25 Facts From All The Pixar Movies

Pixar is one of the most renowned film production companies in the world, and for good reason, but do you know about all the oddities that went on behind (and in front of) the screen? Things like … 

1. Toy Story was an Ugly Nightmare

Pixar's first film was about toys because it was the '90s, and all CGI looked plastic anyway, so why not lean into it? Of course, that didn't mean things needed to look ugly, which was a lesson it took Pixar a bit to learn going by their original versions of Woody—a nightmare-inducing ventriloquist dummy—Buzz—a blocky, old little robot—and Rex—an odd half-cyborg dinosaur. Luckily, the film decided to go for cute instead of Dreamquest action-horror game and became a blockbuster film that led to everything that follows.

2. Toy Story 2 was almost deleted 

Of course, Toy Story 2 almost never got made at all, as the whole film was nearly lost during the production because computers can be dumb pieces of crap. As you know, if you've ever visited a terrible forum, it's remarkably easy to accidentally ctrl+F your computer into shut down, but that's not a problem for Pixar, who had back-ups, right? Except at the same time they accidentally Thanos'd their toys, the backup failed as well. Luckily, one programmer working from home had the entire film backed up on her home computer and managed to save the movie. See, working from home is a good idea. 

3. Toy Story 3 and Brave Little Toaster Feature Surprising Similar Plot

Toy Story 3, about the loss of a loved one (because they grow up), is a beloved story that had never been seen before, except if you had seen Brave Little Toaster. Turns out the two films echo each other neatly—down to similar shots. Of course, Pixar wasn't new to stealing stuff, given that Toy Story had already ripped a bunch of its plot from A Christmas Toy—but not the cane-wielding old teddy bear. That they waited until the third movie to steal.

4. Toy Story 4 Mocks Itself

From having ventriloquist dummies make fun of Woody to a license plate bearing the famous command code that destroyed Toy Story 2, the final film in the series likes to mock what has been, as it finally closes the book on it all.

5. A Bug's Life's Princess Dot is Kairi from Kingdom Hearts

The voice behind A Bug's Life's Princess Dot would eventually grow up … to star in other Disney things, like Kingdom Hearts, where she plays the love interest and eventual—spoiler?—keyblade wielder Kairi (despite the events and characters from A Bug's Life also canonically existing in that universe).

6. Monsters, Inc. and Little Monsters

Pixar being a studio dedicated to creating the most interesting, freshest, and awe-inspiring stories ever, obviously can be forgiven for occasionally borrowing things from other films. Like the entire plot of Monsters, Inc. from Little Monsters.

7. Monsters, Inc. 2 Was Almost Very Different

As most people know, Disney is interested in nothing but money, and so when Pixar and Disney had a brief falling out, Disney went all out on making sequels to all Pixar products, including Monster,s Inc. The original film was going to be Monsters, Inc 2: Lost in Scaradise because titles aren't Disney's strong suit. It would've followed Mike and Sulley attempting to find a lost Boo in the human world. Instead, we got a nerdy Randall, and … what else happened in Monsters University again? 

Oh, yeah … 

9. Finding Nemo Led to an Increase In Fish-Induced Nightmares

Despite the basic premise of Finding Nemo being that keeping pet fish in a tank is inhuman torture likened to aliens abducting humans for experimentation, Finding Nemo led to a rise in adoption of clownfish (who then were promptly flushed—but hey, all drains lead to the ocean). 

10. Finding Dory Recycled the Original Film's Flashbacks

The original idea for Finding Nemo's tragic, heartbreaking opening scene was to sprinkle it in, but having Marlin be that annoying early on without a good excuse was too grating, but that idea worked perfectly for Finding Dory's journey.

11. The Incredibles Voice Casting was Odd

Two of The Incredibles' most interesting voices were cast in odd ways. Violet's Sarah Vowell was found after director Brad Bird heard her in This American Life—she wasn't a voice actor, but a writer with novels about annoying pilgrims and dumb Presidents. Edna Mode, on the other hand, was director Brad Bird, who kept trying to find the right actress, even going so far as to record an example of what she should sound like—but when he showed it to his first choice, she said it was perfect already.

12. The Incredibles 2 Has a Whole Cut Movie

Due to schedule changes (Toy Story Fournale needing more time), Brad Bird had to alter the film to have it released in its sooner, leading to a huge amount of what he had planned being cut (luckily now saved for a third movie, just like what happened with Baby Jack-Jack's plot in the first movie).

