I've been an enormous Pixar fan for many years. Their short films that typically precede the full length films in theaters offer great insights and visual peeks into what technology the Pixar animation teams are working on.

"Piper" is the short that you saw before Pixar's latest release, "Finding Dory." In an interview with Vanity Fair, director Alan Barillaro "took three years to craft the six-minute short, using cutting-edge technology that could very well signal the future of the studio."

Namely, technology that animates realistic looking feathers.

Check out the full video of "Piper."

My favorite Pixar shorts include the critically acclaimed "The Blue Umbrella," and the critically-panned "Lava."

While critics were pretty harsh toward "Lava," and I'll agree the animation didn't seem ridiculously groundbreaking (the big tech feature in "Lava" had to do with animating the ocean), I'm always a sucker for a good love story.

"Piper" First Look

"The Blue Umbrella"

"Lava"

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