CB Fest Premiere: ‘The Inspector and the Umbrella’ by Maël Gourmelen

Premiering today as part of CB Fest is The Inspector and the Umbrella (France, 2016), a beautifully crafted homage to the art of traditional hand-drawn animation by Maël Gourmelen from France. Gourmelen dedicates the film to his mentor, contemporary master Eric Goldberg, and Disney animation legend Ward Kimball.

Its setup is simple — a rainy day in New York, 1952 — and lets the viewer relish in the fun performing, expert cartoon pacing, and lush pencil lines.

Since graduating from Gobelins in 2008, animator and illustrator Gourmelen has worked for Disney, Dreamworks, and Aardman, amongst other major studios. In between projects, on weekday evenings and over weekends, he poured his skills and passion for traditional animation into The Inspector and the Umbrella.

Enjoy some of the director’s thoughts on animation through our visual essay below, and don’t forget to help spread the word about the short, available for your viewing pleasure on Vimeo, Youtube, and Facebook.