FEATURE - October 2014

By Bella Alioto, Isabella Angel, Matt Diener, Grace Feinberg, Gillian Friend, Katrina Horsey, Dylan Jones, Sarah Knopf, Sarah Noble, Isabel Rodriguez, Linden Schrage, Campbell Slavin and Kathleen Winnick. From Brandeis Hillel, Davidson Middle, Katherine Delmar Burke,  Marin Academy, Marin Catholic, Mark Day, Redwood, San Domenico, San Francisco Day and Tam High Schools

 

TAKE A JOURNEY WITH US...

Where do childhood dreams come from? What inspires our wildest fantasies? For us, and many others, these inspirations sneak into our unsuspecting minds from the bright lights on the big screens. Movies might be the only place where monsters collect children’s screams, superheroes battle evil, toys come to life every time you look away, and a fish searched the whole ocean to find his son. So, where do these dreams come from? Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios.

Before visiting the Pixar Headquarters in Emeryville, we imagined it would be like teleporting to a mythical place; a place where fairies and elves drew cartoons while whistling happy tunes—a place where fantasies came to life. But in real life, the campus wasn’t filled with mystical creatures and talking monsters. However, it was in no way disappointing. In fact, it was more amazing than our craziest fantasies. Beautiful murals depicting Pixar movies and short films covered the walls. Life-like sculptures of characters jumped out at us as we walked in. The air buzzed the feeling of creativity and we looked on with childlike wonder. Around every nook and cranny, there was another surprise waiting to be discovered. Animations livened the walls along with sculptures and paintings of dramatic scenes and characters that decorated the hallway.

Pixar, a 28-year-old computer animation studio has created 14 full-length films, along with numerous shorts. One of the company’s high marks of innovation is shown by observing the depth of their characters. Their movie Brave portrayed a strong, independent female lead character. In this film, Pixar defied expectations by delving deeper to create a complex personality by adding emotion, internal struggle, and maturity to every character.