Disney's brief encounter with black and white

A still from Disney's six-minute film Paperman

Under the direction of Pixar genius John Lasseter, Disney Animation Studios has managed to get some of its swagger back with films such as Tangled and next month’s Wreck-It Ralph.

Further proof of the House of Mouse’s confidence came in the online release of Paperman, a wonderful six-minute black-and-white short with hints of Brief Encounter.

Directed by John Kahrs, an animator on some of Pixar’s greatest hits, the half-hand-drawn, half-CGI film tells the story a couple who meet on a train platform in mid-century New York, lose each other and are reunited thanks to a fleet of paper aeroplanes. The short, which airs in cinemas before Wreck-It Ralph (à la Pixar’s Luxo Jr lamp film) is worth the admission price alone. It’s up for a Best Animated Short Oscar. Watch it in full here: bit.ly/disneypaperman