Yesterday my housemate and I went to a fundraiser at Pixar Studios. Every year, Pixar hosts a fundraiser for the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. They open part of the studios for guests to come in, see the artwork, chat with engineers, artists, and directors, and bid on auction pieces that include autographed movie posters and one of a kind pictures drawn by the artists who worked on the movies. This was the second year I went (my housemate works on the Board of Directors for the Cartoon Art Museum) and it was even better than the first time.
Upon entering the lobby of the studios, my radar immediately had me hone in to the right. There, in a big glass case were Oscars. Yes, OSCARS!!!!
All of the Oscars that Pixar has won for Best Animated Movie were sitting in the case.
I couldn't believe it. I got chills. Actual chills. I never thought I would ever see an Oscar, let alone stand within 12 inches of one!! I don't even know how long I stood there staring at them. And with the biggest grin on my face! It was like I was 8 years old and talking to the Lone Ranger. It was part of a fantasy staring me right in the eyes. Even if I never get to bring one home, a part of me feels so honored and humbled to just have been in the presence of one.
I thought I could take one home as a souvenir, but I got dirty looks from the security guard.
They also had their Golden Globes.
And their Annie Awards.
They did have some other things in the lobby OTHER than those shiny trinkets above.
Finally, a chair big enough for me.
Part of the activities of the fundraiser was getting to see a selection of shorts. This is a picture of the viewing room that we saw the shorts in. Pretty posh!
But the exciting thing about the screening of the shorts was that I got to turn down the lights! They have two screening rooms that are identical to the above picture. Since my housemate is on the BOD, he was asked to help turn down the lights in one of the rooms when the projectionist started the viewing. Since I was with him, I got to turn down the lights in the other viewing room. Now this may not seem like a big deal to you, but WOW!! I get to say I got to turn on and off lights at Pixar Studios. It just made me giddy to feel like I was actually doing something that was a PART of something.Now, you may be saying, "Wow, Oscars, oversized chairs, and turning the light switch on and off. How could you ever top that?" Well, let me tell you! The other big part of the fundraiser was getting to watch Toy Story 3 in their main viewing theatre. And the director of the movie was there! So I had him sign my copy of the movie.
I'm SO getting invited to all of the cool kid's parties now. I really wish I could explain what it was like to be there. How much creativity just oozed out of every nook and kranny. It was inspiring and awesome to think of what actually comes out of that building. I SO wanted to be a part of it. I even got a little depressed when leaving thinking about how I had to go back to my job on Monday. I don't think I could even call working at Pixar a "job." It would be a dream.
