Party Cloudy is another in the always enjoyable short subjects that come on before the main feature of Pixar's cannon. It's a welcome treat since it's a throwback to the days in movies when it was a given to get at least one cartoon, if not more plus a newsreel, before the movie started. In this case Partly Cloudy looks in its first few moments like it will be a riff on that Looney Tunes cartoon where the drunken stork drops the wrong baby to the expecting Sylvester and mother. Instead we're treated to a series of gags involving, yes, clouds that are responsible for creating all life, all bundled up in little blankets and sent on the merry way, only to find some hazard with an untalented cloud that keeps creating dangerous things (i.e. porcupine, shark) for the bewildered stork.
This was all fine and cute and had a couple of chuckles (some big laughs from the kids, more or less, it was hard to pay too much attention since, thankfully, the audience was not too hyped up or annoying). But, there is something of note that should be taken: you may need to explain, after Partly Cloudy and Up, where babies come from to your kids if in case they don't really know yet or aren't too clear (or, you know, you're one of *those* parents that keep it all in the dark for like religious reasons or just too uncomfortable). What I mean to say is that the first short perpetuates the ol' stork-bringing-the-baby story. This may be eons old and no kid buys it and maybe info on the internet gets the kids knowing at younger ages - but then in Up, in the montage showing the life of Carl and Ellie Frederickson, we find out, clearly, about Carl and Ellies' inability to have children.
So, just so you parents know, be prepared to a) let your kids know, definitively, that the stork stuff is BS, period, no questions asked (unless if your kid is just dumb enough to believe it), and b) be prepared for MORE questions from the similar subject, if it comes up at all, from Up... Perhaps though I've gone off on a tangent here; suffice to say Partly Cloudy is neither the best (it's not as good as the magician short that came with WALL-E last year) nor the worst (it's not forgettable like that bah sheep short with the Incredibles). It's fluffy and light, and hopefully it wont incur too many questions from your kids, such as "Why can't the stork help out Carl and Ellie?" Actually, at that point, they're on their own.
