Beginning with Red's Dream and its references to previous Pixar short films, Pixar has included references in its films to other works produced by the studio. [1] These have included cameo appearances, references to characters, objects, and titles of works. Additionally, such easter eggs or in-jokes can refer to Pixar staff, associates, or places or events from the company's past. Lastly, some things, such as A113, Pizza Planet, or actor John Ratzenberger have appeared in the majority of Pixar films, establishing a set of traditions that subsequent Pixar films try to include.
The following is a list of all documented self-referential nods contained within Pixar films and shorts that the various filmmakers have incorporated into their movies.
A113 is an Easter egg that has been inserted into several animated television shows and feature films [1] [2] as a homage to a classroom at CalArts, the alma mater of Pixar/Disney executive John Lasseter and director Brad Bird, among others. Bird was the first to use the A113 Easter egg, [3] on a car license plate in an animated segment entitled Family Dog in a 1987 episode of the television series Amazing Stories .
Described as "Pixar's good luck charm" by John Lasseter, actor John Ratzenberger played a role in every Pixar feature from Toy Story to Onward , [10] [22] including a few not produced by Pixar. [lower-alpha 1] Soul is the first film where John Ratzenberger uses his likeness instead of a voice role, [23] while he is not present at all in Luca , [24] Turning Red , Lightyear , or Elemental .
A yellow ball with a blue stripe and a red star, which was first shown in the short Luxo, Jr. , has been shown in several Pixar feature films and shorts, most prominently in the Toy Story franchise, as well as the print Pixar icon. [25]
Pizza Planet is a fictional pizza restaurant that appears in Toy Story . [34] In the film, it is a large, sci-fi-themed restaurant with arcade games including robot guards at the entrance. The company runs a fleet of derelict Toyota Hilux pickup trucks (as evidenced by the inscription on the tailgate; it is a Toyota inscription with the first and last two letters, "TO" and "TA", worn off so it simply appears as "YO") with a rocket on the roof featuring the restaurant's logo, as seen in Toy Story, Toy Story 2 , and Toy Story 3 (though in Toy Story 2, the truck model is called a "Gyoza" as seen on the owner's manual). There is a Pizza Planet reference in every Pixar feature film [35] to date except for the film The Incredibles . Lee Unkrich has confirmed that there is no Pizza Planet truck anywhere in The Incredibles. [26] [36] Director Brad Bird said that he was too busy making the film to tell the animation team to insert the truck. [37]
To avoid overt product placement in Pixar films, a series of fictional companies are used as placeholders. Some appear only in one franchise (such as fictional NASCAR sponsors in Cars ) but others serve as recurring themes.
Buy-n-Large is a fictional megacorporation that first appeared in WALL-E as the entity which controlled all economic and government services on the future Earth.
Dinoco is a fictional oil company that first appeared in Toy Story as a small gas station. It plays a central role as a key race car sponsor in Cars , and made a small cameo in WALL-E . [34] The company's logo is a dinosaur, but with a Brontosaurus in Toy Story and a Tyrannosaurus in Cars (a reference to Sinclair Oil, which uses a similar dinosaur logo. The name, however, is similar to Sunoco, the current oil and gasoline sponsor of NASCAR).
Eggman Movers is a fictional moving company that has an anthropomorphic egg with a hat as a mascot and appears mostly throughout the Toy Story franchise. The company's name is a reference to Pixar production designer Ralph Eggleston. [32]
Poultry Palace is a fictional chicken-based fast-food chain that first appears in the Toy Story short Small Fry.
These Pixar films contain the following references to the Toy Story films, shorts, and television specials:
These Pixar films and shorts contain the following references to A Bug's Life :
These Pixar films contain the following references to Monsters, Inc. or Monsters University :
These Pixar films and shorts contain the following references to Finding Nemo and Finding Dory :
These Pixar films contain the following references to The Incredibles and Incredibles 2 :
These films and shorts contain references to Cars , Cars 2 or Cars 3 :
These films contain references to the film Ratatouille :
These films contain references to the film WALL-E :
These films contain references to the film Up :
These films or shorts contain references to the film Brave :
These films contain references to the film Inside Out:
These films contain references to the film Coco :
These films contain references to The Adventures of André and Wally B. :
These films contain references to Luxo, Jr. :
These films contain references to Red's Dream :
These films contain references to Tin Toy :
These films contain references to Knick Knack :
The following Pixar films reference For the Birds :
These Pixar films contain the following references to Geri's Game :
These Pixar films contain the following references to Boundin' :
These Pixar films contain the following references to Apple Inc.
These Pixar films contain cameo appearances by Pixar employees.
Pixar Animation Studios is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Since 2006, Pixar has been a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, a segment of the Walt Disney Company.
