It seems most TV series can be watched online for free now, so why not also stream episodes of a program like ABC's Wonderful World of Disney? Sure each episode is actually a feature-length Disney-made film, but a TV show is a TV show. Fortunately, Disney seems to agree, as they're putting this summer's crop of WWoD films online for free. Typical of Disney, though, and unlike ABC.com's library of episodes, each film will only be available for a limited time. Basically, each title will screen on ABC on Saturday night, then it will be up on Disney.com (specifically the WWoD page) the following week, from Monday through Friday only. Currently, Finding Nemo, which appeared on WWoD June 7, is being offered.

Other movies on the schedule this summer include Monsters Inc., Freaky Friday, The Haunted Mansion, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Peter Pan will be the last to air and then stream, during the first week of August. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the one movie making its world premiere on the program, Camp Rock, will also (or is it only?) stream for 24 hours on June 23, on a separate page, after airing a few times on ABC and ABC Family the weekend prior.

The short films Pixar produces to precede its theatrical features are among life's singular joys, and word of a new one is almost as exciting as this recent mega-announcement. The Pixar Blog tells us what to expect when we finally sit down to watch Wall-E this summer. Presto is a five-minute short about Alec, a magician's rabbit who becomes increasingly disgruntled as a hat trick involving him makes his master famous. When the magician goes out to dinner one night, he leaves Alec locked in a cage, gazing longingly at a carrot just out of reach. Doug Sweetland, an animator on most of Pixar's big productions, directs and does all the voices. Above is a somewhat low-res still from the film.

You can take a peek at most of the Pixar shorts here, and the full versions are available on iTunes for two bucks a pop. You can't really go wrong with any of them but the best, for my money, is For the Birds, which is so outrageously fantastic that I'm convinced it contains the meaning of life. (The fact that it is forever associated with Monsters, Inc., my favorite Pixar feature, doesn't hurt.)

Wall-E -- and Presto -- hit theaters on June 27th.

[via Slashfilm]