Epic Math Rap Battle (Vote for your favorite Math Rap!)

Vote in the comments on this page:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=J296WylB_W4

Which is your favorite math rap?
And what's your favorite part of this video?



Notorious AB, Showtime, KBB, and BG For Real kick out the raps (produced by Ed 'word' Price and AB). It's up to you to decide which one's the best.

AB's channel:
http://youtube.com/abisdman

Longer version (9:32):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mO2K-0YDdLU


ALSO FEATURING NOTORIOUS AB...

Bros Rule - Prom Night:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6_NWAbW7bpw


OUR OTHER MUSICAL SHOWCASES...

1. Bucket Full of Cheese:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YEShg_kigmc
By Otizzle & Ed 'word' Price

2. Search Rap:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IjiPaNQaBYQ
By Ed 'word' Price & Insert Coin

3. Otizzle 1 - Love Medley:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BguwMJOV33c

4. Otizzle 2 - Family Guy Theme:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zBZ75g-KYwA


EPIC MATH RAP BATTLE LYRICS...

1. Math Rap Battle Intro
By Showtime

Our vision's that you're wishin
To listen to what we're spittin
So no skippin, or hissin,
Or dissin what we're dishin,
Cuz our mission is fishin
For errors in addition and division
In order to fix em
So the answer won't be missin
And now we got you twitchin and itchin
To hear what we been mixin in the kitchen
So let's switch it without intermission
Cuz time is tickin

2. The Powers Rule Rap
By Showtime

We don't want our mad tunes
To make you go 'boo'
So we're coming with some soul
Like Shaquille O'neal's shoe
But you know this isn't Algebra 2
It's Calculus hour
So let's switch it from quadratic
To a rule that has power
It's called the Power Rule
No it might not sound cool
But don't be fooled
Cuz it's the best like Liberty High School
And wait till the end to clap for me
Or laugh at me
So you can listen as I spit some math
Like Miss Hafferty
It's sad to see
That math makes some bewilder
But with the Power Rule
Homework goes quick, like silver
F of X equals X to the N
Then F prime of X is X to the N minus 1
The N must be a constant
Or the formula's nonsense
You see it's easy
It's really all there is
And we're not playing tricks
Because Trix are for kids
So remember F prime of X goes like this
It's N X to the N minus 1
This rule is easy and fun
It's N X to the N minus 1
I'm out of time
Oh shoot I gotta run
But before I go, it's N X to the N minus 1
Well that's the end of the show
So we're all gunna dash
But we hope it was hot
Like a menopause flash

3. Quadratic Formula Love Ballad
By KBB (not a rap song)

I once fell in love
With a certain formula
Her name was Quadratic
We were automatic

4. The Quotient Formula Rap (Hip-Pop)
By Notorious AB & BG For Real

I was sittin there taking notes in class
For a course known none other than Math
I wrote down somethin that Delistra said
Then a little ditty went a runnin through my head
It was the
Quotient Formula
I don't know quite how they found it
But hey, let me tell you how this went.
It went...
CHORUS: Down D Up (Down D Up)
Minus Up D Down (Down town)
And you put it all over Down Down
(Chorus X 2)
How do teachers come up with this stuff?
This curiculum, it sure is tough
Calculus, I've had enough
(Chorus X 3)

5. Mean Value Theory Rap
By Showtime & KBB

Now I know I want to make something you can feel
So let me keep it short and sweet
Like Rebecca Teel
Some of your math skills are weak
Like Achilles' heel
But if you listen they will be silky smooth
Like an eel
Make sure that you pay attention and hear me
Loud and clearly
Because I'm going to talk about the Mean Value Theory
Or Theorem like the book likes to call it
We got 2 necessary conditions
So let's get on it
F must have a derivative on the open interval
And it must be continuous on the interval
Close C C
Continuous close
And that's how it goes
Stay on your toes
Cuz these conditions are the prequel
But if you got em
This is what F prime of C equals
It's F of B minus F of A over B minus A
Remember this throughout your day
I said it's F of B minus F of A over B minus A
This formula's hot like the month of May
Or a sun ray
It's F of B minus F of A over B minus A
And before I send you on your way
It's F of B minus F of A over B minus A
Now that you know the formula
Study it well
And you'll be good to go
Like the commercials from Taco Bell



Enjoy!

- TAE

Madagascar 2 fails to live up to the original (in sales)

Madagascar 2



Madagascar 2 was doing better than Madagascar 1 in its week 5 overall, but it already started dropping faster than Madagascar 1, resulting in lower sales.


Madagascar 2 in Week 5:

Weekend 5 sales: $5,079,120
Overall sales: $165,653,852


Madagascar 1 in Week 5:

Weekend 5 sales: $7,434,917
Overall sales: $160,191,242



The reasons for the sudden drop in sales

(1) There's a chance that people are getting smart this holiday season and recognizing that spending money on gifts leaves them with no money for movies. I think that's a factor, because all the holiday films were down, including solid attempts from blockbuster magnets Will Smith (Seven Pounds) and Jim Carrey (Yes Man).