13. Cars Confirms the Car Holocaust

Despite Cars being a cute little movie about NASCAR, the film does indirectly imply that there was an off-screen World War II, given the World War II vet Sarge—which means a car World War II that culminated with … you know. 

14. Cars 2 Many Cars

Cars 2 is the international, globe-trotting adventure of Larry the Cliché Guy and his fun times being an idiot spy. It's perhaps the worst Cars movie, which is saying something, but it did include one thoughtful note. In one scene, Jeff Gorvette, the most American race car ever, was changed for the international release. They made a new car for each nation's film release, which is more work than seemingly was put into the script. Jeff Corvette for America, Max Schnell for Germany, Carla Veloso for Brazil, and Raoul CaRoule for France. 

15. Cars 3 Establishes Most of Pixar Films Exist in the Cars Universe Too

Cars 3 features perhaps more callbacks and tie-ins to other Pixar films than any movie that came before it. The Pizza Planet Delivery Truck (sentient, natch) is seen as is *deep breath* Ant Island, Cinderella's Pumpkin Coach, Luxo Jr., Buy n Large (from Wall-E), Sleep Well Motel (from Toy Story), TripleDent Gum, and the town of Santa Cecilia from Luca. All of which implies that all Pixar films exist in one grand universe:

16. Brave's Hair Required New Software 

Merida's hair in Brave is almost its own character—down to requiring entire new software just to manage it. Long gone are the days of plastic characters; now, even hair needs to look incredibly natural. 

17. Ratatouille Almost Had His Own Real Wine

Ratatouille, the feature film about how having rats in five-star restaurants isn't always a bad thing, almost took the wildest merchandising step imaginable and was poised to put out the most perfect product placement ever—Ratatouille wine. A white burgundy, sold at Costco. Just take that in for a second. But not if you're under 21. Which was the issue. Given it's a family film, there were complaints about the wine promoting underage drinking, and it was nixed (after a few people had already tried the forbidden grape drink). 

18. Wall-E Was One of Pixar's First Films

Pixar's success can almost all be traced back to one single lunch. At this lunch, A Bug's Life, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E were all devised, in that order. Of course, it took over 10 years—1994 to 2008—for the film to finally see the light of day, but hey, it was worth the wait being one of Pixar's most acclaimed films. And for good reason.

19. Up Has One of the Weirdest Reviews

Armond White is one of the most divisive film critics of all time, calling Get Out "Get Whitey" and taking what seems to be an almost trollish reaction to films. He gave Pixar's Up its very first negative review, ruining its 100% rating and seemingly doing so for nothing but the attention it'd get him. 

20. Inside Out's Bing Bong Sucked

Not every first draft is a good draft. And that includes Pixar's Inside Out. The film went through a lot of iterations—depicting Grief as an enemy at one point and having a sixth emotion, but the oddest bit is that originally Bing-Bong was an anarchist attempting to destroy Riley's mind to keep her from growing up, like Peter Pan's evil(er) gun-toting cousin.

21. The Good Dinosaur's Cast was Almost Fully Replaced After Recording

If you thought The Good Dinosaur was a bit of an oddball for Pixar, you'd be right. While recasting actors happens (Shrek's Mike Myers being a famous example), the entire cast is typically not replaced after they've finished all recording. This is what happened with The Good Dinosaur after it had a massive rewrite, with entire characters being replaced, written out, or even created.

22. Coco Used Real Bones

Just like the urban legend about the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland, Coco used real bones—only this time it was in the recording of the music and not just laying around for tourists to take pictures of.

23. Onward is Just Like "Wake Me Up When September Ends"

Just like Green Day's hit song "Wake Me Up When September Ends," Onward is not a story about 9/11, but instead about the loss the director felt after his father died. Now, did he do a magic ritual to bring him back to a half-life so he could mess around with him? Depends on how you view Onward. 

24. Soul is NIN-Scored

Soul is the first Pixar film to be scored by someone whose most famous song goes, "I wanna feel you from the inside." Yes, Nine Inch Nails' own Trent Reznor, best known for scoring films like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and writing songs with lyrics we're not sure we're legally allowed to repeat, scored the cute Jazz film about a dancing little Jazz man soul.

25. Luca is Based on a True Story

Luca's creator based the film on his own experiences as a child growing up in Italian beach cities and meeting a troublemaker who helped him, a shy little kid, learn to grow up. Reports about him being a sea creature are still unconfirmed.

Top image: Pixar