Well, guys, I finally saw Toy Story 3 — right on time as usual. Of course I loved it, and of course I had to remove my 3-D glasses twice while bawling as Andy said goodbye, and of course I had a nightmare wherein my beloved yet physically terrifying and possibly NSFW baby doll, ‘Carwie,’ had developed a terrorist agenda similar to Big Baby’s. What I didn’t expect was that I would love the Pixar short shown before Toy Story 3, “Day & Night,” even more than TS3.
In “Day & Night,” two ghost-like blobs become skeptical of their differences but (SPOILER ALERT!) learn to celebrate them instead. The message was similar to that of this Dr. Seuss clip: Star-Belly Sneetches are no better than Plain-Belly Sneetches! I loved that “Day & Night” was deceptively simple-looking (Day and Night were drawn in 2-D, but the worlds within them were 3-D) and that the message was so thoughtful, sweet, and even a bit sly. Director Teddy Newton — who actually voiced the Chatter Telephone in Toy Story 3 (!!!) — used a quote from a 1970s lecture by Wayne Dyer that he remembered his mother playing for him during his youth. Read it and watch a short making-of doc for “Day & Night” after the jump.
Fear of the unknown.
They are afraid of new ideas.
They are loaded with prejudices, not based upon anything in reality, but based on… if something is new, I reject it immediately because it’s frightening to me. What they do instead is just stay with the familiar.
You know, to me, the most beautiful things in all the universe, are the most mysterious.
[from Pixar Talk]
Whoa, that last line is exactly how I justify my love for Dancing With the Stars!
The quote, which the director said was based on a similar speech by Albert Einstein, doesn’t bang kids over the head with the idea that they should accept everyone and be tolerant when someone has rainbows fixin’ to burst out of his or her gut. If anything, the quote might even confuse kids upon a first listen. But they might remember it, look into it down the line and want to figure out what it was all about, just like Teddy Newton did. These are the only spoken lines in the short film. The only thing that could possibly make this more brilliant for me would be if Moloko’s “Day For Night” were faintly playing in the background.
Did you love “Day & Night” too? Which Pixar short has been your favorite?
Read more:
‘Toy Story 3′: Did you cry?
What’s the creepiest pop-culture toy?
‘Toy Story 3′: Q&A with the voice of Andy, John Morris
Owen Gleiberman reviews Toy Story 3
Owen Gleiberman’s message to men: Yes, it’s okay to cry at Toy Story 3
10 Pixar classics: EW’s movie critics rank ‘em
Annie on Twitter: @EWAnnieBarrett
Mike’s New Car, The Birds one, whatever that was called, and the Jack Attack. Those are all competing with each other as my faves.
‘Luxo, Jr.’ – the short that started it ALL – will always be tops for me.
What’s the title of the jumping sheep? I like that.
@RCB…I think you’re thinking of “Boundin”.
I love Boundin-so much! It’s really unique.
I really hope someone mentioned the one where the old man plays chess by himself. LOVE that one!
Geri’s Game! It’s amazing, and he has a cameo in Toy Story 2!
Yes, this is my absolute favourite as well! Thanks for adding it. But ‘Jack Attack’ is coming a close second.
In reality it’s such a simple and silly story. yet the humour and creativity and life in the short beats all others.
Partly Cloudy (as far as the ones that have played in theatres before the Pixar flicks)
Burn-E (as far as the DVD extra features)
I HATED Day and Night. I said to my friend while it was on “maybe this is why everyone cries in this movie, because the film short WILL NOT END”
I also hated Day and Night. Worst Pixar short ever. My 3 favorites are Burn-E, Presto and Partly Cloudy.
LOVED Presto!
hate? really? a 6 minute animated short inspired hate in you? that’s kind of sad.
This was a unique way to share a powerful ( and seems to be long forgotten) message in a non-offensive, political, beat-you-over-the-head way. Once the words started, I welled up with emotion, hopeful because so many people would have this kind-hearted reminder that different doesn’t equal bad, and sad that we gotten so far away from human courtesy and decency. The sad thing is, the same people who could actually benefit from this message are the ones that will immediately dismiss it for its lack of fuzzy characters, explosions, mma fighters and shiny vampires.
I hated it too. Thought it was just awful. My favorite is Geri’s Game.
Most people didnt like Day and Night because WE were more EXCITED to wath Toy Story 3, and we didnt pay attention to it,,,,,I gave it a new chance and I found that it was hilarous and enjoyable,,,,,,please give it a NEW CHANCE,,,,,,,,
my favorite short films are one man band (cars), partly cloudy (up), presto (wall-e), boundin (the incredibles)
I agree. It was pretty terrible. All the other Pixar shorts before their films have been funny and/or heartwarming. This was just one-note and annoying. (And, no…it wasn’t because I was too excited for Toy Story 3; I’ve seen it twice and hated Day & Night more the second time.) I think my favorite one was Presto…though the WALL-E video extra BURN-E is just amazing.
