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PIXAR: 25 YEARS OF ANIMATION PUBLISHED BY CHRONICLE BOOKS FOR OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA

Oakland, CA, July 27, 2010 – Oakland Museum of California (OMCA), Chronicle Books, and Pixar Animation Studios have announced the release of Pixar: 25 Years of Animation, a 208-page, full color catalog documenting the extraordinary work created by Pixar artists in a large-scale exhibition of the same title on view at OMCA July 31, 2010-January 9, 2011. Pixar: 25 Years of Animation tells the story of Pixar creativity before its films reach the screen. Drawing, sculpture, painting and other fine art techniques and approaches are at the heart of the development of every Pixar film. The catalog documents this art-based process of creation of the characters, stories and worlds that define the final films with beautiful color reproductions of artworks that contributed to the Toy Story series, Ratatouille, WALL*E, Up, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc., Pixar’s memorable short films, and others, many of which are published here for the first time. An insightful Curatorial Conversation between Pixar and OMCA discusses the creative process of making a Pixar film and how this exhibition was conceived. The softcover book is available for purchase exclusively at the new OMCA store and through its website, www.museumca.org.

From the Introduction by John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, and Ed Catmull, President, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios: Many people don-t realize that we have almost as many artists at Pixar working in traditional media-hand drawing, painting, pastels, sculpture-as we do in digital media. Most of their work takes place during the development of a project, when we-re working out the story and the look of the film. The wealth of beautiful art created for each movie is rarely seen outside the studio, but the finished film we send around the world would never be possible without it.


In these works you-ll see the creativity and skill that opens up our story worlds and gives form to the visions that drive our films. We’re incredibly proud of Pixar’s many talented artists, and we-re thrilled to present their work in this exhibit and book.

About the Exhibition

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) presents PIXAR: 25 Years of Animation, a major exhibition of over 500 works by the artists at Pixar Animation Studios, including drawings, paintings, and sculptures that illustrate the creative process and craftsmanship behind Pixar-s wildly successful computer-animated films. The exhibition opens this Saturday, July 31, and runs through January 9, 2011.

This is a significantly enhanced presentation of the exhibition, which is returning home to Oakland after a successful worldwide tour that began at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2005. Expanding the presentation will be the integration of relevant artwork and objects from the OMCA collections that expand the exhibition including rare 19th century Eadweard Muybridge motion study photographs, an early zoetrope, and interactive stations in the art and history galleries that unlock the creative process and history of animation.


One of our goals is to connect PIXAR to the legacy of California’s pioneering role in imaging technology, including early photography by artists such as Eadweard Muybridge, who was instrumental in developing the moving picture,- says René de Guzman, senior curator of art at OMCA. We also have amazing collections of daguerreotypes, albumen stereographs, nineteenth-century photographic panoramas, and new media that illustrate how California has been at the frontier of how images are created.-

A number of significant works will be on public display for the first time, including art from Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and Pixar-s latest feature film, Toy Story 3. PIXAR will also include an updated, awe-inspiring version of Pixar-s Artscape, an immersive widescreen media installation and the mesmerizing 3-D Toy Story Zoetrope created especially for the exhibition that demonstrates the magic of the animation process. On view from July 31, 2010 through January 9, 2011, the exhibition will be accompanied by screenings of Pixar-s feature and short films; a special program of lectures, talks and workshops with Pixar artists; and a new and expanded exhibition catalogue.


The Bay Area, has emerged as the global center for animation today, making OMCA an ideal venue for this comprehensive exhibition of Pixar-s achievements,- said Lori Fogarty, Executive Director of the Oakland Museum of California. This Museum’s mission is to connect communities to the natural and cultural heritage of California, and we believe that Pixar is in many ways a quintessential California enterprise. Not only does Pixar carry on the extraordinary legacy of animation in California-and particularly the pioneering creativity of the Walt Disney Studios-but it represents the dynamic marriage of art and technology that is a hallmark of California innovation.-


-We-re thrilled to see this greatly enhanced version of the exhibition come to the newly reopened Oakland Museum of California, our hometown museum and practically a neighbor,- adds John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. -Most people don-t realize that many Pixar artists work in traditional media-drawing, painting, pastels, and sculpture-as well as in digital media. This artwork plays a particularly important role in the process of concept design, story, and character development. OMCA celebrates the breadth of California creativity through its collections and it is wonderful to revisit the craftsmanship of Pixar artists in this context.-


About the Pixar Creative Process

At the heart of PIXAR are the concept drawings, sketches, paintings, and maquettes created by Pixar artists over the past 25 years to bring to life the compelling characters and stories that have enchanted moviegoers of all ages around the world. Drawing on work from Pixar-s eleven feature films and many of its short films, the exhibition spans some of the studio-s first short films created in the 1980s; its first feature-length film, Toy Story, the first fully computer-animated feature film ever produced; Pixar’s recent Academy Award©-winning feature Up; and its latest film, Toy Story 3. PIXAR will showcase more than 500 artifacts, including many of the pencil drawings; paintings in acrylic, gouache, and watercolor; and sculptures that form the backbone of the computer-generated images (CGIs) for which Pixar has become internationally recognized. The exhibition also includes video interviews with artists and behind-the-scenes footage of Pixar’s creative process.


Walt Disney-s arrival in Los Angeles in the 1920s established California as a magnet and training ground for future generations of animation artists. Home to a number of leading studios, the San Francisco Bay Area has today emerged as a creative hub and global center for computer-animated film. PIXAR provides an unprecedented look at the artistry, creative process, and technical advances pioneered by the renowned Emeryville-based studio, located just a few miles from the Oakland Museum of California.

From its founding in 1986, Pixar has been at the forefront of a revolution in animation by creating films that have pushed the limits of traditional animation artistry and groundbreaking computer applications. PIXAR invites visitors to trace different stages in animation production, from early concept design and character, scene, and story development to finished film sequences that transport the viewer into the world of the imagination.


A highlight of the exhibition will be two special media installations—Artscape, an immersive, wide-screen projection of digitally processed images that gives the viewer the sensation of entering into and exploring the exquisite details of the original artworks; and the Toy Story Zoetrope, a three-dimensional device that displays a rapid succession of images, creating the illusion of motion.


PIXAR will feature storyboards, a tool to guide scene-by-scene narrative progression, from several of the studio-s short films. The exhibition will also showcase colorscripts created during the making of many Pixar feature films. Colorscripts are used to express the production designer-s vision of the story through color and emotion. They can be produced in a variety of mediums, from marker to pastel to paint and collage.


PIXAR will be installed in approximately 11,000 square feet of temporary exhibition galleries and expand into common spaces such as hallways and the museum store. Mural size graphics and video projections will be used throughout OMCA-s newly renovated landmark facility-linking the exhibition to the Museum-s collections and encouraging visitors to explore the work of Pixar artists as part of a continuum of creativity and innovation in California.


The Newly Transformed Oakland Museum of California and Upcoming Exhibitions

During its inaugural year, the new OMCA will complement the presentation of its collections of California Art and History with several major exhibitions that pay tribute to the many facets of California culture and creativity. In addition to PIXAR, the Museum will present The Marvelous Museum: A Project by Mark Dion (September 11, 2010-March 6, 2011); Days of the Dead (October 6-December 5, 2010); The Arts of the Missions of Northern New Spain: 1600-1821 (February 26-May 29, 2011); and Michael McMillen: A Retrospective Survey (Spring 2011). For information on OMCA’s activities, please visit www.museumca.org .

Information and visuals: www.museumca.org

Media inquiries and visuals, please contact Scott Horton 510-735-9200, [email protected]