Pixar is best known for its full-length features such as the "Toy Story" and "Cars" movies, but the computer-animation studio has a history of making short films, which were used to help develop technology and create tools for computer animation.

"Short films really helped me develop as a story teller, animator, and as a director," said John Lasseter, Pixar's chief creative officer. "When we made 'Toy Story,' our first feature film, [Pixar President] Ed Catmull and I decided that we wanted to keep making short films at Pixar because we felt like it was a fantastic way to continue to push the technology."

In recent years, the studio has presented new short films in front of the release of full-length features: "Partly Cloudy" was shown in theaters in front of "Up," and "La Luna" was shown before "Brave" ("La Luna" also received an Academy Award nomination).

In keeping with this tradition, Pixar will release its new short film, "The Blue Umbrella," in front of the new feature film, "Monsters University," when it is released in June.