Monsters and Robots and Toys! Oh, my!

Pixar movies are some of my favorites... From Up to Monsters, Inc. to Wall-E, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo... they really tell great stories! And coincidentally (or not), they all made me cry. (Not that that's hard.) I even had a stuffed turtle from Finding Nemo and a stuffed Sully from Monsters, Inc. (Yes, if you did the calculation and found out that both of those films were released after I turned 20, you are right. And?)

Well, Pixar Studios is in Emeryville, CA, (about a half hour's drive from us) AND I have an awesome friend from college, Hasia, who works there! (Talk about a cool job!) So my friend Sarah and I (two Sarah's necessitates nicknames, so she's "T" and I'm "Koz," FYI) went to visit for lunch one afternoon, and a brief tour. My inner child was so excited!

It was so fun walking in past the iconic desk lamp (Luxo, Jr., from their logo) and ball, from their first animated short film. And then inside, to be greeted immediately by the some of my favorite characters, Sully and Mike Wazowski! 

T and I pushing the Pixar ball... and it's clearly no contest.

"Kitty!" (I really wanted to hug Sully but I restrained myself!)

 

Buzz Lightyear and Woody made of Legos! (Careful!)

In addition to good food, great company, and incomparable photo ops, it was so interesting to see a little bit of behind the scenes of how they make the awesome animated films! We got to see color boards, sketches, and models they used in the making of their newest feature, Brave. Hasia works in their PR department, so she was a great tour guide! It was a pretty brief tour, though, because much of the areas are closed off to the public and TOP SECRET! :) Overall, the facilities are amazing -- they have a beautiful swimming pool, a tennis court, and an amazing cafeteria on site.

It really does look like a fantastic place to work.... too bad they don't need a toxicologist!