Izaac, who knows more about Pixar than anybody else I know, sent me this little story that warmed the cockles of my heart.
In Toy Story 3 there’s this great scene where Mr Potato Head’s parts get put on a tortilla. And he sways around everywhere. He can’t stand up. It’s funny.
Funnier still is this little story that the animator of that scene tells on his blog:
The animation supes took me into a room to tell me the news ‘We are giving you Mr. Tortilla-Head’ Its one of those moments where your really happy then really nervous. How was I going to animate that thing? Sure it plays funny in boards, but to bring it to life! The Supes knew it was going to be a challenge, being the great leaders they are said ‘these are your last shots, take all the time you need!’ I kept telling myself, you’ll be happy you animated this once it over.
I sure was – although they were extremely hard shots to pull off, I’m really proud to part of that character. There was a small team of us, 3 animators helping each other. Showing each other what works, what didn’t. Some reference that really inpired us was Drunk Guy Buying Beer. I wonder if this guy knows he was in a movie?
Drunk Guy Buying Beer is an hilarious little clip on YouTube that made me laugh. So here you go, this is how you inspire a movie scene: