Pixar's 25th Anniversary
Javier Furió
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miércoles, 18 de mayo de 2011
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DISNEY•PIXAR INSIDER INFO
Pizza Planet Truck
The Pizza Planet Truck, which first made an appearance in "Toy Story," has made a cameo in nearly every Pixar film.
- Pizza Planet originated with "Toy Story" as the pizza restaurant that Andy, his sister Molly and Mom go to for dinner one night. When Buzz and Woody are accidentally left at the Dinoco gas station by Andy on his way to Pizza Planet, they hitch a ride back to Andy on a Pizza Planet delivery truck.
- In “A Bug’s Life” the Pizza Planet truck is parked out in front of the mobile home shown before Flick enters Bug City.
- In "Toy Story 2," Buzz and the gang use the idling Pizza Planet truck outside of Al McWhiggin's apartment building to race to the airport to save Woody before he's put on an airplane to Tokyo.
- In “Monsters, Inc.” the truck is parked in front of the same mobile home used in "A Bug’s Life" when Sulley, Mike and Boo are jumping through doors in the scare factory. Randall goes in this door by mistake and is attacked by the occupants inside.
- In “Finding Nemo,” the truck drives by on the street when the tank gang is escaping the dentist’s office in plastic bags.
- The Pizza Planet truck does not make an appearance in “The Incredibles.”
- The Pizza Planet truck makes two appearances in “Cars.” You can spot the truck on the highway during the “Life is a Highway” montage and again in the speedway during the final race.
- In “Ratatouille,” the truck is seen in the distance on a bridge over the Seine when Skinner is chasing Remy.
- In “WALL•E” when EVE first arrives on Earth and is searching for the plant, she scans the Pizza Planet truck and slams down the hood.
- In “Up,” the Pizza Planet truck can be seen at an intersection when Carl's house flies over the town. The truck makes a second appearance in the Fentons Creamery parking lot at the end of the film.
- In “Toy Story 3,” Lotso, Big Baby and Chuckles ride on the Pizza Planet truck bumper in Lotso’s backstory.
John Ratzenberger
Now widely known as Pixar’s good luck charm, John Ratzenberger is the only actor to voice a role in all 12 of the Disney•Pixar films. Ratzenberger is the voice of Hamm, the know-it-all piggybank, in the three “Toy Story” films. He also was in “A Bug’s Life,” as P.T. Flea; “Monsters, Inc.,” as Yeti the snow monster; “Finding Nemo,” as the Fish School; “The Incredibles” as the Underminer; “Cars,” as Mack the truck; “Ratatouille,” as Mustafa, the head waiter; “WALL•E,” as John, a human living aboard the spaceship Axiom; and Construction Foreman Tom in “Up.” Ratzenberger will reprise his role as Mack in the upcoming “Cars 2.”
A113
The number A113, which refers to John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton's former classroom at CalArts, makes an appearance in every Pixar film.
- In “Toy Story” A113 is the license plate number on Andy’s Mom’s minivan.
- In “A Bug’s Life” A113 is the code on a cereal box as Flik enters Bug City.
- In "Toy Story 2," A113 repeats on Andy's Mom's license plate and can be heard in an airport announcement for "LassetAir Flight A113", which also is a reference to the film’s director John Lasseter.
- In “Monsters, Inc.” A113 is seen on the sign in the background when Sulley sees Smitty and Needleman loading the trash compactor.
- In “Finding Nemo,” A113 is the model number on the underwater camera used by the dentist to photograph Nemo before capturing him.
- In “The Incredibles,” A113 is the room number of the conference room in Syndrome’s lair where Bob is supposed to meet Mirage. Also, the prison level where Mr. Incredible is held is "Level A1" in Cell #13: A1+13.
- In “Ratatouille,” A113 is on the side of the train in the black-and-white movie that is playing on the TV in Linguini’s Apartment when he first brings Remy home.
- In “WALL•E” A113 is the mutiny directive given by Auto to detain the Captain.
- In “Up,” A113 is the number on the courtroom when Carl goes to plead his case.
- Despite the years that have passed, Andy’s mom hasn’t changed her license plate, which still reads A113 in “Toy Story 3.” In the third film, however, Andy’s mom has a new license plate frame that reads “Tiger Pride,” which is a reference to director Lee Unkrich’s hometown of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and his high school mascot, the Tigers.
