Day and Night: A Short Film About Acceptance
Society is made up of psychically, culturally, and intellectually different people. This is very enriching for development because, if we were all the same and thought the same way, life wouldn’t be interesting at all! Day and Night is a short film that makes people reflect on this topic, on respect and acceptance of diversity.
In just six minutes, this 2010 Pixar animated short film tells the story of two opposite characters, Day and Night, who discover that they have more in common than they believed at the beginning. Do you want to know more about this short film?
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique.”
– Margaret Mead –
Day and Night, a short animated movie about acceptance
In the first scene of the short film, you see a rooster crowing, which represents the beginning of the morning. Immediately after that, the first character of the story, Day, appears, who wakes up and begins his daily routine. But suddenly, he meets the other character of the short film, Night, who’s sleeping peacefully.
Both Day and Night are very peculiar, since various scenes and situations related to what usually happens are reproduced in their bodies. Respectively, what happens during the day (dawn with the sun, a rainbow, enjoying the beach, the pool, or a field, etc.), or during the night (the moon appearing, fireworks, fireflies, parties, etc).
Therefore, we could say that they’re both completely different and are polar opposites. Due to this, at first, they don’t understand each other and even fight aggressively and violently.
However, once they open their minds and appreciate all the events that occur inside each other, they begin to get along and have fun together. When sunset comes, they become the same, with the same orange hue. After that, they merge into a big hug. That makes Day become Night, and Night become Day.
With this beautiful story, the creator of this short animated film, Teddy Newton, invites us to reflect on the importance of accepting diversity. In fact, due to its original way of transmitting this message, the film was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 83rd Academy Awards and at the 38th Annual Annie Awards.
Acceptance of diversity
As in this animated short film, many times, we’re afraid of the unknown. Therefore, we sometimes find it difficult to relate to new people, especially if we believe they’re different.
But, as adults, we must make an effort and understand that this is nothing more than prejudice. In addition, the ideal thing is to meet many different people, with different tastes, ideas, opinions, and thoughts. Only then will we grow and fully develop as people.
Furthermore, it’s necessary to instill these civic and social values in children from an early age, teaching them to be inclusive. In other words, we must educate them to accept and respect diversity and empathize with everyone, recognizing the positive aspects of surrounding themselves with different and special people.
Only this way will they be able to peacefully coexist with all kinds of people, learning and enjoying this enriching situation.
“Getting along well with other people is still the world’s most needed skill. With it, there’s no limit to what a person can do. We need people, we need the cooperation of others. There’s very little we can do alone.”
– Earl Nightingale –