NOTE: I’ll just go over this one more time before we begin.  The current polarised lens, digital 3D system is superb; anaglyph systems don’t work one tenth as well. Bear that in mind as I share with you some anaglyphic 3D stills from films that will on release come in the digital fashion. These images don’t even hint at how well the actual film’s 3D will work.

Toy Story is being released in 3D this October, and our first look (though compromised, see above) has been revealed by Entertainment Weekly. Also in their gallery of 3D stills are Up, Monsters vs. Aliens, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Alpha and Omega. No Christmas Carol, no Final Destination and, most disappointing of all, no Avatar. Some samples below the break - but red/blue glasses will be necessary.

See these images, and seven more, in a much bigger size at EW.

What isn’t clear is who has created these images. If they have been created by the publicity departments at the studios, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the use of depth will be in-line with the use of the z-axis in the film. The unveiling of a 3D still from Toy Story might, really, amount to nothing - I mean, it is just a still from Toy Story that’s given the extra dimension. It only matters if this shows us how Pixar are designing the depth of the reformatted film (well, okay - in this shot anyway).

What we can tell, however, is that the degree of complexity to the Toy Story images - in terms of the CG rendering - seems to be the same as in the original film. No re-modelling and re-rendering of the models and textures. My purist side feels pretty good about that.

The current issue of Entertainment Weekly - carrying a March 27th date on the cover - comes with a pair of 3D anaglyph glasses, though you may have some left over from the Superbowl or, I dunno, Spy Kids 3 or something.