Piper (film)

Piper
Film poster
Directed by Alan Barillaro
Produced by Marc Sondheimer
Written by Alan Barillaro
Music by Adrian Belew
Edited by Sarah K. Reimers
Production
company
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
Release date
Running time
 6 minutes[1]
Country United States

Piper is a 2016 computer-animated short film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. Written and directed by Alan Barillaro, it was theatrically released alongside Pixar's Finding Dory on June 17, 2016.[1][2] It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 89th Academy Awards, becoming the first Pixar animated short to win the award since For the Birds in 2002.

The short film involves a hungry baby sandpiper learning to overcome her fear of water. The inspiration came from less than a mile away from Pixar Studios in Emeryville, California, where Barillaro, a veteran Pixar animator, would run alongside the shore and notice birds by the thousands fleeing from the water but returning between waves to eat.[1][2]

Plot

A flock of sandpipers hunt for food at a seashore, rushing to peck at the sand when the wave recedes and retreating when it comes in. One baby is encouraged by her mother to join the flock, but she fails to retreat in time and is drenched by the incoming surf. The incident leaves the baby terrified of the water; she refuses to leave the nest, but soon notices a group of hermit crabs digging into the sand to find deeper food and keep from being buffeted by the tide. By copying their behavior, she starts to see the beauty of the underwater world and becomes skilled at discovering food for the flock.

Production

Alan Barillaro used new, cutting edge technology to create Piper over three years.[3] In order to give the sandpipers and other birds visible in the background a realistic look, Barillaro and the short animation team visited beaches in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the Monterey Bay Aquarium to study their appearance and behavior. The sandpipers' feathers in particular were rendered in minute detail.[2]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Academy Awards February 26, 2017 Best Animated Short Film Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer Won [4]
Annie Awards February 4, 2017 Best Animated Short Subject Piper Won [5]

The short was also part of The animation Showcase 2016.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Snetiker, Marc (April 6, 2016). "Piper: Pixar's cutest new short-film hero gets first look". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Imbler, Sabrina (June 17, 2016). "A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Pixar's New Short Film 'Piper'". Audubon. National Audubon Society. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  3. ↑ Robinson, Joanna (June 16, 2016). "Behind the Scenes of Piper, Pixar's Best Short Film in Years". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ "89th Academy Awards Nominees". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  5. ↑ "44th Annie Award Nominees". International Animated Film Society. November 28, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
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