That said, I'm also a firm believer in capitalism, and a few movies have faired okay in the fall/winter, including Twilight (released Nov. 21; total $167 million), and Christmas films "Marley and Me" (Owen Wilson + Jennifer Aniston + dog family film = gold), and Adam Sandler's "Bedtime Stories" (from Disney). So I don't think it's just the economy.

(2) Therefore I think Madagascar 2's extreme drop in sales also imply the hype was better than the movie.

(3) That said, it seems like we have an influx of holiday films this year that are attempts at blockbuster success, especially family friendly films. So the dollars are divided among...

G & PG:

- Marley and Me: Fox
- Bedtime Stories: Disney
- The Tale of Despereaux: Universal
- Bolt: Disney
- Madagascar 2: DreamWorks

PG-13 & R:

- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt)
- Valkyrie (Tom Cruise)
- Yes Man (Jim Carrey)
- Seven Pounds (Will Smith)
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (Keanu Reeves)
- The Spirit (Samuel L Jackson)
- 4 Christmases (Reece Witherspoon; Vince Vaughn)
- Quantum of Solace (James Bond)


I think they still might make another Madagascar movie, but the incentive has gone down quite a bit. I think DreamWorks was hoping to get the sales a little higher than the original, so they are probably thinking more about the Shrek and Kung Fu Panda franchises now and the newer attempts like Monsters VS Aliens, Puss in Boots, and others (Master Mind, How to Train a Dragon, and Crood Awakening, a caveman animation from the Lilo & Stitch director).


Take a look at how Madagascar 2 didn't match up:

Kung Fu Panda
P/DW
$215,434,591


Madagascar
DW
$193,595,521


Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
P/DW
$174,862,381

They moved "it," but they didn't move sales:



- TAE

No Narnia 3?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-narnia25-2008dec25,0,7412331.story



No Narnia 3? At least not from Disney.

Walden Media continues looking for a finance partner and director Michael Apted is still attached (along with the actors and crew).



"We're disappointed that Disney has decided not to go forward," said David Weil, chief executive of Walden's parent company, Anschutz Film Group. "But we regard 'Dawn Treader' as an extremely valuable property and remain committed to the franchise."


- TAE

Disney's "Glago's Guest" clip and info about director

When Lasseter set to replace Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch) with a new director, one of the two directors he chose was Chris Williams, the creator/director of Glago's Guest, a new Disney short to be released next year.

Here's a clip:



It basically looks a little similar to the art style that Star Wars Clone Wars was pulling out, but it's even more realistic, and they totally nailed the animation and emotion (something sorely missing in the Star Wars animation). I'm very interested in seeing Chris Williams' work when Disney lets him write his own film. Trying to save Bolt, was destined to fail (it's Incredible Journey goes Hollywood; no reason to do that in 3D).

Before directing Bolt and this short, Chris was a writer at Disney on Mulan, Emperor's New Groove, Brother Bear, and now Bolt. (I loved Mulan and New Groove.)

Enjoy!

- TAE

Disney's Story Of Menstruation - 1946

A basic explanation of the purpose and process of menstruation, told largely with diagrams (and completely avoiding the subject of sex).
It was co-produced with Kotex to teach pre-teen girls about Menstruation, supposably. It only educates at a superficial level, so it does not go into heavy detail for the animated "Ram's Head"/ Reproductive System sequence.
The Story of Menstruation is believed to be the first film to use the word vagina in its screenplay.

Online Disney Games

Did you know that Disney tried an online theme park game, and it didn't work?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Magic_Kingdom



Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, also known simply as VMK, was a free massively multiplayer online game run by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online. It was a virtual representation of the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom theme parks, containing areas and minigames which were based on real park scenery and attractions.

They closed it after two years. So after that failure, they might not try it again, but they probably could do it successfully with a new business plan. Basically, they were only doing it to advertise the parks, rather than making it a separate world that could be magical and could include Disney characters. I even remember seeing these VMK kiosks in the theme parks, where they were obviously trying to build awareness.



I think they should try again with a new name (“Disneyland Online” works), the usual “pay for more features” business model (and the “buy merchandise to also unlock more features” business model), build a version with lower needs for active staff monitoring and involvement (staff cost money, which lowers the profits), add Disney characters, make the park(s) a “magical” place (maybe where you can battle other people, cast spells, or something “magical”), don't try so hard on the boring Disney park ideas (like Hidden Mickeys, pins, etc.), and basically try to make it fun and entertaining like their other online games…


Other online Disney MMOGs:

§ Toontown: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toontown_Online

§ Club Penguin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_penguin

§ Pixie Hollow (Tinker Bell): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixie_Hollow

§ Pirates Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toontown_Online


I often wondered why Disney did a Penguin-themed game that isn’t connected to their licenses, but then I realized it’s because they bought it. They didn’t start it.