References to Short Film "Luxo Jr."
Pixar Animation Studio’s groundbreaking short film “Luxo Jr.” was the first computer animated short film released by Pixar during its first year as a studio in 1986. Demonstrating the power of successful storytelling by humanizing a desk lamp, “Luxo Jr.” utilized never-before-seen technology created by Pixar’s founders, Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, to instill life and personality to inanimate objects. The short features two desk lamps and a yellow bouncing ball with a signature blue stripe and red star. Since 1986, Pixar has adopted the hopping lamp into its logo, and a number of Disney•Pixar’s feature films have referenced the original, iconic film.
- In “Toy Story,” Buzz Lightyear jumps on the Luxo ball when he first arrives in Andy's room to show the toys that he can fly.
- During the opening scene of “Toy Story 2” when Buzz Lightyear is flying through space, there is a star constellation of a Luxo lamp. There also is a container full of Luxo balls in Al's Toy Barn.
- At the end of “Monsters, Inc.,” there’s a Luxo ball in Boo’s bedroom.
- In “Cars,” the TV that Sally watches during the last race is a “Luxotone.”
- During the sequence in “Up” where Carl’s house first lifts off, the Luxo ball can be seen sitting on the floor of the girl’s bedroom as the house goes by her window. Russell also has a “Luxo Jr.” ball Wildnerness Explorer badge.
- In “Toy Story 2,” when toy store owner and toynapper Al McWhiggin calls in a professional to spiff up Woody for sale to the museum in Japan, enter The Cleaner. The Cleaner is actually Geri, the chess-playing old man from Pixar’s 1997 Oscar®-winning short film “Geri's Game.”
- At the end of “Monsters, Inc.” when Sully returns Boo to her bedroom, among the toys strewn about the floor are a Jessie doll (“Toy Story 2”) and a Nemo toy (“Finding Nemo”).
- In the dentist’s office in “Finding Nemo,” the mobile above the exam chair is from “Monsters, Inc.” and the book in the waiting room is “M is for Monsters.”
- At the end of “The Incredibles” when Mr. Incredible is battling the Omnidroid claw, the Doc Hudson car from DisneyŸPixar’s subsequent film “Cars” can be seen briefly in the background.
- The character Bomb Voyage from “The Incredibles” makes two appearances in “Ratatouille.” He appears as a mime on the bridge by Notre Dame when Linguini and Colette skate past. Bomb Voyage’s second appearance is the front-page headline and photo of the newspaper Colette is reading with the Solene Le Claire review.
- “Cars” has a few references to “Toy Story.”
- Dinoco is the major sponsor for whom Lightning McQueen dreams of racing. Buzz and Woody were lost at a Dinoco gas station in “Toy Story.”
- Lightning McQueen’s “Lightyear” tires are a reference to Buzz Lightyear.
- The #95 on Lighting McQueen is in reference to the year “Toy Story” was released.
- In “WALL•E,” quite a few characters are hidden in WALL•E’s trailer and in the trash piles on Earth, including:
- Rex dinosaur toy (“Toy Story”)
- Barbie’s car (“Toy Story 2”)
- Buzz Lightyear lunchbox (“Toy Story,” “Toy Story 2”)
- Lightning McQueen toy (“Cars”)
- The snow globe from the short film “Knick Knack”
- The bug zapper from “A Bug’s Life”
- An antenna ball of Mike Wazowski (“Monsters, Inc.”)
- In “Up,” Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear (aka Lotso) from the subsequent “Toy Story 3” can be seen sitting on the floor of a little girl’s bedroom as Carl’s house flies past her window.
- In “Toy Story 3,” there are quite a few references to Pixar’s past films
- The number 95, on the side of the train in the opening sequence, is a reference to 1995, the year the original “Toy Story” was released.
- Sunnyside Daycare is sprinkled with toy versions of past Pixar characters, including Lightning McQueen (“Cars”) and Mr. Ray (“Finding Nemo”).
- The group of toys hiding under the shelving unit before the young children come racing into Sunnyside’s Caterpillar Room are inspired by Pixar’s short film “Tin Toy,” in which a small toy is terrorized by an infant.
- When Lotso’s gang is gambling in the vending machine at Sunnyside Daycare, they are placing bets with Re-Volting batteries, which was the sponsor of racer #84 in “Cars.”
