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Science & Environment
May 1 2006
science@gairrhydd.com
20 YEARS OF PIXAR Science gets an exclusive look around this years coolest exhibition
By Ceri Morgan Science and Environment Editor
Which film are you most proud of? “I think because it’s most recent, The Incredibles because it’s human animation, and it’s difficult to do that. You have to deal with all the facial issues and try to make them not look really like humans but, uh, caricatures of humans. We just finished Cars, and people don’t know what cars look like when they’re talking, but humans – we all know what they look like, so from an animation point of view I think that The Incredibles is probably number one for me.”
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n exciting new exhibition containing very rare Pixar sketches has opened in London. Pixar: 20 Years of Animation, brings together 350 drawings and paintings, 50 sculptures plus computer-generated multimedia artworks. There are displays from the studios hugely successful movies - Toy Story, Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo to name but a few - as well as an exclusive look at sketches from the latest Disney/ Pixar production Cars. Jon Tucker, Head of the Science Museum said: “This exhibition gives our visitors a unique glimpse into one of the most creative film studios in the world.” “Pixar have been marrying tremendous artistic talents with witty scripts and groundbreaking technology for 20 years.” The biggest feature of the exhibition is a huge eight foot diameter zoetrope - a cinematic device that creates the optical illusion of static images in motion - and features characters from both of the Toy Story films and uses a series of strobe lights to animate Buzz, Woody, Wheezy and others. Science caught up with senior animator Dan Mason for an exclusive chat about the past, present and future of Pixar Animation Studios. This exhibition has already proven a success in New York; do you think that will be repeated here? “I hope so! I hope so - we’re very excited.”
In recent years, Pixar has come to epitomise popular animation, were you surprised by the success of your films? “Um, no! I think every time when you’re working on a film, you don’t know really how it is going to be accepted by people, but at Pixar we work collaboratively, and we’ll all work on our storyboards before we actually start the animation, so people can judge in a company wide way. We all go into a screening room and at early stages of the film we will look at what’s been done, and everyone is allowed to send in comments, and I think by doing that, we have a good sense of what’s good and what’s not by the general consensus of people there. They are all very talented.”
Pixar has been so successful to present, so where do you go from here? “I think it’s to continue to make heartfelt films, and to care and put the effort in the way we have on each of the other ones, and that’s where we are going. They’ll all be different, as we continue on, but we’ll keep that same kind of process – the way we work.”
talent.” How do you think the take over by Disney will affect the company? (Looks sceptical) “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I think that we will keep making films the way we make films. The beauty of our company is we have John Lasseter, who is our Creative Director, who directed Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and Cars, and it’s sort of his philosophy that we live by, and that’s not going to change ‘cause John’s not going anywhere, and actually John is taking over Disney’s feature animation, so he can put his foot down. He’s strong but in a very loving way, and people will lie down in front of a train for him. He’s open and he’s collaborative, and has a great sense of what’s funny and ‘let’s do it!’” The films each occupy a fantasy world; do they have a basis in reality?
“Oh, absolutely. If you look at the characters in Finding Nemo, we have these fish in the tank, and you can pick out characteristics that are like your friends. We try to make it so you can go with your grandmother and grandfather and not be embarrassed, all the way down to the two year old. We try to work on making it real for the whole family. How long does it take to make the perfect Pixar film? “From conception to completion they are averaging four to five years. But specifically in animation we spend between a year to a year and a half on a film. Production times will no doubt get even shorter in the future.” Pixar: 20 Years of Animation, has a ten-week run at the Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London, until 10 June 2006. Entry for students is only £7.
Can you see Pixar being this influential in the world of animation in twenty years time? “I think so, I really do. I think it’s partly because I look at the talent of the people that I work with; it blows my mind every day that I go to work, and I see these people who are amazing. You can look around this exhibition and see this stuff is phenomenal. You know at Pixar, because of the success, animators around the world want to work with us. We have people from the Netherlands, we have some from France, South America, and so it’s an international group of the best in the world. So we have the pick of the new
Zoetrope: 3D Toy Story characters created on a laser printer