Striking New Concept Art from The Blue Umbrella

Monsters University is sure to be a hit when it opens this summer: it's a follow-up to one of Pixar's most beloved films and is getting strongly positive reviews thus far. What's making the whole idea even more tantalising, though, is Saschka Unseld's visually arresting, thematically sweet short film, The Blue Umbrella.

The short, which tells the story of two coincidentally-brought-together, love-struck umbrellas on a rainy New York day, certainly brings to mind Disney's Oscar-winning Paperman a bit (although that, also, is purely coincidental), as well as quite a lot of Pixar's own Red's Dream. That's where the similarities to previous stock ends though, as the artists at Pixar have crafted a beautifully breathtaking photorealistic film.

The project looks equally stunning as drawn art though, as indicated by three striking new pieces of concept art for the film released by Indiewire (the site also got a few words from Unseld about the film). Putting the icing on a pretty delicious cake is the fact that the short is scored by the brilliant Jon Brion (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, ParaNorman).

The Blue Umbrella will see a wide release in front of Monsters University this summer: 21st June (US) and 12th July (UK).