''Partly Cloudy'' is a 2009 American

computer animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

, written and directed by

Peter Sohn Peter Sohn (born October 18, 1977) is an American animator, voice actor, storyboard artist, and film director. He is known for his work at Pixar Animation Studios as the director of 2015's ''The Good Dinosaur''. He has also been the voice of Emil ...

and produced by Kevin Reher. It was shown in theaters before Pixar's feature film '' Up'' and is a special feature on its DVD and Blu-ray release. It was included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2009. In a CGSociety article, Sohn says his idea for the film came from watching ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, ...

'' as a child: in the movie, a stork delivers Dumbo, leading a young Sohn to wonder where the birds got their babies from. His conclusion was that the babies came from clouds, hence flying animals being needed to deliver them.

Plot

All day long, cheerful clouds in the sky make cute and cuddly babies, such as human boys and girls, kittens, puppies, and other creatures, and give them to storks for delivery to the expectant parents. However, one lonely gray cloud named Gus has the task of creating animals that are cute but not so cuddly. His delivery stork, Peck, gets the worst of it, being bitten by a crocodile, butted by a

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

, and pricked by a porcupine. When Peck sees that his next delivery is a baby

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

, he grows more than a little fearful and flies away. Feeling rejected, despondent, and angry, Gus unleashes a brief

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

, then starts crying with rain pouring from below him. Peck, however, soon returns with a

football helmet The football helmet is a piece of protective equipment used mainly in gridiron football, although a structural variation has occasional use in Australian rules football. It consists of a hard plastic shell with thick padding on the inside, a ...

and

shoulder pads Shoulder pads may refer to: * Shoulder pads (fashion) * Shoulder pads (sport), particularly gridiron football {{disambiguation ...

, created for him by another cloud to keep him safe (alluded to in an earlier scene, where the same cloud creates a baby that would grow to love football). Gus instantly cheers up and gives Peck an

electric eel The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volt ...

to deliver, which shocks him despite the protective equipment; this time, though, Peck remains in good (but slightly frazzled) spirits.

References

External links

* * * 2009 films 2009 computer-animated films 2009 short films 2009 3D films 2000s American animated films 2000s animated short films 3D animated short films Animated films about birds Films scored by Michael Giacchino Films directed by Peter Sohn Animated films without speech Pixar short films Viral videos {{2000s-Disney-animation-film-stub