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What Is Kept Inside Pixar’s Archives? #Incredibles2Event

April 16, 2018 by Momstart 1 Comment

Disney provided hotel and transportation for us to attend the Incredibles 2 Animation Press Day. During the Incredibles 2 Animation Press Day we got to do something I’ve never done before. Pixar employees took us into the Pixar Archives so we could see what is kept inside Pixar’s Archives. And you would be surprised, Pixar doesn’t keep everything. Pixar archives keeps ALMOST everything but they couldn’t possibly house everything.

For every project there is so much artwork, clay models, pre-designs, and story boards created that they have to choose what is most important and that is what is kept. What might animators need in the future for sequels and what was key to telling the final story and entire process. They said that with Coco, it was very difficult to make those choices because with Coco there was much more amazing material than with other projects. You have to remember, Pixar puts so much research into each project.

Our tour guide began the tour by describing the building that has been around since May 2016. The building is built from materials that are flame resistant. The artwork is stored by project and is stored in movable walls, or high density shelving. Each wall has a lever that moves with great ease.

Pixar keeps artwork from each version of the script. Pixar archives keeps things that also tell the story of Pixar and that includes awards and a copy of software that they sold that made 3D text designs. Looking at it, I think that product was just ahead of it’s times and that’s why it didn’t do well.

Our tour guide in the Pixar archives took us to see the earliest version of the Toy Story sculptures. This material is a clay that can be manipulated then baked in a kiln. The lines were hand drawn and then a wand was used to digitize the lines and that’s how characters used to be created in the computer.

She showed us some of the clay sculptures from the first Incredibles movie. Did you know, they make a clay sculpture for every possible facial expression a character might need? They have only two sculptors on campus. Pretty crazy right? I mean they make drawing and clay creations. Then everything is put in a computer and it’s insane.

The final room we were taken into inside the Pixar archives was where we saw some amazing concept art for The Incredibles and The Incredibles 2. We saw art that turned into Violet.

We were also treated to see concept art of Edna Mode. It was really amazing how there were different versions of her. Could you imagine her as any other shape or size though? Look at the photo below? Could that have been Edna?

Here is a reason why they keep concept art from the original movies, the following picture is of some bad guys that didn’t make Incredibles 1, so artists were able to pull it and possibly use it to come up with the villains of the Incredibles 2.

We also saw press clippings and it took a lot of organizing because they had so so many to go through.

Photos are courtesy of Pixar. Pixar’s Incredibles 2 will be in theaters June 15th.

Inside the Walls of Pixar’s Steve Jobs Building #Incredibles2Event

April 16, 2018 by Momstart 1 Comment

Disney provided hotel and transportation for us to attend the Incredibles 2 animation press day.

During the Incredibles 2 Animation Press Day we took a few different tours of Pixar. One of those Pixar tours included the walls of Pixar from inside the Steve Jobs Building. First off, did you know, because I’m not sure I told you in all the times I’ve written about Pixar, that Pixar was first part of Lucasfilm. Quite a while back, Steve Jobs purchased this tech software company from Lucasfilm and he created Pixar out of it. They used to make graphics software but that all changed. It was in 2006 when Disney purchased Pixar.

The Steve Jobs building was built in such a way as to provide employees opportunities to be collaborative and creative. People need to be able to easily bounce ideas off of each other so there is a very large foyer as soon as you walk into the building. You will also notice that the inside comes into the building. The outside of the Steve Jobs building at Pixar is made of brick and that brick comes inside for about 20 feet before it changes. The same goes for the flooring. It’s a very well lit building and I love going there. Just stepping one foot on the Pixar campus and you can really feel just how much energy is there. It’s a contagiously amazing feeling.

Well, our first tour took us up the stairs to the right which has all the artwork from their last movie Coco. The art starts from the beginning of the movie Coco and takes you all the way through to the ending of the movie. It also walks you through the steps of animation and how some things evolve and change and don’t even make it into the movie. Animation is a long process and it seems that the average time animation is involved in a movie at Pixar is at least 4 years.

Then we took a tour of the other side of Pixar which currently is housing all the artwork for The Incredibles 2. The Incredibles 2 will be in theaters in just under 2 months, June 15th.

We saw quite a few different images from inside these walls and I tried so hard to piece together the rest of the story, because while we were there we only saw the first 20 minutes of the story. So all we know is the basics of how Mrs. Incredible is working with this brother and sister duo to bring back super heroes. Being a super is still illegal.

But there is a villain and I have my suspicions on who this villain is, but I wonder if there are two villains or what his story is. So here are all the images I can share from Pixar’s Incredibles 2 Animation Press Day, inside the walls of the Steve Jobs building.

Doesn’t this just get you all excited for the release of The Incredibles 2?

Photos courtesy of Pixar!

The House Walt Disney Built #DisneyInHomeEvent

October 2, 2014 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Once upon a time there was a man who was an inventor, an innovator and an imaginer. He loved to build things and draw things and just create things and it all started with a mouse. Yes you know who I’m talking about, I’m talking about the beloved Walt Disney. He was really getting into his career in Hollywood and needed a home to start a family, so he built his wife a house so they could have that family and watch them grow and make many memories. And I was lucky enough to get a tour of this fabulous home.