- The batteries used to power Buzz Lightyear are from BnL, Buy n Large, the mega-corporation featured in “WALL•E.”
References to Pixar Animation Studios and its Bay Area Home
- In “Monsters, Inc.,” the Hidden City Café in Monstropolis is a real café located in Richmond, California, near Pixar’s former location in Richmond, California. The Hidden City Café was the site of the now-famous 1994 lunch that included Pixar pioneers John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and the late storytelling genius Joe Ranft at which the seeds of ideas for “A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.,” and “Finding Nemo” were first discussed.
- In the dentist’s office in “Finding Nemo,” a postcard on the back wall states “Greetings from Emeryville,” which is the city where Pixar is located.
- In “The Incredibles,” the map that Mr. Incredible consults in the Incredmobile is of Emeryville, California, where Pixar Animation Studios is currently headquartered. In the film’s opening chase sequence, Mr. Incredible chases the robbers down San Pablo Avenue, a major street in Emeryville, California, just beyond the Eastern edge of Pixar’s campus.
- Toward the end of “Cars,” just before Lightning McQueen’s Piston Cup championship race, there is a sign for Pixar’s current hometown of Emeryville and you can also spot the Pixar campus. Also in “Cars,” the Jackelope from Pixar’s short film “Boundin'” appears on the back of one of the motorhomes in the opening race sequence, and the birds from “For the Birds” are on the power line in "Life is a Highway" montage.
- Disney•Pixar’s 2009 release “Up” contained a number of local Bay Area references.
- When Carl Fredricksen’s house first lifts off, a street sign indicates he’s going down San Pablo Avenue, a major street in Emeryville, California, just beyond the Eastern edge of Pixar’s campus.
- One of Russell’s Wilderness Explorer badges features a hamburger with a candle in it, which can be attributed to the “hamburger cake” from the Merritt Restaurant & Bakery in Oakland, California.
- Russell’s favorite ice cream store in “Up,” Fentons Creamery, is based on the real Fentons Creamery, in Oakland, California, which is frequented by director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera and their families.
- In “Toy Story 3,” Andy has a banner hanging on one of the walls in his bedroom that reads “P.U.” P.U. stands for Pixar University, a professional development program for Pixar employees. Also in Andy’s room above his closet is a street sign for W. Cutting Blvd., the street on which Pixar’s previous headquarters were located.
Pixar Animation Studios is an Academy Award ®-winning computer animation studio with the technical, creative and production capabilities to create a new generation of animated feature films, merchandise and other related products. Pixar's objective is to combine proprietary technology and world-class creative talent to develop computer-animated feature films with memorable characters and heartwarming stories that appeal to audiences of all ages.
Feature Films
On November 22, 1995, Pixar Animation Studios forever impacted the future of filmmaking, storytelling and the medium of animation with the release of its first feature film, Disney•Pixar's “Toy Story.” Released nine years after the founding of Pixar, “Toy Story” exhibited years of creative and technical achievements from a small group of passionate computer scientists and animators, led by present day President Ed Catmull and Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter. The film, marking the birth of the new medium of computer animation, went on to become the highest grossing film of 1995 with $362 million in worldwide box-office receipts. Lasseter, director of “Toy Story,“ was honored with a Special Achievement Academy Award® for his "inspired leadership of the Pixar ‘Toy Story’ team resulting in the first feature-length computer animated film."
Since the release of “Toy Story” in 1995, Pixar Animation Studios, in partnership with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, has also created and produced “A Bug's Life” (1998), “Toy Story 2” (1999), “Monsters, Inc.” (2001), “Finding Nemo” (2003), “The Incredibles” (2004), “Cars” (2006), “Ratatouille” (2007), “WALL•E” (2008), “Up” (2009) and most recently “Toy Story 3” (2010). The films have resulted in an unprecedented streak of both critical and box-office successes, and combined to gross more than $6.5 billion at the worldwide box office. The feature films, through “Toy Story 3,” have garnered 40 Academy Award® nominations, nine Oscars®, seven Golden Globes® and numerous other accolades. “Cars 2” speeds into theaters this summer.
