Animation World Network takes readers behind the scenes of Pixar’s latest short, Day & Night, with exclusive images, videos and more!
In AWN’s recent article, director Teddy Newton introduces us to the unique and ambitious concept. The short was actually born from gags centered around a keyhole, believe it or not, but the journey it has taken through production is the true wonder.
Although Newton’s pitch got off the ground relatively quickly (Lasseter green lit it almost immediately), the challenges associated with making Day & Night a reality were immense. Pixar’s struggle was finding a way for 3D CGI interior worlds to work within 2D animated characters — something that had never really been done before. This graphic breaks down the layers used to create the short’s one-of-a-kind effects.
Of course, Teddy and co. were ultimately successful, but for the team to get to this point, crucial animation tests had to be created. Watch the 2D walk cycle here and the 3D test here. Anaglyph (red and blue) glasses are required to view the full effect of the latter video.
As one of my all time favorite shorts, I can tell you that all of the hard work behind Day & Night’s production payed off. I didn’t realize how tough it was to create, though. Give the article a thorough read for the full story.
You can see Day & Night in theatres with Toy Story 3 when it’s released on June 18th. Remember to check it out in 3D!
(Thanks to our friend Bill at AWN.com for alerting us!)
What makes me most excited about this short is the comparisons to two of the greatest shorts in animation history, The Dot and the Line & Duck Amuck. I could tell from the promo pictures that there was some Chuck Jones and Tex Avery inspirations for this. Makes me really excited!
Wild man, just wild thinking. When I read the AWN article about Teddy Newton saying “One day I just put eyeballs on a keyhole and thought this would be funny as a gag,“ it hit me like a ton of bricks. No he did not. And why hasn’t anyone thought of this framing of a key hole before. There’s NOTHING like this in Japan. There have been a lot wild and funny animation here in Japan, but this has supreme premium written all over it because the animation technology is marvelous, the music score is by the recent Academy Award winner Michael Giacchino, and the message speaks the truth.
Right before this short is shown in the movie theater in Japan, I’m gonna clap my hands. I don’t care what people think. Seriously.