Topic: Pixar Love

[JackFrost]

So here we have Pixar's very first animated short from 1986, Luxo, Jr. It was nominated for but did not win an Academy Award for Best Animated Short film. There are several recurring references from this short in most if not all Pixar flicks, so...

Eventually, they re-released the short in front of Toy Story 2 and prefaced it with this newly added line:

"In 1986, Pixar produced its first film. This is why we have a hopping lamp in our logo."



And so we move on to Toy Story, their first feature...



In the background of this scene you can see the Luxo lamp on Andy's desk - granted it is red this time, but it is clearly the same exact design. The lamp ends up playing a central part in the story as it's responsible for knocking Buzz out of Andy's window:



And here is the little ball that Luxo, Jr. deflates in the short. This ball, or a pattern similar to it, will appear in nearly everything Pixar does:



And then there is the code A113, which again appears in every Pixar feature film somewhere. A113 refers to the classroom at CalArts where several Disney and Pixar animators started out/met each other. Here it is as the license number on Andy's mother's minivan:



This is all I have for now, but I've just realized there's something in the short Tin Toy that comes back, too - so I'll have to work on that and then we can move on to A Bug's Life... 

[xtopave]

OMG, I even dreamed about those lamps. I bought a compilation of animated shorts from Pixar for my daughter when she was 3 years old and she wanted to see this particular one again and again and again. I still remember her asking for "the lamps" in her half Spanish. Those shorts are awesome for all ages. 

[JackFrost]

OMG, I even dreamed about those lamps. I bought a compilation of animated shorts from Pixar for my daughter when she was 3 years old and she wanted to see this particular one again and again and again. I still remember her asking for "the lamps" in her half Spanish. Those shorts are awesome for all ages.  

It's amazing how much likeability they get out of characters who not only have no voice, but not even a face. And yet the character still expresses a range of reactions and emotions.

And here's their 2nd short, Tin Toy, which did win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 1988 becoming the first CGI generated short film to do so.:

Apparently in early stages of the construction of Toy Story, the toy in this short, Tinny, was to be the central character. But then the cowboy puppet they'd written into the early drafts begin becoming a more centralized character and became Woody. Tinny eventually morphed into Buzz Lightyear.  

But there is an Easter egg in Toy Story from Tin Toy, the rainbow colored stacked-ring toy that the baby teethes:



Because I'd noticed that really early, I thought for awhile that the baby was either Andy or, better yet, Andy's little sister as an infant. So it would make sense that that toy would appear. But eventually I discovered that the name of the baby in Tin Toy is Billy. So no connection - it's just an Easter egg.



And here's the one from A Bug's Life, another appearance of the A113 code on the box on left:



There are more little inside jokes in all of their movies, but a great many involve having intimate knowledge of staff members' names and such. That's a little too anal I think, so I won't include that kind of stuff.

[xtopave]

It's amazing how much likeability they get out of characters who not only have no voice, but not even a face. And yet the character still expresses a range of reactions and emotions.

That's what I thought when I first saw it. Creativity to the extreme.

Tin Toy was in that compilation too. The baby is creepy and Tinny is so sweet and smart. 

And my favorite Pixar short so far:

The music's awesome too.

[ohcheap1]

I had never seen that one! Love it. The kids facial expressions are hilarious. Thanks XT. 

[xtopave]

You're welcome. I love it when he shows them the coins.

[redlandslide]

There's another Toy Story easter egg. The names of the Pixar shorts appear as book titles behind woody.

[JackFrost]

There's another Toy Story easter egg. The names of the Pixar shorts appear as book titles behind woody.

Yeah, I shoulda included that, but it's so obvious to me, I completely overlooked it... 

[JackFrost]

I had never seen that one! Love it. The kids facial expressions are hilarious. Thanks XT.  

One Man Band showed in front of Cars and is on that DVD as well...

Okay, and so on to Toy Story 2! And where there weren't very many hidden things in A Bug's Life, there's all sorts of things hidden all over Toy Story 2.



First up is right in the opening credits, there's a Luxo Jr. lamp made out of stars:



And here is the first of numerous A Bug's Life references. The calendar is using a piece of concept artwork. Oh, and incidentally, the red lamp is back, too:



While Mr. Potato Head is looking for her earring, Mrs. Potato Head reads the A Bug's Life storybook:



And here is the first of no less than 4 different places the Luxo ball appears - this one during the ad for Al's Toy Barn:



And here it is again in a basket on the bottom of Andy's shelves:



And here, up on the dusty shelf, is the ring toy that first appeared in Tin Toy. It is clearly missing pieces and has been retired now that both kids have outgrown it. It ends up out in the yard sale and is never seen again:



