Cooper Hewitt Museum Explores The World Of Pixar

Pixar’s 30th anniversary is coming up in 2016, and if you’re looking to celebrate the legendary film studio, you can see how your favorite Pixar characters came to life at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s latest exhibit, “Pixar: The Design of Story.” The exhibit features paintings, sculptures, and sketches from famous films like “Toy Story,” “Wall-E,” “Up,” “Brave,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Cars,” “Inside Out,” and more!

The exhibit, which opened on October 8, will be on display in the museum’s immersive Process Lab through August 7, 2016. In addition to perusing rare art from the studio’s most popular films, the exhibit also provides visitors of all ages with a variety of ways to interact with the exhibition. With Cooper-Hewitt’s famous digital pens, visitors can save high-resolution pictures can be saved to the pen and then accessed later via a special URL. There is also an 84-inch touch-screen table showcasing more than 450 pieces of concept art and different design inspirations where you can create your own unique design, including a chair, a hat, a or a building–or go free-form.  

This is an exhibit Pixar fans of all ages will enjoy. Younger children will be delighted to see all of their favorite characters in one room, and the interactive table and drawing area are sure to keep them  entertained.  “Pixar: Design Story” also provides a great chance to foster kids’ creativity; they can create their own characters from a squiggle, and design their own “Inside Out”-esque emotions. Older kids and adults can learn about Pixar’s fascinating creative process.  There are also displays illustrating how iconic characters evolved from their earliest, two-dimensional concept art to the versions we all know and love–such as sculptures of Woody from “Toy Story.” You’ll be surprised how he looked at first!  The exhibit is also a chance to see firsthand how much inspiration and creativity is takes to create these characters, and how Pixar manages to make even a rat like Remy from “Ratatouille” a likeable and relatable character.

The exhibit also shows the incredible attention to detail that goes into these movies. The backgrounds, characters, and sets are all intricately designed; there is a section that focuses on the mind world from “Inside Out” and Carl’s house from “Up.”  There is also a screen that demonstrates the tests animators did on Merida’s fiery and curly hair from “Brave.”  These portions of the exhibit highlight details that you may not have even noticed when watching the movie.

There will also be a series of special programs accompanying the exhibition, including  a screening of “Luxo Jr.,” a Pixar short film from 1986, and a conversation with John Lasseter, the chief creative officer of Pixar, on November 12.  There will also be a week-long series of hands-on workshops for all ages led by creative staff from Pixar.  Plus, the museum and Chronicle Books have co-published a children’s activity book, Design of Story: A Pixar Design Activity Book, that shares Pixar’s design principles, tools,, art and tips and techniques from designers. The book will be available at SHOP Cooper Hewitt in October 2015 and distributed widely by Chronicle in spring 2016.

To learn more about the “Pixar: The Design of Story” exhibit, visit cooperhewitt.com!