Behind the scenes of Monsters University
So back in May of this year I was lucky enough to take a trip to San Francisco and LA. To visit Pixar Animation Studios, the home of classic films like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Cars. The purpose was to find out all about their brand new animated feature. As a result I went behind the scenes of Monsters University. A prequel to the hugely successful Monsters Inc the movie tells us how our favourite monsters, Mike and Sully, came to be best buddies.
This was my first time seeing the time and process that goes into making a film like this. Consequently I must say it was a real treat. On my tour I was lucky enough to meet the Director, Producer, Animators, Art Directors, and Character Animation Directors. I even had a lesson in how to draw Mike from Story Supervisor Kelsey Mann. What I enjoyed most of all though, was talking to John Goodman (voice of Sully), Billy Crystal (voice of Mike), and Helen Mirren (voice of Dean Hardscrabble). All of them were lovely, and told of the fantastic experience they’d had working with Pixar.
What struck me most from my visit, and what you can see from the program we made. Is the detail they put in at every stage. Every colour, every hair of a monsters fur, every shadow, they all have a team of people making sure they are absolutely perfect. Its an incredible amount of work and you understand why its taken 5-6yrs to make.
Whats Next for Pixar?!
While there we did have a little chat about future Pixar features. However I am sworn to secrecy and can’t say much, but watch out for The Good Dinosaur in 2015. And Finding Dory in 2016.
Pixar seems like an awesome place to work, and I thank them for letting me go behind the scenes of Monsters University.