Built in the summer of 1932, Walt looked back to his own French/Norman roots and came up with a design that incorporated architectural elements from Medieval France, the Mediterranean and Tudor England, creating his own unique combination of architectural styles. The house was built in a quick two months in order to be ready in time for the baby’s arrival and was constructed by a crew largely composed of out-of-work, Depression-era workers. Walt Disney told Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, “I built a house in Los Feliz during the Depression. Men used to line up there in the morning hoping to get work. I found a graduate of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and had him paint my whole ceiling.” (Lowery 3). The finished house has a delightful and welcoming fairy tale look, perfect for raising a family – which is exactly what he and his wife did – and which features many design elements recognizable in Sleeping Beauty.

Some of the design choices Walt made that give the Woking Way home its thrilling “fairy tale” look include a Tudor influenced exterior, formal double-storied living room with vaulted dark beamed ceilings, wrought iron spandrels, original stained glass windows and a Juliet balcony similar to Sleeping Beauty’s castle design types.

The home’s grand rounded double-story entrance features a hand-painted ceiling and a classic winding staircase perfect for a princess to make a grand entrance. As with so much of his work with animators, Walt discovered a young graduate of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts among the Depression-era workers hired to help build the house. Walt challenged him to paint the ceiling of the rotunda, which resulted in a spectacular flourish to the setting that is still in excellent condition.

It’s really quite surreal to be in the house that Walt Disney built, I mean really it’s full of his creative touches. The family that lives there has it covered in Disney memorabilia so it really brings home who Walt was. We toured all the bed rooms, the room where his gym was and where they celebrated Christmas every year. Did you know, he even built the girls a little castle of their own and it had working water running to it. It’s amazing, and that morning that Santa delivered their new play house he called them and asked them if they loved their new castle.

You may be wondering why the house Walt Disney Built is now offering tours? In 1959, Disney’s Sleeping Beauty was introduced to the world. Now Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is releasing both Sleeping Beauty Diamond Edition (Oct 7) and Disney’s new version of the story, Maleficent (Nov 4), on Blu-ray. In celebration of the releases, WDSHE is hosting a tour of Walt Disney’s home on Woking Way in Los Angeles’ Los Feliz neighborhood.

The home at Woking Way is currently occupied by Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, best known in the United States for the films Night Watch (2004), its sequel Day Watch (2006), Wanted (2008), starring Maleficent’s Angelina Jolie, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012). Although none of the original Disney furniture remains in the home, Bekmambetov is committed to preserving the memory of its famed former resident by limiting remodeling work and filling it with assorted memorabilia celebrating Disney’s life and work. This memorabilia includes original Disney Studios artwork and historic photos of Walt Disney at home and at work. To Mr. Bekmambetov, “This is an iconic house. It should be treated like a museum.” Bekmambetov is the first resident since Walt Disney to open the home for private viewing and it has recently hosted events for the American Film Institute and Walt Disney Studios.

I reposted this on Sway.com! Check it out!

A Walk Through New Amsterdam Theater New York

December 8, 2011 by Momstart 25 Comments

Thanks to Disney we had a backstage tour of the Amsterdam Theater. Our tour guide gave us the whole history of the theater which is quite impressive.

The theater is actually so old it’s a historical landmark.

When they refurbished it, they had to remove a tree, mushrooms on the walls and rats. Yuck! The renovation cost about 45 million dollars which was also the price if you consider inflation that it cost to build the building originally. During the renovation they found that they were quite lucky really because before the theater ran down, all the walls were painted a chocolate brown that preserved everything underneath it. It was so well preserved that they had to actually go in and antique the walls to make the building look historical.

There was only one mishap during the renovation. One of the men cleaning the walls broke off the finger on the lady below. To fix it they had to make sure that it looked different from the original so the man made a mold of his thumb and plastered it in place.

The details on the walls, the elevator and ceilings were ornate and so very beautiful. They did a fantastic job with the renovation if you ask me.

I got to be the Little Mermaid, even though I bet my husband says I look like a cylon. (it’s an inside joke)

Look at Costumes:

These costumes are from The Little Mermaid

These costumes are from Mary Poppins

And Try on head pieces from The Lion king and other hats from other productions

I had such a great time back stage at the New Amsterdam Theater. You might remember that I love to try on costumes and get dressed up. Learning about the history of the theater was interesting and getting to play around with everything was priceless. Some things that looked incredibly heavy were actually lighter than air. And it makes sense, how can a dancer jump around the stage while singing if they have to worry about losing parts of their costumes. Which reminds me, each costume is tailored to fit the cast member specifically. Once you are in you shouldn’t lose or gain any weight and forget about changing your hair at all. If you change your hair then how would your head piece fit. Ready for some fun? Can you guess what this costume is?

Travel and Expenses were covered by Disney/DreamWorks.