In the Toy Box

The featured attraction at Pixar Place is Toy Story Midway Mania, housed inside a replica of the main building at Pixar Animation Studios. Step inside, though, and you'll discover the giant atrium lobby has been filled with an enormous interior set of Andy's room from the film.

All the iconic set pieces are here, from Andy's bed to the cloud sky wallpaper. Along one wall is the toy box. It's the same wall behind which the attraction queue is situated.

Guests waiting in the queue are inside Andy's toy box, winding their way among game boards, puzzle pieces, crayons and cards. It's here that we're greeted by Mr. Potato Head, all dressed up for the occasion with his Boardwalk Barker accessories (photo from wdwmemories.com). This Audio-Animatronic version of Mr. Potato Head is a variation on the Living Characters concept used elsewhere. In this instance, the illusion of interactivity is created through the deployment of dozens of canned comments and comedy bits.

Toy Story Midway Mania is actually one of the most fun attractions to have to wait for. There's so much to see. Look for the View Master reels of Peter Pan and Tomorrowland at Disneyland, circa 1967 (complete with images of Adventure thru Inner Space and the PeopleMover). You'll even see several of Andy's drawings, including renderings of Buzz & Woody and Nemo. Pay attention to the crayons scattered around the toy box. They're not all crafted from the same mold. Some colors have definitely been used more than others!

Soon, the wait is over, and it's time for the main event. All of the toys have set up Andy's new Midway Games Playset in the middle of the floor, and we're invited "into the box" to play along. Be sure to take a few moments to read the packaging. It promises Fold-Out Boardwalk Backgrounds, Spring-Action Shooters, Glows in the Dark! Then, of course, there's the UPC symbol and the small print (Action Figures Sold Separately).

Keep your eyes peeled before, during and after the game. Toy Story Midway Mania is literally packed with not only fun references to the toys and games of our childhood, but also nods to Disney and Pixar history. This ball, for example, was seen in Pixar's very first animated short film, "Luxo Jr."

Just inside the Fastpass entrance to the attraction is this book, "Magic Made Easy" by Joe Ranft. Ranft was a story man at Pixar who contributed, among many other things, the voices of characters like Red from Cars and Heimlich in A Bug's Life. Sadly, Ranft died in a tragic automobile accident in 2005.

At the attraction exit is this Little Golden Book of the story of "Tin Toy." "Tin Toy" was another early Pixar short and the predecessor to Toy Story. Elsewhere, look for books of "Red's Dream," "Knick Knack," and other Pixar films.

It's Toy Story Day at Pixar Studios!

Pixar Place at Disney's Hollywood Studios is a fantasy recreation of the Pixar Animation Studios campus in Emeryville, California. Some elements, like the sign over the entrance and the multi-colored brick, are lifted straight from the real place. Others, however, are pure imagination. Here, it's as if the toys from Toy Story are running the studio, and today they're celebrating the original computer animated film that started everything.

Peek behind the Guard Shack, and you'll find the Green Army Men have set up a Command Post and taped up their "Top Secret" plans. Those plans are being enacted all over the studio. Above the Camera Department, a Message Decoder (that's a Scrabble game board to you and me) is being lowered into place. They're inviting the Guests in to meet the toys and participate in a screen test on the set.

The Company Store has been set up with everything from Tinker Toys to Cooties. A stack of books and Dominoes form the checkout counter to the left (Note: the title of one of the books is "Knick Knack," the story of a snowglobe-bound snowman from a 1989 Pixar short film). There's even a game of Battleship.

Just outside the shop, the Barrel of Monkeys has cracked open and the little plastic simians have escaped to help the Green Army Men with the rest of the decor.

Over the Studio Cafe, they've strung up a pennant and beads to identify Hey Howdy Hey Take-Away. It's a great place to grab a snack, but it's also surrounded by fun collectibles from the era of "Woody's Roundup." On one side of the chuck wagon is a "Woody's Roundup" thermos and a box of Cowboy Crunchies cereal, the only cereal that's sugar-coated and dipped in chocolate! Look at the top of the box, and you'll even see the label that it's a "Pixar Farms Digital Food."

At the other side of the Take-Away stands a Woody cookie jar, but crane your neck back behind everything to find a real treat. It's a rare, complete set of commemorative spoons and plates featuring the whole "Woody's Roundup" gang. Collect 'em all!

