How Up are You on Pixar Trivia?
Editor’s Note: In this column animation expert Joe Strike allows you to test your Pixar smarts:
Think you know your Pixar? Take my little quiz… You could probably get all the answers via 10 minutes on Wikipedia, but that would be cheating. (Not that I have a problem with cheating – it shows initiative.) And away we go…
1. Pixar’s very first computer-animated short was
a) The Adventures of André and Wally B
b) Fish Story
c) Ghost in the Machine
d) Tin Toy
2. Which Pixar feature did NOT win an Oscar:
a) Finding Nemo
b) The Incredibles
c) Monsters, Inc.
d) Ratatouille
e) Wall-E
3. This actor has lent his voice to every Pixar feature to date:
________________________
4. The Pixar short Boundin’ starred:
a) a bouncing ball
b) a boulder
c) a sheep
d) none of the above
5. Indicate whether the following films were made by Pixar, DreamWorks or another studio: (‘Another’ will do, but if you want to show off you can list those films’ studios by name.)
Antz
A Bug’s Life
Chicken Little
Dinosaur
Finding Nemo
Happily N’ever After
Igor
Hoodwinked
Open Season
Shark Tale
6. Which of the following animals has NOT been depicted in computer animation:
a) Grasshopper
b) Lemur
c) Meerkat
d) Shark
7. Director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) also worked on which TV series:
a) Family Guy
b) King of the Hill
c) The Simpsons
d) SpongeBob SquarePants
8. Pixar is currently developing a sequel to which one of its films:
a) The Incredibles
b) Ratatouille
c) Cars
d) A Bug’s Life
9. Beginning with the original Toy Story and including Up, Pixar has made ___ animated features:
a) 7
b) 9
c) 10
d) 12
10. The very first director to use computer generated imagery in a feature-length film was:
a) Alfred Hitchcock
b) Walt Disney
c) John Lasseter
d) Steven Spielberg
The Answers: Ready to feel stupid — or smart? Here goes:
1. Pixar’s very first computer-animated short was:
a) The Adventures of André and Wally B Pixar’s very first effort – this 1984 short – is now a quarter-century old. (They’ve come a way, huh?) In its time its 3-dimensionality, the illusion of looking at ‘real’ characters was amazing. In their seeming solidity, André and Wally instantly reminded me of George Pal’s 1940’s ‘replacement-animated’ characters.
2. Which Pixar feature did not win the Best Animated Feature Oscar?
c) Monsters, Inc. didn’t win in 2001; DreamWorks’ Shrek snagged this Oscar the first year it was offered; way to go, Jeffrey!
3. This actor has lent his voice to every Pixar feature to date:
John Ratzenberger has lent his voice to every Pixar feature to date, from ‘Hamm’ in Toy Story to a construction worker in Up; he’s now considered the studio’s good luck charm and the end of Cars includes a major nod (and wink) to his Pixar work.
4. The Pixar short Boundin’ starred:
c) a sheep: Good gawd, this is the most cloyingly sweet thing Pixar has ever done. Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something downright kinky the way the small yet enormous-hooved sheep happily clops around in his newly-shorn nudity.
5. Select whether the following films were made by Pixar, DreamWorks or another studio:
Finding Nemo – Pixar
Dinosaur – Disney
Hoodwinked – Weinstein distributed the film while a bunch of companies collaborated in its production. (By the way, I highly recommend this little gem – a real sleeper.)
Chicken Little – Disney
Shark Tale – DreamWorks
Open Season – Sony
Antz – DreamWorks
A Bug’s Life – Pixar
Happily N’ever After – BAF Animation (Berlin); distributed by Lions Gate
Igor – Exodus Film Group, distributed by the Weinstein Company (Another gem, unfortunately largely overlooked; Steve Buscemi’s suicidal rabbit ‘Scamper’ is to die for, even though he can’t…)
6. Which of the following animals has not been depicted in computer animation:
c) Meerkat – The Lion King – good ol’ 2D (aka ‘traditional’) animation
7. Director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) also worked on which TV series:
c) The Simpsons
8. Pixar is currently developing a sequel to which one of its films:
c) Cars – in Cars 2 the vehicles visit Europe
Pixar’s also working on Toy Story 3, but I figured too many people probably already know that.
9. Beginning with the original Toy Story and including Up, Pixar has made ___ animated features:
c) 10
10. The very first director to use computer generated imagery in a feature-length film was:
a) Alfred Hitchcock
TRICK QUESTION! Ha-ha, fooled’ ya! Lasseter would be the obvious guess for Toy Story, and Spielberg sounds good, maybe even Walt who was more than a bit of a visionary, but… Saul Bass’ opening credits for Hitchcock’s Vertigo features spiraling patterns created by avant-garde filmmaker John Whitney, via a primitive home-made computer constructed out of war surplus equipment.
Joe is an occasional animation scripter and freelance NYC writer covering animation and sci-fi/fantasy entertainment. His work has appeared in the NY Daily News, Newsday, the New York Press and, as they used to say on Rocky and Bullwinkle, ‘a host of others.’ He is a regular contributor to the animation industry website awn.com, but it’s much easier to visit joestrike.com to see what he’s been up to lately.