So I definitely think a theme park game should be in there. They just have to make it enjoyable, market it right, and give it a better business model.



I loved the classic 1990 NES game, Disney’s Adventures in the Magic Kingdom:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_in_the_Magic_Kingdom



You walk around the park, talk to the Disney characters, answer trivia to unlock levels, go on rides as levels, beat the levels, and slowly progress through a story that unlocks more of the park.



Funny. I don’t remember the graphics looking this horrible. =^)

- TAE

Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)

Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)


That short probably gets more use than any other Disney short. Still being shown in schools.


Donald in Mathmagic Land is a 27 minute Donald Duck featurette released on June 26, 1959. It was released on a bill with Darby O'Gill and the Little People. In 1959, it was nominated for an Academy Award (Best Documentary - Short Subjects). In 1961, two years after its release, it had the honor of being introduced by Ludwig Von Drake and shown on the first program of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

The film was made available to schools and became one of the most popular educational films ever made by Disney. As Walt Disney explained, "The cartoon is a good medium to stimulate interest. We have recently explained mathematics in a film and in that way excited public interest in this very important subject."

Despite this being a mathematics educational film, a character incorrectly recites the value of the mathematical constant pi. The character states, "Pi is equal to 3.141592653589747, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera." The correct value of pi (to the same amount of digits) is actually 3.141592653589793.



Part 1 (Music and Golden Rectangle: Shapes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_ssR7M5Px0



“Well, what do you know? Square roots!”


Part 2 (Geometry in Architecture, Sculptures, Paintings, Nature, & Games):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_tyRPerr6c



5:11 – Donald turns into Alice. =^)


Part 3 (Billiards & 3D Shapes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QifFucusbR4




Enjoy!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 34: Mickey Mouse Christmas Vacation

Clips from the Mickey Mouse Christmas short are set to the song from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.



That's it! Today's Christmas! Merry Christmas!!!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 33: Christmas Mix (Muppets, Mickey Mouse, Chipmunks, Frosty, Rudolph and more)

A mix of a lot of Christmas cartoons set to a song.

That's it! Today's Christmas! Merry Christmas!!!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 32: Santa's Workshop (1932 Silly Symphony)

This is the original version of the classic Disney Silly Symphonies short. Ethnic Humour was the norm in these early days, so viewer discretion is advised.

Notice that it says "Mickey Mouse Presents" in the title? That was because Mickey was so popular, Walt wanted to remind viewers that it's from the Mickey Mouse guys. Pixar does the same thing today in their trailers.

The elves remind me of Snow White's dwarves. =^)

Checkered paint 3:19! LOL

4:54 Chaplin doll!!! It'd be like a cartoon today including a Will Smith doll that chased aliens. =^)

Enjoy!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 31: Santa vs Frosty

Santa Claus battles the drug dealing Frosty!!!



It looks pretty painful, but it ends well... sort of. =^)

We're posting a Christmas animation every day until Christmas!

Enjoy!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 30: Frosty the Inappropriate Snowman! - Two and a Half Men/Frosty

Frosty the Inappropriate Snowman! - Two and a Half Men/Frosty

What happens when you cross 'Two and a Half Men' with 'Frosty' & 'Frosty Returns'? You get Frosty the Inappropriate Snowman!!



Yet another promo for Frosty. This one takes audio from Two and a Half Men and puts it on Frosty clips. Hmm, not sure if sex jokes on a childrens' cartoon is such a great idea. =^)


We're posting a Christmas animation every day until Christmas!

Enjoy!

- TAE

Tales of Despereaux - thoughts

I just watched Tales of Despereaux after watching Star Wars: Clone Wars on DVD.




The level of animation quality was very high, in my opinion. It was the first 3D animated film that isn’t from DreamWorks, Disney, or Pixar that looks like the same level of animation quality. In contrast, the Star Wars movie featured characters without enough emotion (their faces weren’t animated to convey emotion) and the movement of the human characters wasn’t very good.



Visually, I loved the look and lighting of the film. The rats and mice blew me away. I felt much more engrossed in their world than in Ratatouille. The stylistic approach on the human models bugs me (the princess is too thin and angular, the king’s face is too long, etc.), but that’s always bugged me. I feel the same way with most 3D films with humans, including Up, where the old man has an unrealistic square face that could pass equally for style or for poor modeling skills.



The story was very strong. It wasn’t as epic as I wanted it to be (a lot of back and forth in the castle), but they kept it interesting, and in addition to the primary characters (mouse, rat, and princess) they also managed to intertwine a few more characters with their own stories (a chef with a magical helper, the princess’ servant girl, the jailer, and the king). The most impressive bit is what they accomplished with the servant girl. They turned her around full circle (much more convincingly than the rat) and really made you feel for her.