I laughed like a hyena at Burn-E, and I /loved/ Presto.
I thought the short was fantastic as well. I also think it was the best use of 3D I’ve seen on the big screen so far.
I totally agree, I also like Birds on a Wire. These 2 are competeting for the number 1 spot for me. Although, like the Pixar movies it’s hard to rank the shorts too.
My favorite is Presto!
Same here. It had the manic energy of an old Warner Bros. cartoon – similarities to rabbit protagonists non-withstanding. I’ve watched it a few times since and always catch new things.
Presto is tops for me.
Partly Cloudy is my favorite, but I did enjoy Day and Night. I love all the Pixar shorts.
We rented the Pixar Short Films collection from Netflix, and it’s just amazing to see what they could do. Their first one was animated on Cray supercomputers at MIT! I have to say that Luxo Jr. is my favourite, though.
Ditto on Presto. Belly laughs galore
Painful to sit through. Was climbing the walls waiting for this piece of garbage to end. Practically every little kid in the theater was starting to get restless and people were mocking how long it was. Cant believe anyone actually found it enjoyable.
I’m sure you were just clamoring to get out of there and watch eclipse a real “quality” film.
Seriously? You couldn’t sit for 6 minutes and enjoy some clever animation? PATHETIC.
Loved Day & Night. I think Partly Cloudy is still my favorite, though – it was the first of several times that I cried watching Up.
Presto and Partly Cloudy
Usually I love the shorts but this one was tedious for me. I was happy for it to end and honestly I found the way the women were animated to be offensive. I couldn’t believe I was sitting there during a short by Pixar thinking that it was sexist. Maybe an over reaction, perhaps I need to see it again, but at the time that was my gut reaction.
You’re not alone. I saw TS3 with my 19 year old daughter and her friend, and this was the very FIRST thing they noticed about this short!
I agree. All I could think about how they animated the women was that I was embarrassed to have to explain to my 3 year old son why that was inappropriate. That kind of sexualized content for a kids movie is just inappropriate. This is one Pixar short that I will be barring from the house.
I was also offended and found it inappropriate and sexist for anyone, but especially for young children.
I totally agree! I couldn’t believe that when “night” and “day” switched, what image did they immediately go to? The girl in the bikini and Las Vegas! Terrible message for the targeted audience (a G-Rated movie.) Worst Pixar film ever because of that! I was completely offended!
Okay, I’m sorry this is so long, but I think the issue is so important. When I watched “Day and Night”, at first, I was so delighted by this new, creative, fun, and beautiful short film….that is…until the beach beach scene. I just sat there with my jaw dropped realizing that I am supposed to accept these blob creatures as men (until the beach scene I hadn’t even assigned a sex to these “guys”) and I also have to accept that a woman would never be acceptable as a blob (even in a cartoon!!!), so I have to yet again observe the female character as a ridiculously high-beauty-standardardized sex object. Now, if that wasn’t bad enough, “Day” when seeing how excited “Night” was upon viewing this sex object decides to correct his drooling friend and his juvenile excitement and redirects him to a pool overflowing with these females. Ha! Silly “Night”! One incredibly fit, balloon-boobed, young, slender, hot female isn’t enough. Men (and even blobs) deserve to have multiple hot sex objects to satisfy them. The fact that this body type is the only one acceptable for women in media is disgusting. The fact that even when a woman has these features she is still not enough because she is only one woman…is MORTIFYING!!! This is a theme that is constantly nurtured by the media for men. Can’t men (and women!) see how terrible of a message this is? Point and laugh at the woman trying day and night to be everything the media tells her to be HAHAHAHA! Even if she triumphs….she can never be TWO WOMEN!!!! MUAH HAHAHA. Let me just say, I have this body type! I am blonde, blue-eyed, 5’10″, 21 years old, breasted, naturally tan, very slender with wide hip bones, nice teeth, and big lips. So, okay, my image gets validated in the media all the time, INCLUDING IN THIS PIXAR SHORT FILM! Wow….lucky me….NOT!!!!! We women are all in this together and if we don’t help each other and speak out, we’re all doomed. “Hot” girls are not exempt!!! Women of all kinds are beautiful and there is immeasurable beauty in just ONE of us. We need to stop training our youth to think otherwise! Pixar should be ashamed of their lack of visibility on this glaring issue. Absolutely pitiful. Though the short had great innovative animation ideas and tried to have a heart-warming message, their objectification of women was anything but creative and far…so very far….from heart-warming.
FAIL.
I absolutely hated this short. It wasn’t clever or funny and I was very disappointed in the animation. It seemed like a throw-away to me.