Pixar in Paris!

The exhibition was themed around the three key concepts to any Pixar film: The World, The Story and The Characters. For any non-Pixar fans, the exhibition covered Toy Story, Up, A Bug's Life, Cars, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., WALL.E, Brave & Ratatouille, and probably another few I've forgotten about! 

'The World' section was interesting because I had never thought about the process behind each film where Pixar artists have to create a unique world, one magical enough & exciting enough to captivate audience, before creating rules and limitations for how nature, gravity, the animals and buildings function in this imaginary world so that it is believable & reassuring for the audience.

'The Characters' were equally interesting because you would not believe how much they change from the original concept. Many of the characters were unrecognisable & I'm so glad they changed them for the final cut!

 

Carl from 'Up' and Buzz Lightyear from 'Toy Story'

Nemo from 'Finding Nemo'

'The Story' was a series of meticulously drawn story-boards which have to be dreamed up, planned, re-planned, drawn & re-drawn before any animation is carried out because the time wasted & effort spent on creating a scene which isn't used would be too costly. We also watched a couple of films about the music in the stories, whether it be a theme that each character has or the sound effects which go into making the movie more fun. The sound is often so successful that audiences don't realise it's there, it is only when the track is removed that you realise how much it adds to the film.

In the last room was an amazing zoetrope which explained how each individual frame runs together to trick your eye into believing that a moving image is played out on the screen. I took a video which I may upload later.

I think the exhibition is well worth a visit if you are a big Pixar fan, otherwise probably not as it is a bit pricey (€12.00 for a student ticket). 

I think that more probably could have been done to make the exhibition as fun as its subject matter, as the atmosphere was a bit restrained and cold. I think my sister and I were the only people laughing & chatting about the exhibition as we walked around. On leaving the exhibition we had a look at the arty dockside with a couple of studio shops & a fashion museum next door, before heading for some sustenance in the 5th arrondissement!

À Bientôt !

x