So the quality of the models, animation, lighting, and story, along with the fact that this is coming from an unlikely place (the director of Flushed Away returns to mice and rats in a completely different way; the screenwriters did Alvin & the Chipmunks), gives the film a decent chance for the Oscar for animated film.





I think we’re going to have quite a showdown for best animated film of this year: Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, Tale of Despereaux, and Horton Hears a Who.

The other possibilities are: Bolt, Madagascar 2, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Space Chimps, Igor, Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, Delgo, Roadside Romeo, and Fly Me to the Moon.

Enjoy!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 29: Frosty the Snowman - The Frostinator

Frosty the Snowman - The Frostinator

He's one lean, mean, snowball makin' machine.



CBS does it again. They parody Frosty by making it look like a trailer for an action revenge film.

Good voice over work sells it. I like the bit at the end for Frosty Returns, "This time it's personal" when Frosty's got a hole in him.

They don't make it as obvious that this is a parody, so they have to end it with "This promo is a parody."


We're posting a Christmas animation every day until Christmas!

Enjoy!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 28: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - CSI: North Pole

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - CSI: North Pole

Rudolph and his team investigate the mysterious death of the Abominable Snowman.




Wow. CBS spliced together clips from their Rudolph special with audio from CSI: NY. It's effective advertising and a little risky. =^)

We're posting a Christmas cartoon every day until Christmas.

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 27: Santa's Isolation

Far, far, far, away up North

"Isolation, for anyone, can lead to MADNESS! Happy holidays everybody."



We're posting a Christmas animation every day until Christmas!

- TAE

Star Trek - Jingle Bells

Not a cartoon, so we're not counting it, but enjoy!

The crew on the USS Enterprise get a little carried away playing Jingle Bells on the ship's buttons...



CBS gives you Jingle Bells!

We're posting a Christmas cartoon everyday until Christmas.

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 26: Petey & Jaydee Merry Christmas

"Following the huge success of its previous six seasons Petey and Jaydee are paying the world a visit at Christmas time. They are about to explore nicely decorated homes with brightly lit up Christmas trees where a lot of dangerous things can be found to play with. Be prepared as it always gets very dangerous with the two quirky aliens!
With scathing black humour these reckless fellow explorers will do anything for the big thrill -- and a good spiteful laugh."



We're posting a Christmas animation every day until Christmas!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 25: Xmas Speed-tooning with World of Cow

"Witness StiK drawing 2 new Christmas World of Cow cartoon in under 5 minutes. It's been sped up of course."



"A Christmas Cow cartoon created before your very eyes, with the cartoonist StiK providing commentary."







We're posting a Christmas animation every day until Christmas!

- TAE

Upcoming Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks animated films

2009
 Monsters VS Aliens (DreamWorks) – March
 Up (Pixar) – May
 Princess & the Frog (Disney) – Christmas

2010
 How to Train Your Dragon (DreamWorks) – March
 Shrek Goes Fourth (DreamWorks) – May
 Toy Story 3 (Pixar) – June
 Master Mind (DreamWorks) – Nov
 Rapunzel (Disney) – Christmas

2011
 Kung Fu Panda 2: Pandamonium (DreamWorks) – June
 Cars 2 (Disney) – Summer
 Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer (DreamWorks)
 Madagascar 3 (DreamWorks)
 The Bear & the Bow (Pixar) – December

2012
 Crood Awakening (DreamWorks)
 Newt (Disney) – Summer
 King of Elves (Disney) – Christmas




However, I think DreamWorks will push some of its films out more, rather than bunching them up so much.

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 24: Arctic Holiday

"The farther North you go the harsher the holidays can be. Season's greetings everyone."



We're posting a Christmas animation every day until Christmas!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 23: Twas The Dark Knight Before Christmas

"Batman stars in this new spin on "Twas the Night Before Christmas.""



We're posting a Christmas animation every day until Christmas!

- TAE

The Complete History and Videos of Walt Disney's Animated Shorts: Part 4 (1929)

Update: This is getting too long, so we're dividing 1928 and 1929. We added a bunch more videos and text. We now have videos for all the Mickey cartoons of this year! Next is to fill out the Silly Symphonies and more info.

The History and Videos of Walt Disney's Animated Shorts

Part 4: 1929

1929


1) Mickey Mouse 4: The Barn Dance - March 14, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney



The Barn Dance (1929), first released on March 14, 1929, was the first of twelve Mickey Mouse shorts released during that year.



The fourth Mickey Mouse movie, it was the first one made after the hit, Steamboat Willie, and it was later released in color:



Why did it take so long for Walt Disney to make a fourth Mickey mouse cartoon, if Steamboat Willie was a huge success? Well, he redid Plane Crazy and Gallopin Gaucho in sound. Other than that, I'm not entirely sure. He might have been renegotiating his contract with Pat Powers, which lasted until early 1930 when Disney confronted Powers for skimming money off the top.



