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While other animation studios these days concentrate on features, Pixar likes to remember that it is a cartoon factory and continues to precede each theatrical feature with a short subject. DAY AND NIGHT, the latest, was released along with Pixar's TOY STORY THREE.

While Pixar's features -- and those of its competitors' -- become ever more sophisticated in their uses of computer animation to facilitate their stories, their short subjects have been becoming more cartoony. Their last short, PRESTO, recalled Tex Avery. This one suggests the sort of loose animation style favored by UPA, as one cloudy mass containing daylight scenes bumps into another cloudy mass containing night time scenes. The clouds' outlines are vague, populated by the highly detailed visions one expects of Pixar; but while the interiors show their natures, it is the vague outlines that carry the story -- and their characters.

Fpr a student of animation, it is a typical Pixar delight. Thanks for keeping the short movie cartoon alive, guys.

I have always liked or loved Pixar's films, and I thought now was a good time to revisit their short films. And I am so glad I did. Day and Night(which I did remember as the short before Toy Story 3) is a gem, even if I would personally put the likes of Presto, Knick Knack, One Man Band and Geri's Game over it. The animation is beautiful with some unique shades and colouring and the detailed backgrounds you would expect, and the music is great with the use of Rossini's William Tell. The story, if not as clear as other Pixar short films, tells so much in 6 minutes and has a thought-provoking message(however different we may be, we are all one and the same) to it of the dangers of racism and tolerance. The humour even without dialogue is smart and somewhat edgy, which I liked. The personifications of daytime and nighttime are very well done and easy to root for, I loved the end especially where night and day became twilight. Overall, if you love Pixar, you'll love this. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This Pixar short that preceded Toy Story 3 seemed different than other shorts that came before other Disney/Pixar features. For one thing, there was no clear story that you got from others. Also, the whole thing wasn't completely computer animated as the two characters of the title seemed actually hand drawn with the computer stuff inside them. And then there is some message that is said by a Dr. Wayne Dyer that seemed to drive home the lesson that one should get along despite differences or a fear of the unknown. Not a bad message though-having read some comments-not everyone is going to get it or want to. Still, Day & Night is a worthy addition to the Pixar group of opuses that provide some humor with whatever points they're trying to make. Mega kudos to the director Teddy Newton.

Two side of the coin, day and night, appear as characters and look on at one another in awe and jealousy. That sounds like the simple of this latest Pixar short, appearing before Toy Story 3, but it's got a lot more sophistication, humor, and nuttiness going on than most other Pixar shorts. It also does something I've never seen from the production company: they have 2D, traditional hand-drawn animation! Sort of. Well, what happens is we see a landscape of day, and night, and they're in the traditional Pixar computer-animation. But then two figures, who are kind of blobs with eyes and noses and mouths, appear as the day and night fill up their bodies? This is less confusing than it sounds: like other Pixar shorts it takes an idea and runs with it, feeling complete as a story. But this time, as a difference, there's some smarter, edgier humor even than usual (and I've seen plenty from these shorts). Best is when the 'Night' figure looks on at 'Day' as a bunch of girls in bikinis (and one just sunning herself) are by a pool, but then when he/it looks on him/itself, the pool is closed. Also great is how a radio station and broadcast is used, sounding like it's out of the Twilight Zone. It's an ingenious little movie.

Day and night sees two characters in a black world who, within their outline, represent scenes from night time and daytime. Day first sees night while he is asleep and is drawn to the differences in his outline. When night wakes up it becomes a conflict with a competition to show off who is the best of the two by virtue of what they have going on within their outlines.

Day & Night is not quite the usual Pixar animated short simply because the animation is a bit less impressive than previous shorts (where the animation has been on a par with the feature film). This is not to say it is somehow cheap but just that it is not the beautifully detailed world that is about to come with Toy Story 3. This aside though the animation is very clever indeed as the characters move across their black world providing a view into night and day on the other side. It moves so seamlessly and easily that it is easy to follow and I was surprised by how inventive it was while also remaining quite simple an idea.

The message is that we should embrace our differences rather than fear them or compete over them. This message has the potential to be a bit corny (and indeed it is a bit bluntly delivered via the radio speech) but the clever manner of the short means it does actually work pretty well and it doesn't feel that way. I know that some viewers will probably sigh at being told this sort of thing in this way, but for most viewers it should be well received and of course, for children, it will perhaps not be seen as so obvious as adults will see it.

A clever and well animated little short then. Not quite the stuff one expects from Pixar in terms of looks but very enjoyable and well done.

'DAY & NIGHT': Four Stars (Out of Five)

Another classic six minute animated short film from Pixar and directed by Teddy Newton, who has been involved in the art department and acting in Pixar and other animated films for several years now. The film tells the story of 'Day' and 'Night' meeting and of course clashing by each others' frightening differences. The film turns into a tale of not judging others for being alien to you and learning to get along despite differences. It opens preceding 'TOY STORY 3', like classic animated films used to (and Pixar has been doing for years now). I'm sure it will be up for an Academy Award come Oscar time. A nice little film.

Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqNUf10kuk

Day and Night is a hilarious short and I would say one of Pixars best shorts yet,for a change instead of the usual computer animation this is shown in 2-D (with some computer animation as well)which is an enjoyable change for Pixar.

Day,a guy whos inside of his body is daytime and Night,a guy whos inside of his body is night time don't get along very well and try to get each other jealous by showing what there time has and what there one hasn't,for example,Day has a girl at the beach in a bikini and when Night tries it,it just shows a queit dark beach with no one there,simply hilarious.

