Interesting Disney Pixar Trivia
Facts About Finding Nemo, A Bugs Life, Cars and Ratatouille
Mar 24, 2008
Disney Pixar opened the door for other animators to make humourous CGI animations whose jokes were aimed just as much at adults as at children.
In addition to hit films Toy Story, The Incredibles and Monsters Inc Disney Pixar have also made the following films. Here are some fun facts.
A Bugs Life
- Voices include Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Hayden Panettiere and John Ratzenberger.
- In a bug's life a hapless ant causes all of his colony's offerings to the grasshopper who terrorise them to be lost leaving only a short time to find more before the scary grasshoppers return. The ant sets out in search of heroes to help defend the colony.
- The inspiration behind the movie was the story The Ant and the Grasshopper in which a grasshopper who spends his time frolicking instead of preparing for winter has to beg food from a well prepared ant family when the snow does come. This led to the what if of what if the grasshopper just demanded the food?
- All of the characters are true to their real life counterparts right down to the snail who doesn't have salt on his food.
- In order to perfect their perspectives and colours the animation team watched footage from a “bug cam”
Finding Nemo
- Voices include Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Defoe, Barrie Humphries and of course John Ratzenberger
- The story of a little boy fish, Nemo, and his widowed neurotic father strike s chord in every parent's heart. Despite having an underdeveloped fin which is one of the causes of his father's worry, Nemo is adventurous and curious. Marlin, his father, constantly struggles to hold his son back and protect him from the world. Both realise how much they need each other when Nemo is stolen from his reef home by a diver.
- In order to create realistic sea scapes the animation team had to create the many elements of the ocean which exist in real life. They infused their sea scapes with particles of sand and miniscule matter which floats in the sea, patterns and shafts of light from above the ocean, the filtering of light as the water gets deeper and the reflections from above and below the surface.
- In the dentists waiting room you may notice a Buzz Lightyear toy
Ratatouille
- The story of a rat who is a gourmet cook. He does this without detection with the help of a useless kitchen boy.
- Voices include Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Lou Romano, Brian Dennehy, Peter O'Toole and Janeane Garofalo. What no John Ratzenberger? Well of course there is the appearance of John aswell.
- Can Mag reported that in the food based movie over 270 pieces of food were created, photographed then recreated in animation.
- Over 4500 reference photos of Paris were taken
- Producer Brad Lewis did a two day internship in fine dining restaurant French Laundry in Napa
- Head Chef Skinner was named after B.F. Skinner a behavioural psychologist who experimented on rats
Cars
- A hot shot racing car about to enter the race of his life gets lost and trapped in a remote back water town on Route 66 where he of course finds love, enlightenment and new priorities.
- Voices include Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin, Michael Keeton and Tony Shalhoub.
- Not only does John Ratzenberger show up but at the end of the movie a joke is made about Pixar always using his voice.
- At the end credits the cars go to a drive in movie where car versions are shown of Toy Story, A Bugs Life and Monsters Inc.
- In the movie Tom Hanks cameos as “Woody Car” and Tim Allen as “Buzz Lightyear car” (Toy Story), Billy Crystal as “Mike Car” and John Goodman as “Sullivan Truck” (Monsters Inc)and Dave Foley as “Flik car” (A Bugs Life).
- There is a special cameo by presenter Jay Leno as “Jay Limo”
The copyright of the article Interesting Disney Pixar Trivia in Hollywood Animated Films is owned by Dulcinea Norton-Smith. Permission to republish Interesting Disney Pixar Trivia in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