This short didn't end up so great for Mickey!!! =^)

The barn dance of the title is the occasion which brings together Minnie Mouse and her two suitors: Mickey and Peg-Leg Pete. The latter two and their vehicles are first seen arriving at Minnie's house in an attempt to pick her up for the dance. Mickey turns up in his horse-cart while Pete in a newly purchased automobile (Pete also appeared in the Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit).



This short is notable for featuring Mickey turned down by Minnie in favor of Pete. It is also an unusual appearance of the Pete character; previously depicted as a menacing villain, he is portrayed here as a well-mannered gentleman. In addition, Mickey was not depicted as a hero but as a rather ineffective young suitor.



This portrays Minnie in a particulary bad light as she seems a bit shallow.



The shoes gag is kind of weird:



Always the thinker, Mickey devises a plan to win Minnie back. Using a balloon, he literally becomes light on his feet.



Pete strikes back:



Minnie once more goes back to Pete. In a cruel twist, the toon ends with Mickey sobbing.



This is the Parrot's second cartoon. His first was in Steamboat Willie. He appears here as Minnie's pet:




2) Mickey Mouse 5: The Opry House - March 28, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney



The Opry House (1929) was the second Mickey Mouse short released during the year. It cast Mickey as the owner of a small theater (or opera house according to the title). Mickey performs a vaudeville show all by himself. Acts include his impersonation of a snake charmer...



His dressing in drag and performing a belly dance...



His caricature of a Hasidic Jew...



And, for the finale, a piano performance.



Minnie Mouse does not appear in person in this short. Instead, a poster of her can be seen which introduces her as a member of the Yankee Doodle Girls, apparently a group of female performers.



The only other recurring character to appear in the short is known as Kat Nipp (apparently a play on the word catnip). This would be his debut; he would appear in two more shorts during the year as a minor antagonist.

This short features no dialogue and consequently its humor relies on a long series of visual gags. The accompanying musical pieces notably include "Yankee Doodle" and George Bizet's Carmen. It is also the first appearance of "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Franz Liszt in a cartoon. The song can be found in many other shorts from different animation studios as well as the Disney movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (performed by Daffy and Donald Duck).

This short also introduced Mickey's gloves; Mickey can be seen wearing them in most of his subsequent appearances. Supposedly one reason for adding the white gloves was to allow audiences to distinguish the characters' hands when they appeared against their bodies, as both were black (Mickey did not appear in color until The Band Concert in 1935).


3) Mickey Mouse 6: When the Cat's Away - April 11, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney



You can tell that the goal of these animations was to showcase music. It naturally led into the Silly Symphonies series.

Animated by Ub Iwerks.



In the film Mickey and Minnie are portrayed the size of regular mice, whereas Tom Kat is the size of a person.



After Tom Kat leaves his house, drunk on hooch, Mickey Mouse organises all his mice friends to break into Kat's house. Once inside Mickey and Minnie play the piano, and later others play some of Kat's records using themselves as the player and needle. In the end Mickey and Minnie kiss.



Note that this may be the only Mickey Mouse cartoon that shows Mickey the size of a mouse, like in Tom & Jerry. Normally, Mickey is shown as the size of a human next to other animals that are also the size of humans.



The mice start doing gags with a record player and with a saxophone:





The Parrot appears in this short (as well as Steamboat Willie, The Barn Dance, and The Gorilla Mystery in 1930). Here he is in When the Cat's Away:



And they kiss at the end:



Trivia: This is a remake of the Alice short "Alice Rattled by Rats." Disney probably wanted to do it with Mickey, so they made Mickey small for this.


4) Mickey Mouse 7: The Barnyard Battle - April 25, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney



The mice are still a little smaller here, but I think they're getting bigger and closer to the size of the cats, led by Pete. Especially that huge recruiter rat is easily the size of Pete.

Some versions shown by Disney cut out the recruitment tests at the beginning. It's a little harsh.

Speaking of harsh, I think Mickey impales a cat at the end!!!



As the title implies it featured a battle between an invading army of cats and an army of mice trying to defend their homes and farms.

Walt Disney especially was fascinated by WWI (having served as an ambulance driver in France).



Peg-Leg Pete was depicted as a leading soldier of the former army and Mickey as a conscript of the latter one. Before joining the army, Mickey has to pass a physical examination. This scene depicts Mickey becoming the subject of physical and emotional abuse. After passing the examination, he is given a machine gun and is sent to battle. Mickey's combat efforts are comical in depiction but prove effective enough in forcing the enemy to retreat. Mickey is hailed as a hero by his fellow soldiers and then the short ends.



This short is notable as the first to depict Mickey as a soldier and the first to place him in combat. The physical examination scene has since often been edited out as being somewhat disturbing. However modern viewers have often pointed to this scene as being the most memorable of the short.

Taking a look at the battle itself, we can see the Cats and Mice engaging in trench warfare. This is yet another inspiration taken from WWI.