Two little blobby characters, representing day and night, confront each other. They examine what each has to offer and it brings about fear. Of course, since we see things primarily from our perspective, it is significant (since they are portrayed as if they were human) that they hold close to their own protective nature. All in all, this is a "nice" film and nothing more. After watching so many shorts that have a significant message, this is sort of forgettable. It is certainly visually striking.

This animated short film shows the power of visual storytelling. There is not one word of dialogue but the characters still shine through and express themselves. The animation style is interesting as it is 2D but has a lot of digital techniques as well. Overall it is very clever in its construction.

Day and Night are two beings who project vistas of daytime and nighttime on their bodies. They are as different as night and day but eventually they find similarities in their opposites. There is a quote from self-help guru Wayne Dyer and the two characters find common ground in the dusk of the sunset.

It's trying to say something. I'm guessing followers of Dyer would be crying over the profound message of the movie. I don't know Dyer from the average Joe. It's just a bunch of prosaic mumble jumble to me. In the end, it's an intriguing idea that is more showy than actually profound or compelling.

There are two men, one's body is day and another 's body is night. First, Day finds Night. He is night, so he sleeps very well. Day prevents Night from sleeping. Night gets angry for Day, so they fight with. However, Night found that each other's body shows different scene. Therefore, they enjoy watching various scenes, for example building's illumination, watching movie, which is road show, flying show, fire works and woman bathing swimsuit. At last, the next day comes.

I think that two men were very cute. First, they fought with, but they found good point of each other and enjoyed watching scenes as if they are children. They embraced each other halfway, because they wanted to watch rising sun. This scene made me happy and I smiled. I think that director's idea, which movie's scene is black to show pictures by using two men is rare. This movie has much humor and child's mind.

It's amazing how you can sometimes pack a big idea into a few minutes of a short film. The cartoon "Day & Night" is a perfect example of this. These heroes are two opposite times of day in the form of baggy little men. They are very different from each other. On the body of one, a bright, bright world appears where the sun shines. The other is dark and, as it may seem, almost empty. At a first glance, hostility arises between them, which leads to conflict. However, transformations occurs and friendship arises.

Thanks to amazing visual techniques, the animators managed to convey basic human emotions. Surprise, anger, joy, etc. Are represented on the bodies of Day and Night in the form of various natural phenomena or simply events. And most importantly, you can recognize real human problems in these heroes. How sometimes we are afraid and begin to hate others only because of our ignorance or envy. There can be something good in each and every one of us. In the end, there may be so much in common that it's hard to believe. The great thing is that children can understand this here too.

Pixar Studio continues to set the bar very high, putting a lot of meaning into its creations. And if in terms of scope and entertainment these tiny films are inferior to full-length films, then in terms of the emotional component they are on par and can even give them a head start. At least this can definitely be said about "Day and Night".

Creativity is the core key to stand out in today's world. Pixar knows that. Ideas are flourishing from it and they come into existence like bold and strong animations that take your breath away. I think this movie just tries to say to us that we should find our true friends and never leave them, cause they're our "day & night"

The animation style that the animators did make this short film a ten out of ten stars alone. But the story line, plot, characters, character development Were all really good too. They did a really good job on this short film given the time limit they had. This is super family friendly so everyone no matter the age can watch this short film. I highly recommend this short story to everyone to watch.

I mean, as far as animation goes, this is definitely creative as hell. But yeah, it's a Pixar short, so there's that.

To be honest, I didn't find the movie boring at all. At times I kept thinking something more unpredictable and interesting would happen, but no. It's clear to me that it's meant for kids and I watched it from that point of view as well, but again the plot didn't grab me as much.

Yes, it's visually unique and a treat for the eye. A real treat for the eye. But then again, some things in the script or the directing bugged me. Like, for example, that they glorify Las Vegas as something very cool and equivalent to beautiful scenery during the day. If they had shown a bar or a disco - something really worth getting into in the evening - I would have been OK with that. But a casino?! Enough, please! It's one of the few stereotypes thrown into the film and certainly one that made a bad impression on me, but the others weren't much interesting.

Overall - brilliant cinematography and direction, at the same time - a not so enjoyable story to watch.

Final score: 5/10.

Pixar is a cinematic laboratory that allows us to see their better experiments and incidentally gets support to continue. They have a long tradition — as long as I can recall — of making short films to play before their expensive features. These shorts focus on some cinematic technique that Pixar wants to push past the state of the art. In every case, that bold experiment in the short is what is used in the feature. It is embedded, not so obvious, but it is there, helping to make the thing fresh.

Disney on the other hand is a box office manager. Like the other studios, they care little about the product or even the health of the talent. They want box office receipts and lots of them. If you have been following the story, Pixar gave the rights to Toy Story sequels to Disney as part of the original deal. They ended up making TS2 themselves in defense of what they knew would be dumb. After being bought by Disney, they now have no choice.

Elsewhere, you will see that I did not like Toy Story 3. Not at all. There is no advance, no adventure, no dynamism. I think what they wanted to do was play with dimensionality in 3 and had some very clever ideas ready. Think of more, much more of Mr. Potatohead on a taco. So they started on this short. But Disney fell back to what worked the last time, and they are the boss.

As bland as TS3 is, this is incredible. I would have paid the full IMAX price just for it. There is a thin sort of story. All Pixar stories are small lessons in life, and this is no different. But the story is insignificant other than showing the harmony of symmetry. We have two beings of course, and two phases of the day. But the real two-ness is the two- dimensional cartoon of Disney fame and the three-dimensional one that Pixar pretty much invented.

A great deal about the world in film is different in these two approaches. Can they be married? Can the flat values of Disney be combined with the deeper worlds of Pixar? To judge from this, yes. But to judge from the feature that followed, no.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.