Country: USA
Website: http://www.pixar.com/shorts/pc/index.html
Director: Peter Sohn
Writer: Not Credited
Summary: Partly Cloudy expands on the myth that Storks deliver babies, focusing on one particular stork who must collect a variety of vicious animals from his partnered cloud as opposed to his friends who spend their time with fluffy kittens and angelic babies.
As Pixar animations go, this is an extremely weak one. You would think choosing to go down the silent route would be a strong choice for the studio (especially considering the success of the near-silent Wall.E) but this feels rushed and under-developed.
The emotions of the two main characters are captured well and to great effect and there was some tugging of the heart strings going on that registered successfully but when compared to any other of the studio's offerings this doesn't hold water. The central joke about the fact that the stork in question has to carry the dangerous babies (hedgehogs, crocodiles, sharks) to their parents wasn't developed for long enough to make it engaging or funny enough or to give the conclusion its much-needed 'aww' moment. A good idea, sadly wasted.
Chances: At the time it seemed a surprise that Partly Cloudy didn't make it to the nomination stage (based on the fact that it is from Disney Pixar) but having now seen it that decision is fully vindicated. It isn't even as good as the other short that features on the Blu-ray copy of Up.
Distribution: It appears to be available illegally online but for those (rightly) preferring more established (and legal) methods of distribution, you can see this on the Blu-ray and DVD offerings of Up. On the same disc you can also see Dug's Special Mission, an extension to the feature film which shows what Pixar is capable of when they put their minds to it.
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