The short did not clearly identify the war it depicted; but it has been noted that the cats are depicted as wearing military helmets similar to those used by the German Empire during World War I. On the other hand, the mice are marching in battle to the tune of "Dixie", a song written in 1859. The song was popular among the forces of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The victory of the mice is celebrated in the tune of "Battle Cry of Freedom", known to have been popular among the forces of the United States during the same conflict. In any case both wars were still within living memory of the audiences at the time of release and so it is possible that the details mentioned were intended as recognizable references to both of them.

Though the toon deals with war, there are plenty of fun gags present. One involves Mickey and a machine gun. When he runs out of bullets, Mickey substitutes piano keys instead which wreak havoc on the Cats while playing a catchy tune.



Mickey wins:



It's similar to the Oswald short, Great Guns.


5) Mickey Mouse 8: The Plow Boy - May 9, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney



At 4:53, Disney uses the perspective style that he thought would make Plane Crazy a hit before he tried sound with Steamboat Willie.

Mickey was depicted as a farmer alongside Minnie Mouse. He is first seen with his horse while ploughing a field. Then Minnie comes along with her cow. She has Mickey milk the cow for her.

At some point the horse is stung by a bee, panics and starts galloping. By the time the horse calms down again, the plough has been broken. In the finale, Mickey resorts to using a pig as a plough.

Curiously the short is considered mainly notable for the livestock it featured. Minnie's cow is considered to be Clarabelle Cow making her second appearance, and Mickey's plow horse is considered to be Horace Horsecollar making his debut. Though depicted as non-anthropomorphic animals during this short, later that same year Clarabelle would become as anthropomorphic as her former owners.

However, Horace acts anthropomorphic several times during this short.

Mickey's cruelty to animals continues by tying up the cow's tongue and forcing the pig to plow (Horace helps, Ha!). He also continues his womanizing ways by forcing Minnie to kiss and getting rejected by her.


6) Mickey Mouse 9: The Karnival Kid - May 23, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney



Although it was Mickey's ninth short, it was the first in which he actually spoke. (During his first eight appearances Mickey whistled, laughed, cried and otherwise vocally expressed himself.) Mickey's first spoken words were "Hot Dogs!"

Walt's doing Mickey's voice. Mickey hasn't gotten his high-pitched voice yet. But Walt is also doing Minnie's voice, and Minnie has the high pitched voice. =^)

I found the gag hilarious where Mickey spanked the hot dog!!!

The short featured Mickey selling hot dogs at a carnival. Much of the humor in this short came from the interaction between Mickey and his hot dogs, with the latter tending to act like actual dogs in relation to their owner/trainer.

Three other recurring characters of the series also appear. The first of them was Clarabelle Cow in a cameo. The second was Kat Nipp, making his third and last appearance. A barker at the carnival, he briefly gets into an argument with Mickey over a dancing doll scam. The third was Mickey's recurring love interest: Minnie Mouse, "the Shimmy Dancer" of the carnival. Having given one of Mickey's hot dogs for free, she is surprised to see it run away.

Mickey apparently attempts to draw Minnie's attention by playing guitar singing outside her window. He only manages to draw the attention of two alley cats who decide to join him and then that of an irate neighbour of Minnie who starts throwing things at these three annoyances in an attempt to silence them.

This short also features the cat duo performing their rendition of the barbershop standard Sweet Adeline.

Mickey gets thwomped in the end. But I think Minnie still likes him. =^)

It's interesting that Cat Nip doesn't seem to compete with Mickey for Minnie, but Pete often does. Mickey's starting to turn into a nice guy.

Trivia: In Toon Town Central in Toon Town Online, there's a building that is named after this 1929 film.


7) Mickey Mouse 10: Mickey's Choo-Choo - June 20, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney

Mickey's running a small-town railroad. He takes Minnie for a wild ride on a humanized train which eventually rumbles out of control.



Animation : Ben Sharpsteen
Music : Carl Stalling

Mickey's first cartoon with a high-pitched voice. Walt must have realized that this voice works better than the low voice he was using.

Later made in color (a little washed out):



Here Mickey has a dog, but it doesn't look much like Pluto.

Disney's first speghetti gags, which were later made famous in Lady and the Tramp.

At 5:24, Minnie on the car goes to the perspective shot that Disney loves to do. Also at 6:12 where they chase Clarebelle.

I like how there's a bit of a story here. It feels more like the first Mickey cartoons and the Oswald cartoons (Trolley Troubles; the first distributed Oswald short) rather than a song and dance piece.

It ends decently with Mickey and Minnie going back to the engine. Mickey is turning into a nice guy here rather than an anti-hero. He's not womanizing, he doesn't abuse animals (not intentionally), and he doesn't laugh at others.


8) Mickey Mouse 11: Mickey's Follies - June 26, 1929 - Dir. by Wilfred Jackson

Mickey and his barnyard pals put on a show that includes dancing ducks, opera singing by Patricia Pig, and Mickey's own rendition of his theme song, "Minnie's Yoo Hoo.



