On my recent trip through the USA to catch up with family and friends, I was lucky enough to be invited along to tour through the Pixar campus there in Emeryville – San Francisco.
What an awesome experience. The vibe you hear about and see in their extra features on their DVDs really is there.
From the start with the name badge saying, ‘A stranger from the outside!’ and the gigantic Luxo Jr and ball outside. Walking around the animation area, people seem to have personalised them completely. A giant LED countdown clock greets you when you walk in with the amount of time left until Toy Story 3 is delivered. It is looking great and I can’t wait to see it!
They have jokes like little shot glasses lined up along the outer window of the render farm,, because they ‘render shots’. hehe. The sash that Russell the wilderness explorer wears in the movie UP, the in-jokes that many of the little badges mean are pretty funny… I can’t remember all of them and I was sadly unable to take photos while walking around.. but things like one bandaid meant first aid, while two meant second aid. The art department seems to be full of incredible painters, I would love to have many of the scenery paintings they were displaying up on my wall at home.
I even managed to checked out John Lassater’s office with all his thousands of toys, it’s great, he never grew up,, love it.
I could go on about it for hours. I just feel lucky to have had the chance to visit the studio of a company I have loved since I saw Toy Story there in the Avoca Beach Theater when I was little.
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- Pearly Gates
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- Luxo Jr Statue out the front
