collect them from their point of creation (in the clouds) and carry them in bundles to the ground. Of course you have you r cute creatures like puppies and kittens, but one stork works with a slightly less fun cloud where the creatures tend to be of a more "jagged" nature. Over time the working conditions that the stork has to endure appears to put a strain of the working relationship.This short preceded Up in the cinemas and continues Pixar's tradition of having a supporting short film for their releases (a tradition that I'm all in favour of and still maintain that more "live action" releases should do it too). This slot has seen some very good animated short films and it must be said that Partly Cloudy is not really one of the better ones that they have done. Of course, as with nearly all things Pixar, one of their outputs being slightly below their normal standard still means that it is very good by normal standards, and so it is with Partly Cloudy.In terms of content it is a relatively straightforward short with physical comedy providing all of the four or five laughs it has. This is not a complaint though because it is only a short film and as such it does do the job of being amusing by delivering these solid laughs in a short time. Of greater note that the specific laughs is the concept itself. The stork aspect is an old one but the whole idea is well brought to life by the design and the animation and it was this spirit of invention and creativity behind the laughs that I enjoyed.Not Pixar's strongest moment in terms of their feature-supporting short films and a bit simple in terms of substance but the design and concept is imaginative and generally it is still funny and enjoyable with physical comedy sight gags.

As of late, the Pixar shorts haven't been up to scratch as they used to be.The first big indication of this was with 2003's flop Boundin', which even the narrator knew it was a bore. The story seemed to be Pixar's bare minimum and the visuals just seemed generic.Jack-Jack Attack was a huge improvement, and no doubt it was destined to be, having taken the whole scene out of the actual film. Therefore the dialogue was riveting, the visuals were superb and it was very enjoyable. Of course, being an extract from the movie, it lacked in an original short and to be honest compared to most of the previous shorts, it was pale in comparison.One Man Band was a nice idea, but it was executed messily and the music got a-bit irritating in the end, but I liked the story here and the characters, but it generally was a step down from Jack-Jack Attack.Mater and the Gaslight featured like Jack-Jack Attack - characters from a main Pixar movie, but it wasn't an extract it was actually an original short. Now I must admit that I enjoy Cars, but this short was just so...mediocre and to be honest - pointless. Of course not as bad as Boundin', it did contain an engaging humorous story after all..Lifted, was a new short not based on any Pixar movie, but it confirmed my fears that the Pixar shorts were slowly dying in quality.This was further confirmed by Your Friend The Rat and Presto - whilst the rat one was quite informative and taught me many things I didn't even know about rats - it was too long and as a result boring. Presto was just an overdose of slapstick and frankly almost as bad as Boundin' BURN-E was cute and much better than the previous two shorts, but again it was quite weak in story and humour. Although I did like how incorporated the character into the film itself.So on forth to Partly Cloudly - absolute visual joy to watch not only in the stunning animation, but the cuteness of it all. The story was very interesting and I really rooted for the characters and the short had some of the best music I'd heard from a Pixar short for a long time.Like the title says best Pixar short since Mike's New Car, and has drawn me back to wanting to go to the cinema to see them rather than dreading their appearance. In total great short and if you're a fan of the 80s, 90s and even early 00s Pixar shorts, I'm certain that this'll keep you back on track to adoring them again!

Party Cloudy is another in the always enjoyable short subjects that come on before the main feature of Pixar's cannon. It's a welcome treat since it's a throwback to the days in movies when it was a given to get at least one cartoon, if not more plus a newsreel, before the movie started. In this case Partly Cloudy looks in its first few moments like it will be a riff on that Looney Tunes cartoon where the drunken stork drops the wrong baby to the expecting Sylvester and mother. Instead we're treated to a series of gags involving, yes, clouds that are responsible for creating all life, all bundled up in little blankets and sent on the merry way, only to find some hazard with an untalented cloud that keeps creating dangerous things (i.e. porcupine, shark) for the bewildered stork.This was all fine and cute and had a couple of chuckles (some big laughs from the kids, more or less, it was hard to pay too much attention since, thankfully, the audience was not too hyped up or annoying). But, there is something of note that should be taken: you may need to explain, after Partly Cloudy and Up, where babies come from to your kids if in case they don't really know yet or aren't too clear (or, you know, you're one of *those* parents that keep it all in the dark for like religious reasons or just too uncomfortable). What I mean to say is that the first short perpetuates the ol' stork-bringing-the-baby story. This may be eons old and no kid buys it and maybe info on the internet gets the kids knowing at younger ages - but then in Up, in the montage showing the life of Carl and Ellie Frederickson, we find out, clearly, about Carl and Ellies' inability to have children.So, just so you parents know, be prepared to a) let your kids know, definitively, that the stork stuff is BS, period, no questions asked (unless if your kid is just dumb enough to believe it), and b) be prepared for MORE questions from the similar subject, if it comes up at all, from Up... Perhaps though I've gone off on a tangent here; suffice to say Partly Cloudy is neither the best (it's not as good as the magician short that came with WALL-E last year) nor the worst (it's not forgettable like that bah sheep short with the Incredibles). It's fluffy and light, and hopefully it wont incur too many questions from your kids, such as "Why can't the stork help out Carl and Ellie?" Actually, at that point, they're on their own.

This is the short Pixar film that was shown immediately before UP. One thing I love about the Pixar full-length films is how they always begin with a short film--talk about value for the audience! The plot involves storks and clouds. Apparently all babies (human and animal alike) are created in the clouds and each cloud has its own stork assigned to it. One stork is rather put upon, however, as his cloud seems a bit...crazy. Instead of creating cute babies, puppies and kittens like the other clouds, this one makes very, very dangerous babies that invariably hurt the poor stork. It's pretty funny seeing the stork get hurt again and again. It's also amazingly adorable seeing the little puppies and kittens--as it's animated in a very adorable style. And, for the first time, this short is in 3-D.My wife and daughter absolutely loved this short film. As for me, I liked it but not nearly as much. This is mostly because compared many of the other Pixar shorts (such as PRESTO, LIFTED, JACK-JACK ATTACK and ONE MAN BAND) it comes up a bit short on laughs. Still, it is an enjoyable and welcome and I recommend you see it and UP as soon as possible.