2. The Blue Umbrella (2013)
Once again, Pixar came up trumps with this one, their latest animated short. It essentially epitomises Pixar by capturing the hearts of audiences, making us feel emotionally connected to, of all things, an umbrella. Pixar brought life to more than just the umbrella in this short, though, as we see characters emerge in the form of drainage pipes and pedestrian crossings. Who knew we'd be capable of developing an emotional connection with such things? We spend 6 minutes willing the little umbrella to win with the help of a city come to life. Not only that, but Pixar are - once again -pushing boundaries using new techniques in this photorealistic short, with a quality quite unlike any other animation we've seen so far. Hidden away amongst the traffic lurks the pizza truck from Toy Story's Planet Pizza. There's also a billboard featuring a six wheeled sports car which can be seen in the Oozma Kappa fraternity house in Monsters University.