A new Pixar feature is always cause for celebration, but I secretly look forward even more to the shorts. Those little doses of clever, often absurd animation are the perfect introduction for whatever Pixar has in store; they're the closest we come these days to the old-school Looney Tunes shorts.

Now Coming Soon has the first look at the short that will run in front of Toy Story 3, called Day & Night. A story about mismatched characters who eventually learn how to be friends, it sounds a whole lot like the original Toy Story; though the shorts usually have nothing to do with the feature that comes after, I like the idea of the short mirroring the previous events of the Toy Story franchise.

Below is the first image from the film, which you can see even bigger at Coming Soon, and the official synopsis. I'll be seeing Toy Story 3 next week-- I know, I know-- at ShoWest, and hopefully Night & Day will be part of the package too.

When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! Day and Night are frightened and suspicious of each other at first, and quickly get off on the wrong foot. But as they discover each other's unique qualities--and come to realize that each of them offers a different window onto the same world--the friendship helps both to gain a new perspective.