The barnyard theme continues. They were establishing that Mickey lived on a farm. That was later changed though.

Um, chicken violence?

This was also known for Mickey's first song he's song, dubbed as "Mickey's Theme Song." Here's a clip that shows just the song:



This was a Mickey milestone (part of Mickey's 60th birthday celebration). This an original song. Most of the music up to this point was popular or known music at the time. Mickey's singing voice isn't high pitched, even though his talking voice was.

The little pig comes out of the outhouse at the end! I believe that gag was in the first Mickey cartoon, Plane Crazy.


9) Mickey Mouse 12: The Jazz Fool - July 5, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney

Mickey and Horace gather a rural audience and put on first a xylophone performance, then an elaborate piano solo.



Horace is back! We haven't seen him since the Plow Boy on May 9, a few months earlier.

The clothes dancing to Mary Had a Little Lamb at 1:27 made me laugh!!!

We're still in the barnyard environment. Some of these ducks are starting to sound like Donald Duck!!!

Mickey spanks the piano at 4:26!! Hahaha. Mickey begins to fight with the piano.

It ends with the piano biting Mickey. No Minnie Mouse in this episode.


10) Mickey Mouse 13: The Haunted House - August 1, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney

You can start to see where the Silly Symphony, Skeleton Dance, came from, which was released later this year. It also shows early inspiration for the Disneyland Haunted Mansion ride that Walt Disney also did.



Music : Carl Stalling

At 2:22 we see the ghost is a skeleton, and 2:31 shows skeletons coming out of the closet. The skeletons want Mickey to play the organ. This is very similar to the Skeleton Dance (there are also a lot of skeletons dancing here and playing music with bones). The skeletons take over the show here, so I guess it makes sense to give them their own short.

No Minnie Mouse here either.


11) Mickey Mouse 14: Wild Waves - August 15, 1929 - Dir. by Burt Gillett

Mickey tries to save Minnie from the ocean waves.



It was remade into color in 1930 (Mickey's finally got his high-pitched voice):



It's interesting, because we start to see Mickey become a kind-hearted hero instead of the womanizing, animal-abusing anti-hero that he started out as.


12) Silly Symphony 1: The Skeleton Dance - August 22, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney



Disney billed this with his name, but he later realized that he should put Mickey's name on the Silly Symphonies too to give them better marketing. It's similar to how Pixar advertises today. For example, the first preview of Up showed clips from all the Pixar movies before it showed a little preview of the actual film. They want to remind you who they are. Same idea was used by Disney to market Silly Symphonies.

4:12 - The skeletons were cruel to animals even if Mickey stopped doing that.

Walt and team took a break from the Mickey Mouse cartoons to do these silly symphonies from August 22 through the end of October. Disney was starting to return to his roots of the Laugh-o-gram shorts (that featured fairie tales in present times). This time he found success in music in animation, and so that's the direction he took his second anthology series (the first being the laugh-o-gram shorts).

In the film, four human skeletons dance and make music around a spooky graveyard. It is the first entry in the Silly Symphonies series. In 1994, it was voted #18 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.

Carl Stalling explained, in a 1969 interview, that it was actually a foxtrot set in a minor key. Stalling suggested the idea for a series of musical one-shot cartoons to Disney at a gag meeting in 1929. Stalling also adapts Edvard Grieg's "The March of the Trolls" for part of the skeleton dance music.

In some ways, Carl Stalling helped push Walt Disney into doing these Silly Symphonies, which eventually became short film masterpieces and led to the feature-length films (Three Little Pigs and others were marketed like feature films).

The skeletons dance in various ways and play makeshift musical instruments. In one scene, all four skeletons hold hands and dance in a circle, akin to schoolchildren dancing "Ring a Ring O'Roses". In another scene, a skeleton pulls the thigh bones off another and plays the thighless skeleton like a xylophone. A skeleton also plays a cat like a double bass, using a bow and the cat's tail as the strings. One skeleton dances part of the Charleston.

It is notable for being the first animated cartoon to use non-post-sync sound. Animation from this short was later reused in the Mickey Mouse short Haunted House, in which Mickey, having taken shelter in a haunted house, is forced to play music for the dancing skeletons.

In 1982, The Skeleton Dance was featured in a colorized version as an intro to the Halloween special Disney's Halloween Treat and Disney's Greatest Villains.

Trivia: (1) It was used in the film Ghost Rider (2007), as a cartoon Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is watching not knowing he will become a skeleton-like supernatural being at night in the presence of evil. (2) The Skeleton Dance was also referenced to in the episode "Hill Billy" of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, where Grim, having been turned into a silent era cartoon character, leads several other skeletons in dance, and even mimics the actions.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skeleton_Dance"


13) Silly Symphony 2: El Terrible Toreador - September 7, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney



The title character vies with a Mexican officer for the affections of a comely barmaid, all set to Latin themes from classical music.



