Day & Night

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.

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.

Really well-made film. From the animation style, I guess it's strictly for kids, although everyone can enjoy it. The unique colour combinations make it very interesting. It's very original, and that's the best thing of all. But it's a kind of short which I appreciate but can't say I loved. Probably because it didn't make me feel anything, nor it's funny.

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.

This delivers everything we expect from a Pixar short. It's clever, funny, interesting, with solid sound work, great music and the animation is amazing. The lighting and use of color are incredible, and crucial to making the concept work. This is quite creative. Basically night and day are actual living beings that grow jealous of each other's experiences. This leads to a conflict.

There is not a single word spoken here. Every time something needs to be expressed, it's either only visually or there is the sound of something that is happening during one of these two time periods, corresponding to what we're seeing and how they feel about it. I love the idea of introducing children to, for the mainstream, such unusual storytelling. Recommended. 8/10.