Bay Area Pixar Exhibit

The 1969 opening of the Oakland Museum of California coincided with the anti-war protests of Berkeley and the Huey Newton murder trial. The late 1960’s were a time when the people voiced their opinions — and the Bay Area was no exception. Since its founding, the Oakland Museum has been a museum by and for the people. 41 years of California and Bay Area history and art fill the newly renovated museum in what feels like a very personal, hands-on collection. What better way to kick off the grand reopening than with an exhibit focused on a Bay Area staple: Pixar Studios?

After two years of renovations, the Oakland Museum needed its visitors back, and so they called upon the company almost every Bay Area resident has a soft spot for. The result is a huge, well-organized and comprehensive gallery of original sketches, ideas, character studies, outfit designs, clay models and digital representations of Pixar’s colorful history. The history is rich; a timeline at the beginning of the exhibit — across from a screen displaying everyone’s favorite lamp­ — gives a clear description of the origins of Pixar. The first thing you’ll notice as you walk in is a digital projection of various characters on the wall directly in front of you; not the characters you’ve seen on screen, but the animation grids that Pixar animators stared at for hours before presenting a polished product. These images, the unseen drafts of Pixar creations, set the tone for the rest of the exhibit. What follows is an in-depth look at the pencil scribbles of John Lasseter and several other major animators. You’ll see ten different versions of Edna Mode from The Incredibles or mod art Monsters, Inc. storyboards. The collection is incredible — every short and feature film is covered. Just when you think you’ll be bored of staring at the art on the walls, you’ll run into a screen playing an early Pixar short or a glass case of original clay models of characters from movies such as Up and Finding Nemo.

An astounding centerpiece to the exhibit is the Toy Story zoetrope. A zoetrope is a device that produces an illusion of action — a.k.a. an animation — from a rapid succession of repeating images. In this case, actual figures from the Toy Story series are set on a spinning disk in different positions — a circle of aliens catapulting, a circle of Woodys riding Buckeyes, a circle of Jesses performing lassos, etc. Each character represents a different frame, and when the circle moves at a high speed and is paired with strobe lights, what you see is the image happening in real time, just as if you were watching a movie. Though this is an old style of entertainment, circa 180 C.E.­, it somehow feels new and innovative, and is captivating for audiences of all ages. Another feature of the exhibit is a mini-theater with a wall-sized screen, showing moving animations of some of the art on the walls in chronological order. This feature shows the huge variety of films that Pixar has produced.

Anyone who appreciates animation or Pixar’s work should see this exhibit, but only a true lover of the process could stick through the entire thing, which must house thousands of sketches. As opposed to the rest of the Oakland Museum, there isn’t much variety of different art mediums, such as statues, cars, animals, etc. The interior decorating in the multi-room exhibit is kept simple; gray walls and wooden floors keep the focus on the art.

The Pixar exhibit is very wall-art-centric, but is definitely worth a visit. While you’re there, check out the rest of the museum — the $62.2 million renovation has done the museum some good.