Plot for Pixar's 'Toy Story' Short Released

Part of the reason I love Pixar films as much as I do is because of the amazing short films played in front of each feature.  They're always so poignant, heartfelt, and just as beautiful as the film they precede.  The best way I can describe it is like being able to eat the pumpkin pie before you dive into your Thanksgiving dinner.

Recently, there have been a few reports about Pixar's next short to debut before the release of Cars 2 in 2011.  The first stated it would be Toy Story-centric and the second that it would be in Hawaii.  Well today, the plot of the short was released and the previous reports weren't all that wrong.  I kept real news after the jump to avoid spoilers, so check it out below.

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Is Disney Planning Short Films for Marvel Universe?

Of all the ideas to bring Marvel Comics to the screen, this might be the best. Rather than throwing $150 million movies at characters like Deadpool, Latino Review says Marvel and Disney are looking at short films in front of features - similar to what Pixar does - to introduce minor characters to see if there's any heat among ticket buyers.

The site cautions that this is information from a trusted source but that Disney, which now owns Marvel, of course, hasn't made any official comment. Let's suppose for a second it's a leak and Disney wants to see what the reaction is before committing to anything. I think fans would absolutely love it, knowing how many Marvel characters there are and how few of them really deserve feature films. Could we have done without Elektra? I think so. But that character got a spin-off, and Deadpool was squeezed into Wolverine to justify a spin-off that was already going to happen, so the short film route might do two things: 1) It can introduce great comic book characters to people who don't know them, in order to gauge whether or not we need more material for them, and 2) It can keep many ancillary characters out of full-length movies that should be designed for other characters.

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Wow, This 'Mortal Kombat' Short Kicks Major Ass

Who knows if this will actually go through the proper channels and become a feature film, but if the internet screams loud enough, it's certainly possible. Kevin Tancharoen, who directed the update of Fame last year, put together a short film to try to secure financing for an R-rated Mortal Kombat movie at Warner Bros. I think you'll be impressed.

Kotaku tracked down the short, which doesn't pull any punches (pardon the pun). The feature-length version would be really intense. Latino Review was able to track down the cast list, by and large: Michael Jai White (Black Dynamite) is Jacks, Jeri Ryan is Sonya Blade, Undisputed III's Lateef Crowder is Baraka, Ian Anthony Dale, who will be in the new Tekken movie, is Scorpion, and martial artist Matt Mullins is Johnny Cage. There are other cast members still to be identified.

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Video - Inside Look at Pixar Short 'Day & Night'

One of the Pixar traditions is to open each feature film with a short, and this year, the short is Day & Night. It's an unusual combination of 2-d and 3-D animation, which is explained in this new behind-the-scenes video that Slashfilm found recently.

A while ago, Pixar released a DVD of its short films, which of course is highly recommended, but the past couple that kicked off the feature presentations, in my opinion, weren't as strong as some of the previous ones. Day & Night looks like a completely different kind of thing, though. "When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly," asserts the synopsis. While initially suspicious of their opposites, they eventually learn to accept each other for what they are. A little life lesson for the kiddies.

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Warner Bros. Prepping 3-D 'Sherlock Holmes' Sequel?

Though we're not exactly closer about finding out where the story will go, plans are afoot to make the sequel to Sherlock Holmes in 3-D. This would be different than all those conversions (including Warner Bros.' Clash of the Titans), the would be a full 3-D production.

What would that mean? Not much to the bottom line. As it stands right now, 3-D cameras aren't terrible reliable catch fast-paced action . That's the reason Michael Bay refuses to do it for Transformers 3. But they do help the overall production and the studio gets to raise those ticket prices. It would also be priced roughly the same by adding cameras as it would with the conversion process. The Los Angeles Times spoke to wrter Kieran Mulroney, who's all in fvor of the 3-D direction. Guy Ritchie would probably feel the same way. I'm not sure what we would gain from it, though, since it's not exactly the kind of action movie that screams out for 3-D.

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