EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
18 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT PIXAR
As the superpower Parr family returns after 14 years for The Incredibles sequel, we take a look at a bunch of fun factoids about the Disney-Pixar juggernaut
The name Pixar comes from a combination of ‘radar’ and a Spanish word, ‘pixer’. The Incredibles was the i rst Pixar i lm to receive a PG rating.
Showing how culturally sensitive Pixar is, they altered some details in Inside Out to make more sense in different countries. So, viewers in Japan would see Riley refusing to eat green bell peppers rather than broccoli, while in some regions the sport that her dad imagines shifts from ice hockey to football.
Produced in 1984, Pixar’s i rst animated short was The Adventures of André and Wally B. In the summer of 1994, arguably the most productive power-lunch in movie history took place at the Hidden City Café in Point Richmond, California. By the time their bill had arrived, the core Pixar creative team had come up with the four ideas that would eventually produce A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc, WALL-E, and Finding Nemo.
Toy Story was the i rst full-length movie to be made entirely using CGI. In Up, the house is lifted into the air by a total of 10,297 animated balloons.
All the screams in Monsters, Inc were supplied by children of the animators.
As a promotional tool for Ratatouille, Pixar planned to sell wine with Remy the rat on the bottle’s label. That idea was cancelled after concerns were raised that it might encourage underage boozing. In a less controversial promotional venture, a fully functional website was created for Monsters University, complete with admissions, academic and campus life info.
In an early draft of Toy Story, Woody was a sarcastic and rather unlovable cowboy. Production was shut down until he was written to be the more likeable goofball we all know and tolerate today. During production of Toy Story 2, the entire movie was accidentally deleted from its servers. Luckily, the movie was saved on the personal computer of an employee working from home.
The animators created age progression charts using the school photos of John Lasseter’s sons to help make Andy’s ageing believable in Toy Story 3. Despite the volley of plaudits Pixar movies have received down the years, it’s not all rosy: on Rotten Tomatoes Cars 2 received a stink-i lled 39% rating.
It took Pixar three years of studying the physics of curly hair for them to be satisi ed that they’d got Merida’s red barnet right in Brave. ‘A113’ is rumoured to appear in every Pixar movie. This is a reference to the name of the classroom at the California Institute of Arts where many animators learned their trade.
A Bug’s Life is loosely based on The Seven Samurai. Monster’s Inc’s Sully has 2.3m individual strands of hair.
The Incredibles 2 screens at Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Sun 24 Jun, 2pm, and goes on general release, Fri 13 Jul.
26 THE LIST 1 Jun–31 Aug 2018