A visit to Pixar Studios

Kid Reporter Mimi Evans at the Cars 2 press day

The first thing that you notice when you walk into Pixar Studios is how much they love their movies. In one corner you can see a giant throne from Toy Story 3. Going up a floor, a giant storyboard for The Incredibles is placed as the backdrop for life-size statues of the Incredibles themselves. Across from them you can see an intimidating shark from Finding Nemo.

The second thing that you notice is how serious everything is. As soon as I got into the hall, I was suddenly surrounded by throngs of reporters doing, well, reporter-ly things — sipping coffee, taking pictures, or just chatting with the people next to them. And the reporters were from everywhere. I thought that they would only from around California, and maybe a couple out-of-staters. But there were reporters from as far away as the United Kingdom.

Security was also tight. Before we went to see a short clip from Cars 2 (sorry, no spoilers here!), our bags were thoroughly searched for any recording devices, including cell phones. I could hear some of the reporters grumble about that. But after they took anything that was remotely electronic, they still weren’t done. They used a metal detector extremely similar to the kind they use at airports, complete with some intimidating security guards. I can assure you that nobody was going to get any part of Cars 2 on camera.

What was also noticeable was how down to earth everybody was. I know, I wouldn’t believe it either. I always hear about how this star or that person is just “sooo down to earth,” and I never believe them. I mean, these are people making movies. How could you be down to earth when you’re doing something amazingly huge like that?

But really, everybody at Pixar studios is unassuming. As me and a half-dozen other reporters sat at round wooden tables, they were easygoing as they explained the workings of Cars and Cars 2. When they went into press round tables, they even looked a little nervous themselves.

Even the director, John Lasseter, and comedian Larry the Cable Guy (who is the voice of Mater) were laid-back. Just because Lasseter is a director doesn’t mean he wears a suit — in fact, he came in wearing a smile and a Hawaiian shirt with a print of classic cars.

When I talked to Larry the Cable Guy, he offered me a cucumber sandwich. LARRY THE CABLE GUY offered ME a CUCUMBER SANDWICH. There is so much wrong with that sentence! First of all, a “redneck” comedian eating a cucumber sandwich? “Everything goes with cream cheese,” he offered in his defense. Secondly he had offered it to ME?

I was flabbergasted with delight about the people of Pixar to say the least!

—Kid Reporter Mimi Evans

Photo: Larry the Cable Guy and John Lasseter at Pixar Studios for the Cars 2 press day. (Deborah Coleman ©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved)

Comments

[Kidspressblog]

Pixar studios sounds great! And reporters from United Kingdom-well that is really far away. This should be a really neat movie.

KR: Andrew L.