On the Set with Buzz and Woody

Over the years, character greetings have grown more and more sophisticated, with some experiences becoming attractions unto themselves. Consider the example of Buzz Lightyear and Woody at Disney's Hollywood Studios. For the 1995 release of Toy Story, Buzz and Woody appeared in the daily Toy Story Parade and would occasionally pop up in the park to meet their fans. Several years later, a dedicated area was established for them on the Studio Backlot, in the form of the exterior set of Al's Toy Barn from Toy Story 2. Finally, with the opening of Pixar Place in 2008, Buzz and Woody moved into their fanciest digs yet.

The Pixar Place district at Disney's Hollywood Studios recreates the look of the Pixar Animation Studios campus in Emeryville, California, right down to the detail of the multi-colored brick selected by Steve Jobs for the buildings. Guests of Pixar Studios discover that the toys of Toy Story have taken over in a celebration of the very first computer animated feature film.

Guests are invited into the Camera Department under the giant Scrabble board to "Meet the Toys" in their very own screen test with some of the stars of the movie. Look out below as you head on in. The Green Army Men hoisting the board have dropped a few tiles on the ground. Hmmm... I wonder what we could spell with those letters...

Inside, young hopefuls can practice for the cameras by posing in some of the sets from the first two Toy Story films. There's Andy's Bedroom, the Claw game at Pizza Planet, Sid's Room and the Big One Rocket, the showdown with Emperor Zurg, Stinky Pete and the rest of the collection at Big Al's place, and the exciting Airport Baggage Room scene from Toy Story 2.

Finally, the big moment arrives... the live audition on the set with none other than Woody Pride and Buzz Lightyear! For my little boys, it was the highlight of their day (and a great way to get extra mileage out of those Halloween costumes). How did the audition go? Well, they said they'll have their people call our people.

An interesting detail about these sets...

You may notice that Andy's bedroom appears twice. In the first scene, though, it's Andy's room from the beginning of Toy Story, with clouds on the wallpaper and cowboy sheets on the bed. By the end of the experience, Andy now has Star Command sheets on his bed and the wallpaper features yellow stars. (Remember, Andy moved at the end of the first film. His room looks different in Toy Story 2.)

An Illuminated Personality

The Pixar Studios district at Disney's Hollywood Studios opened last summer with the debut of Toy Story Midway Mania. The entire area is full of many exquisite details (such as the multi-colored brick pattern duplicated from Pixar's campus in Emeryville, California) and fun surprises (like the Green Army Men playing Scrabble). Although the main focus is on characters from the Toy Story films, a certain little lamp can also be found here. His name is Luxo Jr., and he has become the unofficial mascot of Pixar Animation Studios, appearing at the start of every Pixar film.

Luxo Jr. was the title character of Pixar's first computer animated short film (image below ©Pixar). The film grew out of John Lasseter's desire to learn how to model an object on the computer. He chose as his subject the Luxo brand lamp on his desk. Further inspired by a coworker's young son, John wondered what a child lamp would look and act like. Luxo Jr. was born. "Luxo Jr." had its public debut at SIGGRAPH in 1986 and was met with rapturous applause. Never before had such personality and life been seen from a computer-generated image. It was the beginning of a journey that would culminate in Toy Story, the first full-length computer animated feature, and lead to a successful run of wonderful stories and characters.

Now, Luxo Jr. has been given new life in the form of an incredible new Audio-Animatronics figure on Pixar Place at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Throughout the day, just outside the facade for the Luxo Jr. Lighting Department, the little lamp hops out to have a little fun. Music starts playing in the area, and Luxo Jr. can't help but dance along. The music changes, and he responds accordingly. At night, Luxo Jr. discovers a connection with the trees around him, each shimmering with hundreds of twinkling lights. As Luxo Jr. calls to them, the lights in the trees react, dancing and changing color with him.

Luxo Jr. appears intermittently (approx. every 15-20 minutes), weather permitting. Of the two vignettes, "dancing" runs during the day. "Dancing" and "conducting" alternate with one another after dark. Additional vignettes may be added in the future, so stay tuned!

UPDATE: The Luxo Jr. figure was retired in Spring 2010 after proving to be too difficult to operate reliably in this environment. Hopefully, we'll see him return at some point.