Visiting Pixar: Stories & People —Part IV

(Continued from Part III)

April 1, 2010

Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter entered the theater to enthusiastic applause. He spoke about Pixar, its culture, the studio building —noting Steve Jobs’ role in that— and the outstanding legacy Pixar is developing.

He related the story of a family where the grandmother was a painter on Walt Disney’s Snow White, and how proud they all were about that, especially her granddaughter. Lasseter’s vision is that the families of today’s artists at Pixar will be just as proud many years from now.

Lasseter shared his fondness for Day & Night and short films in general, and said how he’s looking forward to the release of Toy Story 3 and Cars 2. He concluded by introducing director Teddy Newton (pictured at right) and producer Kevin Reher. Newton, who also voiced Chatter Telephone in Toy Story 3, broke the ice by doing the voice of his character: “Get ridda that monkey.”

Some introductory comments followed, then Day & Night hit the screen in brilliant digital 3-D. Day & Night is, hands down, Pixar’s most unique short film to date, radically different than anything to come out of the studio —or any studio— before: 3D imagery, inside 2D characters, in stereoscopic 3-D!

After the film ended, Newton and Reher took some questions. I asked about the quote used in the short; it’s spoken by Wayne Dyer but based on a quote from Albert Einstein. On the way out, I asked Newton another question: “Can you do the Chatter ‘phone voice again?” Newton: “Get ridda that monkey.”

..............................

With some time to spare I finally —finally— had the chance to go into the Pixar Studio Store, which I had been waiting to do since arriving. I got a ton of stuff for myself and as gifts —caps, keychains, ceramic coffee mugs, stickers, and a jute bag. My only regret is not buying one of the big Ratatouille plush rats.

It was now nearly time for a special lunch with Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich —who worked tirelessly over the past four years on the film— and the other Pixar bloggers.

As lunch approached, business director Chris Ford and sales and marketing events manager Renee Lamri from the RenderMan unit came to our table . They were kind enough to present us with some RenderMan gift bags, each with a RenderMan cap and highly-collectable 2009 RenderMan Walking Teapot. (Actually, they had planned for only three Pixar bloggers and since I was the last one to arrive I got mine before leaving for the day.)

Chris Ford and Renee Lamri

Just as Chris and Renee were about to leave, Up producer Jonas Rivera eyed the table right next to ours. As he approached, I congratulated him on the Best Picture nomination for the film; that brought him and Up co-director/writer/voice of Dug Bob Peterson to our table. They were kind enough to pose for a picture and autograph the other bloggers RenderMan caps.

Jonas Rivera and Bob Peterson

..............................

Before we knew it, Lee arrived, wearing his Big Baby animation crew shirt. He later told us that he loves Big Baby, because he’s creepy at the start, but he turns out to be, well, a baby.

The food came and it looked delicious. Of course, when you’re suffering a miserable cold, complete with excruciating sore throat, you don’t exactly feel like eating. So while the others dined on savory, wood-fired pizza, my “lunch” consisted of a bottle of weird-flavour VitaminWater I bought from the cafe earlier.

Lee asked us how we all enjoyed the movie, expressing regret that he could only show us an unfinished version. “Hated it,” I joked. The most embarrassing moment of the day for me came when the others brought out small gifts they each had brought Lee, something I had failed to do. “You brought me a camera,” Lee quipped, pointing to my Nikon on the table.

Lee Unkrich

Publicity photo by Deborah Coleman/Disney·Pixar

We chatted for about fifteen minutes about a variety of topics related to Toy Story 3. I said how much I like the idea of the Special Cliffhanger Edition screenings of Toy Story 3 for college and university students. Greg from Pixar Talk predicted a $100 million opening weekend for the movie.

In the conversation, Lee mentioned that the voice of Chuckles the Clown was provided by Boundin’ director, animator Bud Luckey, since retired from Pixar. “Wasn’t another actor doing the voice?” I asked, referring to James Anthony Cotton who had been listed on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) as providing the voice and who had personally told me over the phone that Pixar had selected him for the role.

In fact, Lee told us, Cotton had never gotten the role; he only auditioned for it, but still put it on his résumé as role he was doing. Lee was not pleased, and neither was I, having been misled like that.

It was time for Lee to get going; he was needed for one of the other bloggers’ day events. A director's work is never done.

The Visiting Pixar series concludes tomorrow