Toy Story 3

This week i got an awesome opportunity! My wife and i were invited by my buddy Jason (who's an Effects Animator at Pixar) to attend the Family and Friends screening of Toy Story 3 at Pixar Animation Studios. I was told it was a good idea to brush up on my Toy Story knowledge, so Jackie and i rented parts 1 and 2 and watched them the previous evening. Now you know i'm not gonna give any spoilers here, but suffice it to say the movie was just awesome! Sequels can be a tough cookie, but i think it's safe to say part 2 did a great job and part 3 most certainly did not disappoint! It was just awesome! The story was great and the film just looked awesome. I mean, the textures they're pulling off now.. wow. And the lighting is just excellent. This is definitely one of the best looking CG films to date. The animation is just getting better and better too. One thing that still sticks out to me is the animation on Woody. Wow. It's just so good! They did such an excellent job of making him feel like a floppy rag doll with a heavy plastic head. It just looks great!

Equally amazing.. and maybe even more so, is the short that accompanies this release. I won't say anything about it except; 'wow.' Just so cutting edge, well executed, a joy to watch, and a really powerful message. Pixar really pushed it on this one and killed it. There's no way they're not getting an oscar for that one.

Everyone do yourself a favor and catch these wonderful films when they get released.