While the toys are looking for one of the Al's Toy Barn ads, they are flipping through channels. Hamm decides to speed things up and begins to speedily press the channel button. All of the images that pass by are either from Pixar shorts or advertisements they've done:

Their old logo:


Luxo, Jr.:


Tin Toy:


Knick Knack (incidentally, this is the unedited version where the snowman's object of affection has enormous pontoons):


Red's Dream (be sure to take note of the pattern on the floor under the unicycle )


Pixar did at least 3 ads for Listerine where they animated the bottle as a boxer, Robin Hood and Tarzan. While they did show quick clips from the Tarzan one, none of them actually had the bottle in frame, so here are the boxer and Robin Hood)



And the 3rd appearance of the Luxo ball - in fact, I still haven't figured out what this is from originally:


In Al's apartment, there's abstract art from A Bug's Life on his wall:



In this scene, Buzz is leading the other toys to Al's Toy Barn and is chopping his way through some of the shrubbery. Just before he appears in scene, you can see Heimlich climbing one of the plants:



The man who Al calls to repair Woody is the character Geri from their short Geri's Game:

And just to drive the point home, one of the drawers of his repair kit contains chess pieces:


And the 4th and final Luxo ball appearance. There is actually a bin full of them right next to the entrance to Al's Toy Barn, but I couldn't find that shot so you get this one - trust me, the bin is there :


Al's Toy Barn carries the toy line for A Bug's Life - and that is the actual packaging for the real life versions of the toys:



And here's a really neat parallel sequence from Toy Story, both Woody and Buzz have the same reaction climbing up to bask in the magnificence of Buzz Lightyear :



During the sequence where Jesse recounts being abandoned by her owner , the tree on the hill with the tire swing is the same one that sits atop Ant Island in A Bug's Life:
 



And Hamm gets clobbered by stuff from the glove compartment of the Pizza Planet truck, one of its contents is the Chinese Food box from A Bug's Life Also, this shot shows the owner's manual for the Pizza Planet truck which makes it a 1978 Gyoza :



And last, but not least, is the reappearance of A113 as Andy's mom's license plate, but it is also the number of a flight announced over the loudspeakers at the airport:



And we'll look at Monsters, Inc. next...

[xtopave]

That's how I know about One Man Band, because of Cars. 

I'm showing this to my daughter and she recognized almost all the hidden stuff and she's shouting and jumping.

Guess what's going into the DVD player next. 

This is great JackFrost.

[JackFrost]

That's how I know about One Man Band, because of Cars. 

I was just identifying the location for cheapy... 

I'm showing this to my daughter and she recognized almost all the hidden stuff and she's shouting and jumping.

Oh, uh, well sorry for the shouting... 

Guess what's going into the DVD player next. 

I'd imagine either A Bug's Life or Toy Story 2... 

This is great JackFrost.

Thanks, glad you're diggin' it. 

[redlandslide]

I love Geri's Game. I didn't see it until last christmas and was watching it again a couple of weeks ago, but was convinced there were no easter eggs in it, I never recognised Geri himself was from TS2. 

On the subject of the Toy Story movies, the Eggman Removals removal truck at the end of Toy Story reappears in Toy Story 2 when the toys are crossing the road under the cones, and makes a third appearance in the Incredibles video game, which I guess makes it an Incredibles video game easter egg.

[JackFrost]

I love Geri's Game. I didn't see it until last christmas and was watching it again a couple of weeks ago, but was convinced there were no easter eggs in it, I never recognised Geri himself was from TS2. 

It's actually the other way around. Geri's Game premiered with A Bug's Life, so Geri was then cast in Toy Story 2. 

On the subject of the Toy Story movies, the Eggman Removals removal truck at the end of Toy Story reappears in Toy Story 2 when the toys are crossing the road under the cones, and makes a third appearance in the Incredibles video game, which I guess makes it an Incredibles video game easter egg.

Like I said, there are some very obscure references that I just left out rather than have to explain. The Eggman Removals truck doesn't appear often enough for me to make an issue out of it (although, I have to re-watch Up to see if it's in there). Similarly, I left out the shot where we we see the pink bear (in the left of the shot) from Toy Story sold in Al's Toy Barn in Toy Story 2 because I can barely remember the pink bear at all! :

[xtopave]

Oh, uh, well sorry for the shouting... 

Nah, she was excited in a good way.

I'd imagine either A Bug's Life or Toy Story 2... 

She chose TS2 but we couldn't find it so it was the Pixar Shorts. Again. 

[JackFrost]

She chose TS2 but we couldn't find it so it was the Pixar Shorts. Again. 

At this point, I'd wait about a year and they should put out some special set that'll have all 3 Toy Story flicks in it...