I recently noticed Zachary Levi praising a documentary about the creation of Pixar Animation Studios. With Brave (and GeekMom's Pixar Week) fresh in my mind, I decided the timing couldn't be better to check it out. The Pixar Story is a 2008 documentary written and directed by Leslie Iwerks, and it captured my interest quickly as it delved into the riveting journey of Pixar Animation Studios as they chased their dream to create the first full-length computer animated film.
The Pixar Story is full of moments that made me turn to my husband and say, "I didn't know that!" The film opens with a focus on John Lasseter and his beginning as a Disney animator, and later his move to Lucasfilm as part of the new Pixar group. One of their first works in a film was the Genesis Effect scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. (Say it with me: I didn't know that!)
Although the documentary is filled with fascinating interviews with John Lasseter, Steve Jobs, and Pixar's president Ed Catmull, the most captivating scenes are the behind-the-scenes footage captured by Pixar insiders themselves. Not only did Lasseter have a camera on-hand during his days at Disney, much of Pixar's journey is chronicled firsthand as we see Lasseter receive the news that Toy Story was green lighted, Brad Bird share his first day at Pixar on The Incredibles, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in the recording booth together for Toy Story, and more.
The most striking part of the documentary are the details of the challenges the team faced for each movie. Toy Story 2, my favorite Pixar movie, was drastically re-written and re-worked in a matter of months to make its release date. The documentary shows the team pushed to their limits, yet they ultimately delivered a fun and slightly poignant film. When talking about Jessie's song in Toy Story 2, Tom Hanks recalls meeting Tim Allen's eye in the screening, both with tears on their faces. I don't know anyone who had a dry eye during that part of the movie, a testament to Pixar's ability to use computer animation to create real characters who we can identify with and root for.
The Pixar Story undoubtedly changed the way I see my favorite Pixar movies. I will never see certain scenes from Finding Nemo and A Bug's Life the same way again, thanks to my new knowledge of how those films were made.
The documentary is included on the WALL-E Special Edition DVD and Blu-Ray, is currently available for rent on iTunes and Amazon.
