SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The most consistently Oscar-winning studio celebrates the return to business as usual and its remotely created movie Less than an hour east of Sacramento in Emeryville is the most consistently Oscar-winning studio in America: Pixar.
It was founded in 1986 by Steve Jobs when he bought an effects lab from George Lucas and renamed PIXAR.
Some of the most brilliant animators and storytellers — and filmmakers — in the world have been creating movies literally 24 hours a day on the campus, until the pandemic when all the employees were sent home.
Their movie "Soul" was in production at that time. Its supervising animator and Sacramento Christian Brother’s grad Bobby Podesta is proud of how the studio quickly transitioned.
“We grabbed our computers and walked out of the building got home and got online and were up and running the next morning. Pixar’s tech team is amazing and that will always be my proudest moment for our team!”
"Lightyear" is the first movie to be created entirely distanced and today they're celebrating the fact that it's opening in theaters and people are returning to the Pixar campus.
Dean Kelly is the story supervisor for "Lightyear", he walked through the front doors beaming.
“To see our teams back in the building face to face, it makes me happy, but knowing that people can see the film on a big screen - the way we intended, that makes me the happiest! I have four kids so this by far will be a very, very special Father’s Day in our house!"
Voice of "Lightyear" and face of "Captain America", Chris Evans toured the campus just before the pandemic, and describes what it’s like to be in the hallowed halls that have created some of the World’s most endearing family movies.
“They brought me up for an early pitch meeting and honestly, I was a kid in a candy store!”
