We all know that Pixar make some great short films and I even dedicated an entire post to them a few weeks back. It is time to update that post. Day & Night is far and above the best short that Pixar has produced, and Teddy Newton needs to be sent around to every single Toy Story 3 ticket-holders house so they can all give him a hug and a hi-five. It’s that good, a truly beautiful film.
I’m not going to spoil anything for those of you who are yet to see Toy Story 3, but please (please please please!) make sure you get there in time to watch Day & Night, and please see it in 3D. I can’t remember watching a film that uses 3D to such great effect. It plays an essential part of the story and makes for an imaginative and playful short that is unlike anything I have seen before. Add to that a fun Michael Giacchino score and it is very YES.
Teddy Newton has never been on my radar before, but he has had a very interesting career. After working as a storyboard artist on The Iron Giant, Brad Bird packed him into his suitcase and took him over to Pixar where he has worked as a character designer on The Incredibles and Ratatouille. He has also worked as a voice actor in every Pixar film since The Incredibles and has credits as a writer, producer, songwriter and visual effects artist on various other projects. My sort of Pixarian!
Now, onto that idea of a feature. Two things have happened recently:
- Pixar have just cancelled Newt, the first film in their history that has had this fate.
- John Lasseter has jumped into the co-director seat on Cars 2, as it continues to stumble along with story problems.
I know that every pixar project had issues during development, and every time the… wizards, I guess we should call them, have done their magic. But I think that it is slowly becoming apparent that Pixar need some fresh blood. It worked very well for them when brad Bird came in, and I think Teddy Newton might be able to bring something original and great to the table.