From toys, bugs, monsters, fish and superheroes to cars, rats, robots and septuagenarians, Pixar's talented creative and technical teams have given audiences of all ages some of the most beloved characters in film. Pairing these unique, relatable characters with compelling stories and immersive, believable worlds, Pixar continually delivers on its promise to truly entertain audiences all over the world.
Short Films
Pixar Animation Studios has long believed in making short films. In 1986, Pixar's first-ever short, “Luxo Jr.,” launched a new direction in animated filmmaking, using three-dimensional computer animation to tell a story. Since then, nearly every feature film that Pixar has released has included a short beforehand, bringing back a tradition that was once an expected pleasure for filmgoers.
Pixar's shorts have helped foster and develop technologies and talent at the studio, but they are mostly made for one simple reason: love of the art form. From the toy-tormenting baby in “Tin Toy” (1989) to the adorable storks in “Partly Cloudy” (2009), Pixar's shorts have delighted audiences and earned critical praise, garnering 10 Academy-Award® nominations and three Best Animated Short Film Academy Awards®. “Day & Night,” the studio's most recent Oscar®-nominated short, debuted in theaters with “Toy Story 3.”
Technology
Since its incorporation, Pixar has been responsible for many important breakthroughs in the application of computer graphics (CG) for filmmaking. Consequently, the company has attracted some of the world's finest talent in this area. Pixar's technical and creative teams have collaborated since 1986 to develop a wealth of production software used in-house to create its movies and further the state of the art in CG movie making. This proprietary technology allows the production of animated images of a quality, richness and vibrancy that are unique in the industry, and above all, allows the filmmakers to precisely control the end results in a way that is exactly right for the story. Pixar continues to invest heavily in its software systems and believes that further advancements will lead to additional productivity and quality improvements in the making of its computer animated films.
Pixar also has a long-standing tradition of sharing its advances within the broader CG community, through technical papers, technology partnerships, and most notably through its publicly available RenderMan product for the highest-quality, photo-realistic images currently available. RenderMan remains the standard in CG film visual effects and feature animation and has been honored with an Academy Award® for technical achievement.
In 2001, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Board of Governors® honored Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios; Loren Carpenter, senior scientist; and Rob Cook, vice president of software engineering with an Academy Award® of Merit "for significant advancements to the field of motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar's RenderMan." In 2002, the Producer's Guild of America honored Pixar with the Guild's inaugural Vanguard Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in new media and technology.
Creative Team
Pixar's creative department is led by Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, an Academy Award®-winning director and animator. Under the guidance of Lasseter, Pixar has built a creative team that includes a department of highly skilled animators, a story department and an art department. This team is responsible for creating, writing and animating all of Pixar's films. Pixar strives to hire animators who have superior acting ability - those able to bring characters and inanimate objects to life, as though they have their own thought processes. In order to attract and retain quality animators, the company founded Pixar University, which conducts three-month-long courses for new and existing animators. Pixar also has a complete production team that gives the company the capability to control all elements of production of its films. Pixar has successfully expanded the production team so projects may be worked on simultaneously.
Disney Relationship
Since the release of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Disney in 1937, animated films have become one of the most universally enjoyed forms of entertainment. Disney has a long history of developing, producing, and distributing films such as “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.” The stories and characters of these popular animated feature films have become part of our modern mythology, enjoyed generation after generation. Traditionally, these popular animated feature films have been created using the time-consuming and labor-intensive process of two-dimensional, hand-drawn cel animation.
In May 1991, Pixar entered into an agreement with Walt Disney Pictures for the development and production of up to three computer animated feature films to be marketed and distributed by Disney. It was pursuant to this agreement that “Toy Story” was developed, produced and distributed. In February 1997, Pixar entered into a new co-production agreement with Disney pursuant to which Pixar, on an exclusive basis, agreed to produce five original computer-animated feature-length theatrical motion pictures for distribution by Disney. The five original pictures under the agreement were “A Bug's Life,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles” and “Cars.” “Toy Story 2,” the theatrical sequel to “Toy Story,” was released in November 1999, and is also included in the co-production agreement. “Ratatouille” was subsequently added to the terms of the co-production agreement in January 2006.
On January 24, 2006, Pixar entered into an agreement with The Walt Disney Company to merge the two companies. The deal was approved by shareholders of both companies and the merger became effective on May 5, 2006. Pixar is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.
pixars 25th anniversary
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