G, 7 min.
Director: John Kahrs
Writers: Clio Chiang,
Kendelle Hoyer
Voices: John Kahrs, Jeff
Turley, Kari Wahlgren
When I saw this short
presented before the theatrical presentation of Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph” last
fall, my primary thought was “animated perfection.” This is a brilliant
animated film. And low and behold, Pixar didn’t make it.
The Oscar nominated “Paperman”
tells the story of just about the cutest Meet Cute you’ve ever witnessed in the
movies. Two people meet eyes on a train platform. There’s some connection made,
but they don’t meet because of schedules and differing directions or whatever.
Then, at work, the man notices the same woman in the office building across
from him. His desk is stacked with papers. He decides to see if he can get her
attention by flying a paper airplane in through the window of the room she’s
in. Despite his fierce determination and a seemingly endless supply of paper,
he can never get the airplanes to land just right for her attention. Then, life
butts in when his boss insists he get back to work. Like all of our movie
dreams, he throws caution to the wind and leaves his job to race down and
intercept her as she leaves the neighboring building. When he fails, movie
magic takes hold and all those airplanes come to life to unite these two
destined lovers.
Of course, mere description
can’t do the film justice. This is a story that could only work through
animation. More importantly, the filmmakers understood that this more classic
material demanded a more classic hand-drawn form of animation. The expressions
of the two lovers and of the paper airplanes could not be expressed with live
action or even through CGI. This had to be classically animated. It is oh so
sweet and romantic. Just the perfect movie for Valentine’s Day.
Unbelievably, Disney hasn't shut down all the streaming versions available on line in
preparation for the DVD and Blu-ray release of “Wreck-It Ralph”, which will
feature the short as an extra. “Wreck-It Ralph” is a worthy enough film for
purchase, but even if it weren’t, the home video would be worth whatever price
for the inclusion of this short by itself. “Paperman” is by far the best short
animation of 2012.
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