My Magical Day at Pixar Animation Studios and A Secret Look Inside the Disney Archives #GoodDinoEvent

October 14, 2015 Kristin

This post may contain affiliate links or I may have received the product free in exchange for my honest review. See full disclosure for more information.

Disclosure: I am being provided with an all-expense paid trip as part of a press Junket with Disney in exchange for my press coverage. All opinions are 100% my own.

Earlier this year, I shared with you that I was heading to San Francisco, CA for an exiting trip with Disney and Pixar. Now I am excited to tell you about my fun time spent at the Pixar Animation Studios and Disney Archives.

I totally love that I was a “Stranger from the outside” on my visitor’s pass!

Pixar Animation Studios has to be one of the coolest and best places to work. From the moment you walk into the door of The Steve Jobs Building, the place is full of color, lively bright sights to see, including this GIANT banner of Arlo, Nash and the other characters that will be featured in the Disney-Pixar newest release, The Good Dinosaur, set to hit theaters on November 25, 2015. Just so you are aware, in the movie, Arlo is portrayed as the youngest member of his family, standing a whopping 18′ tall! Dad is 60′ tall and mom is 55′ tall. You can see in the picture below, it would really be true-to-form how it would be with me at 6′ tall standing next to a live Arlo!

Part of our group split up and headed over to the Disney Archives were we got to talk, first-hand, with the archivists and moderators that tend to and organize each and every single piece of Disney-Pixar movie memorabilia and magic! To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Toy Story, we got to see some amazing sketches created by John Lasseter, some clay models of the characters, and even some fun research photos of how they were inspired to create the abused toys in Sid’s room! My personal favorite was a real-life toy that the creators made using the torso of a Hulk Hogan doll and the body and head of a small Erik Estrada doll from C.H.I.P.S. TV show back in the 70’s and 80’s! I was also excited to hear that they are currently working on things for the upcoming release of Toy Story 4, set to release in 2018.

Now I know that you are thinking, “2018? That is a long time to await a new and highly anticipated movie like Toy Story 4!” Well let me tell you, one thing I learned while visiting Pixar Animation Studios is that it can take YEARS upon YEARS to put together a 90-minute, box-office hit. There is tons of research, drawing, collaboration, writing, molding, effects and much much more! The Good Dinosaur alone has been in the works for nearly 6 years!

One of my favorite parts of this trip was learning just how much research, detail, time and even lots of love went into the creation of The Good Dinosaur. Speaking with Pete Sohn and the entire crew was an amazing and eye-opening experience into what it takes to create a Pixar movie from start to finish. The movie is set to release in just 5 short weeks, and they were STILL putting the final touches together on it.

Of course a trip to the Pixar Animation Studios MUST include a photo opportunity with the magic lamp, Luxo, and the infamous Pixar Ball! Did you know that there are items available in the Pixar giftshop on campus that are not available anywhere else? That includes an actual bouncy Pixar Ball.

The campus has such detail and hidden gems all over the place. One of the buildings had flooring with hidden characters in it, including Buzz Lightyear and Bullseye, Woody’s horse. The ladies restroom even had a nice silhouette of BoPeep.

There was so much to see and experience at the Pixar Animation Studios and I could have spent days there. Later on, I will get to tell you about my exciting time with each department and see how The Good Dinosaur goes from a simple sketch to the colorfully illustrated masterpiece you see on the screen.

Watch for more fun and exciting posts regarding The Good Dinosaur, Disney, Pixar and much more in the weeks to come. To get you excited, here is a sneak peek of the new trailer recently released.

“The Good Dinosaur” asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar Animation Studios takes you on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo (voice of Raymond Ochoa) makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of.