The Magic behind Cars 3: Touring Pixar Animation Studios + Giveaway

Back in May this year, I did something I had never done ever since Ash was born 12 years ago - travelling solo. Because I firmly believe that memories are better forged when travelling together as a family. Well, that was until Disney Singapore came knocking and offered me the chance of a lifetime.

Yes, I was flown to San Francisco, USA to attend a media junket for the new Pixar animated movie, Cars 3! To top everything off, I was the only representative from Singapore and got the chance to step inside the famed Pixar Studios for a guided tour. For sure it was a packed 2 days - excluding a 24-hour flight EACH WAY - but it was well worth the experience.

Okay... so in case you did not know, I am a HUGE Pixar fan. Toy Story in 1996 made me a fan, and I have not missed a single Pixar animated movie since. Which explains my caption below when our bus first wheeled into the 22-acre Emeryville compound.

OMG, I just shat in my pants. #Pixar

A post shared by Kelvin Ang (@cheekiemonkies) on May 4, 2017 at 8:43am PDT

Figuratively, not literally of course.

As I walked through the lined trees entrance, I can't help but feel a sense of creativity, fun and excitement. The first thing that came into view was the famed Luxo Jr. lamp and Luxo ball.

I was then ushered into the main Pixar Animation Studios building, which is named The Steve Jobs Building.

This is the core of the campus. If you didn’t know, Steve Jobs was the primary investor and CEO of Pixar many many years ago.

And so, this was it. With trembling hands, I pushed the doors open and stepped into Pixar Animation Studios for the first time. the short video below will give you a good idea of its main interior. And yes, I muted the sound because I squealed. LOL.

A post shared by Kelvin Ang (@cheekiemonkies) on May 4, 2017 at 5:57pm PDT

The atrium lobby is filled with life-size versions of some of Pixar’s most popular characters. So as you could probably guess, I wasted no time in grabbing photos with all of them.

How many can you recognise?

The Pixar campus is truly a place of wonder. And here is an interesting fact that I learnt: the campus is laid out like a human brain. And because each side of the brain is responsible for various functions of the whole, the left side of the building represents the technical side while the right side is home to the creative offices.

And both sides are joined by a main area that was designed for people to intentionally mingle and collaborate. This includes ALL of the restrooms, the Pixar cafe and kitchen, and the mailroom.

An Awards Cabinet filled with the many awards and accolades that Pixar had garnered over the years was also on full display in the main atrium - a reminder of the greatness that everyone helps create in the studios.

It was my first time getting so close to an Oscar statuette! Too bad I could not touch it. A case of so near and yet so far.

Oh, and there was the Pixar Store too. A place where I had unintentionally spent a substantial amount of money at.

How not to, especially when there are tons of Pixar merchandise that are sold exclusively in the store???

I then got a tour of the restricted areas, where photography was understandably not allowed. One of the areas included a huge gallery which consisted the Cars 3 storyboard. And with it came a bunch of spoilers, which is why no photos were allowed.

But trust me when I say a magical world of imagination exists.

But what I can show you is the numerous Easter Eggs that are present in the Studios because walking through Pixar Animation Studios is like watching a Pixar cartoon: There are Easter Eggs everywhere!

A post shared by Kelvin Ang (@cheekiemonkies) on May 5, 2017 at 2:43am PDT

The silhouettes of Woody and Bo Beep are obvious enough - they're found at the entrances of washrooms. Buzz can be found embedded in the flooring around the studios while even the design of the wall incorporates a Pixar influence. In the top right hand corner photo, can you tell that the pattern is made up of repeating images of Luxo Jr, the iconic lamp mascot of Pixar???

And speaking of ingenuity, Pixar also likes to refresh the main space with art from its current promotional push. Cars 3 is obviously the big movie that will be hitting theatres so the entire place was adorned with Cars 3 artwork.

But it wasn't all play and no work for me at Pixar Animation Studios, you know. I had the chance to sit through half a day's worth of presentations by the Cars 3 animators and supervisors, and got a glimpse of the hard work that went into the creation of the movie. After that, I had FIVE interview sessions with the various creative team members, including Cars 3's director and producer. And I even got them to answer a few of the monkies' questions!

No doubt it was tiring, but it was fascinating to hear how the entire movie progressed from the storyboard to the big screen. And I would not trade the experience for anything else.

But more on all of that to come in a subsequent post. For now, what say you to a CARS 3 GIVEAWAY? (CLOSED)

Thanks to Walt Disney Singapore, I have EIGHT Cars 3 vehicles to give away! Each lucky child will receive 2 cars each.

The winners have been picked:

1. Phyllis Pang

2. Yin Xiu

3. Evon Low

4. Zamrudnisha Naz

Congrats! Please email me at kelvin@cheekiemonkie.net for prize collection details. Thanks!

To participate, all you have to do is the following:

1. LIKE Walt Disney Singapore's Facebook page HERE.
2. Leave your comment either in the corresponding Facebook post HERE or in this blog post after you have done so.


WANT TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING?
SHARE this blog post of the giveaway on Facebook for a BONUS chance! Remember to set your profile to public so that I can see the shared post.

Giveaway ends on 13 Sep 2017, 2359 hours.

GOOD LUCK! :)


*Cars 3 opens in theatres on 31 August 2017