Producing a good love story isn’t easy in the film industry. Time and time again, movies that attempt to illustrate both the joys and obstacles of love have come off as forced and shallow. The recent Oscar-winning animated short Paperman, however, succeeds in illustrating a delightful tale about two people brought together in the most unusual of ways.
Originally released in accompaniment with the popular animated film Wreck-it-Ralph, Disney’s Paperman follows the story of a young man’s attempt to capture a woman’s attention using paper airplanes. After a brief encounter at a city train station, the two characters instantly fall for each other until they are forced to part ways for work. Heartbroken and lonely, the young man is given a second chance at love when he spots the woman in a building across the street from his office. Using imagination, determination and hope, he devises a plan to capture her attention by flying paper airplanes toward her building. After numerous unsuccessful attempts, he gives up hope. Only then does an unexpected twist of fate bring the two characters together.
It’s no surprise that Paperman took home the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Although this award marks Disney’s first win in the category since 1969, the company’s partnership with Pixar was a key to its success. Pixar animator John Kahrs, who also worked on popular films such as The Incredibles and Monsters Inc., directed the animated short. The company has a knack for creating enchanting characters and feel-good storylines not only in its feature length films, but also in its short films, and Paperman is no exception. Reminiscent of Pixar’s first film, Toy Story, the animated short delights audiences with the unexpected actions of inanimate objects.
The success of Paperman is due to both its production elements and its storyline. The film is in black-and-white and uses both 2-D and 3-D animation to create a simple design that matches a simple story. With no dialogue and only music to accompany the animation, the short film is an example of the power of visuals in storytelling. By utilizing black-and-white traditional animation, the film’s imagery helps create the setting of a conventional urban lifestyle while the enchanting music works to narrate the story.
But Paperman is more than a love story. It’s also about hope and the extraordinary things that can happen to ordinary people in everyday life. It’s a touching tale that, in the span of seven short minutes, can evoke smiles, laughter and a heartwarming “aww” from the audience. By seamlessly blending various animation techniques to illustrate a charming story about love and fate, Paperman does not miss as it aims towards perfection.
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