John Dezso Ratzenberger is an American actor. He is best known for playing the character Cliff Clavin on the comedy series Cheers, for which he earned two Primetime Emmy nominations. Ratzenberger also played a role in the short-lived spin-off The Tortellis and in an episode of Wings, which was made by the same creators. He has voiced various characters in several Pixar feature films including Hamm in the Toy Story franchise, The Abominable Snowman in the Monsters, Inc. franchise, Mack in the Cars franchise, The Underminer in The Incredibles franchise, Fritz in the Inside Out franchise, and many others.
Phillip Bradley Bird is an American writer, director and producer. He has had a career spanning forty years in both animation and live-action.
Loren C. Carpenter is a computer graphics researcher and developer.
Joseph Henry Ranft was an American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. His younger brother Jerome Ranft is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar films.
William Everett "Bud" Luckey was an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, musician, singer and voice actor. He worked at the animation studio Pixar, where he worked as a character designer on a number of films, including Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars and Ratatouille. Luckey was also the voice of Rick Dicker in The Incredibles, Chuckles the Clown in Toy Story 3 and as Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh (2011).
Ralph Eggleston was an American animator, art director, storyboard artist, and production designer at Pixar Animation Studios. He won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for For the Birds.
Teddy Newton is an American animator and voice actor, best known for his work at Pixar Animation Studios.
Ratatouille is a 2007 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The eighth film produced by Pixar, it was written and directed by Brad Bird and produced by Brad Lewis, from an original idea by Jan Pinkava, who was credited for conceiving the film's story with Bird and Jim Capobianco. The film stars the voices of Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo, Peter O'Toole, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn and Brad Garrett. The title refers to the French dish ratatouille, and also references the species of the main character, a rat. Set mostly in Paris, the plot follows a young rat Remy (Oswalt) who dreams of becoming a chef at Auguste Gusteau's (Garrett) restaurant and tries to achieve his goal by forming an unlikely alliance with the restaurant's garbage boy Alfredo Linguini (Romano).
Pixar Play Parade was a parade at the Disneyland Resort. The parade features floats and characters based on Disney·Pixar films such as Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles and Toy Story. In a first for Disney California Adventure, the floats feature small water jets that shoot water into the crowd of spectators. The music used in the parade is derived from Hong Kong Disneyland's Mickey's WaterWorks Parade, both having the same tunes with changes in lyrics.
Carlos Baena is a professional animator and now a cofounder of the online school Animation Mentor, which was started in March 2005. It was the first post-secondary school that helped students to pursue a career in animation. At the school, students work with mentors from major studios in a production-style environment, and graduate with a professional demo reel.
Lego Toy Story is a Lego theme based on the Disney·Pixar's Toy Story film franchise. The first four sets were released on December 30, 2009, with an additional two sets being released on January 4, 2010. In May, five Lego and four Duplo sets were released under the Toy Story 3 sub-theme. For the release of Toy Story 4 there was one Duplo set based on the third film and 6 Lego sets based on the fourth film. These sets were released in March and in April 2019 this time under the Juniors line. The minifigures in the sets were also now redesigned.
David DiFrancesco,, is a photoscientist, inventor, cinematographer, and photographer. He is a founding member of three organizations which pioneered computer graphics for digital special effects and film with Edwin Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith, including; New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab, Lucasfilm Computer Division, and Pixar, financed by Steve Jobs.
Michael Silvers is a sound editor who has often worked with Pixar. He has worked on nearly every Pixar feature film.
Gini Cruz Santos is a Filipina animator at Pixar studios based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked on numerous Pixar animation films including Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, Up, Lifted and Brave. She was nominated in 2004 for an Annie award for her detailed lifelike animation on Finding Nemo, and was nominated by the Visual Effects Society for an award for this project as well.
Sharon Calahan is an American cinematographer who was director of photography on the Pixar films A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), and Finding Nemo (2003), and was lighting director for Ratatouille (2007), Cars 2 (2011), and The Good Dinosaur (2015). She took part in the early rise of computer animated feature film making and the acceptance of that medium as cinematography. Calahan is the first member of the American Society of Cinematographers who was invited to join on the basis of a career entirely in animated film. She was nominated, with Bill Reeves, Eben Ostby, and Rick Sayre, for a 2000 BAFTA Award for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects for A Bug's Life.
Wonderful World of Animation is a nighttime show at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show is a celebration of all Disney animation, beginning with Mickey Mouse. It premiered on May 1, 2019, as part of the park's 30th anniversary celebration, replacing Disney Movie Magic.
These Pixar films contain references to Pixar employees.
These Pixar films contain the following references to an assortment of other things.