This is the second Silly Symphony. I can't find the video at this time.

This is known as one of the worse Disney cartoons. The story is similar to Mickey's Gallopin Gaucho, but the quality and gags aren't as good. Probably why the Silly Symphonies to follow went back to not having a story (just song and dance).


14) Silly Symphony 3: Springtime - October 24, 1929 - Dir. by Ub Iwerks

They started showing Mickey's face before the shorts to play off of Mickey's popularity (much how Pixar trailers today reference previous Pixar films).



Animation : Ub Iwerks
Music : Carl Stalling

No story here. Just song and dance without Mickey. The common theme is just spring time.

This is similar to the first color Disney animated short, Flowers and Trees.

It was also the first of four seasonal Silly Symphonies (summer, fall, and winter came later).

The frog ate the crickets at 3:29. =^)

Trivia: (1) A scene of flowers dancing was shown on black and white TV that Horace and Jasper were watching, during a scene in the 1961 animated Disney film, 101 Dalmatians. (2) Being animated by Ub, This cartoon also features a prototype for Flip the Frog, a character Ub would create for Pat Powers at MGM.


15) Silly Symphony 4: Hell's Bells - October 30, 1929 - Dir. by Ub Iwerks

The devils of hell gather together for a mad frolic.

Music : Carl Stalling



This cartoon was released in November 1929, only about three months after "The Skeleton Dance". A highlight is the dance cycle of the three devils around 2:40.

1:11 - Serpent eats the bat and grows wings! =^)

3:18 - The jagged dance movements are awesome!

Um, there'sa dragon cow at 3:45. =^O

5:04 - It starts to get interesting. A little demon cat saw his friend get fed to a 3-headed dog (Cerberus) so he books it. He knocks the devil off the edge who gets spanked by fire at 5:30. I don't know why, but the spanking gag always makes me laugh! Disney did it with the hot dogs (Karnival Kid), then the piano (Jazz Fool), and now to the devil!

And the devil dies at the end. I guess they walked the fine line of not making hell look too fun. =^)


16) Mickey Mouse 15: Jungle Rhythm - November 15, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney

Mickey plays music with various jungle animals.



Out of the barnyard and into the jungle! This is the first Mickey cartoon in quite awhile, and they've mostly placed Mickey on a barn. However, the first three films had Mickey in movie-like locations (similar to Disney's Oswald shorts). So I think they ran out of ideas for the earlier Mickey shorts, because they were confining themselves to song and dance routines on the farm (probably because those were doing the best). I think they finally decided that the popularity of Mickey meant they had to pick it back up, and in order to do that right, they had to mix it up. Starting with a jungle environment. Pretty soon, we'd see Mickey Mouse in every type of scenario.

That's also why their last two previous Mickey shorts were in a haunted mansion and a beach. Now a jungle. They're just putting Mickey into new settings.

This short feels similar to the Haunted Mansion short. Instead of skeletons dancing, we've got jungle animals. Once again, no real story here, just music. The last story was when he saved Minnie in Wild Waves. It seems like they do more of these, but mix it up with a bit more story every once in awhile.

Here's the classic cruelty to animals! It's back! No Minnie though.

Trivia: The scene with the dancing apes appears to have been reused in the 1931 short, "The Castaway."


17) Silly Symphony 5: The Merry Dwarfs - December 16, 1929 - Dir. by Walt Disney

It took them a whole month to knock this one out. There was a lot of drama going on though. Iwerks and Stalling were upset because Disney was demanding and not organized, and Disney was upset at his distributor, Pat Powers, who was skimming money off the top. So the drama might have slowed them down.

A village of dwarfs dance and play through their day.



Animation : Les Clark
Music : Carl Stalling

A lot of similar ideas were later used by the elves in the 1932 Disney short, Santa's Workshop and the 1940 film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

These dwarves are so small that they ride crickets!!! Wow. They're more like mites, sprites, Kiebler elves, or Smurfs!

It was released laterin 16mm under the title "The Little Elves." I think that title's more likely to meet expectations. For Merry Dwarves I was expecting them working in a mine or building armor or something.



These dwarves drink a lot! They even fall into barrels of beer, ala Timothy Mouse in Dumbo!

5:34 - The hallucination effects are great (also a similar idea was used later in Dumbo)! I think they're just moving the papers around! =^)

The drunk dwarves collapse - weird ending.



Enjoy!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 22: Yeti's Christmas

"Gnome is feeling the Christmas Spirit"



We're posting a Christmas animation every day until Christmas!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 21: Adventures of Chocolate Santa Claus

"A Stopmotion film about a chocolate Santa Claus. It took us nearly 7 hours and over 500 pictures to create this 1 min. shortfilm."



We're posting Christmas animations every day until Christmas!

- TAE

Racism in Animation 2 (Christmas Cartoon 20) - Santa's Surprise (1947)

Here is Santa's Surprise, an old 1947 animation from Paramount studios.

This shows how sterotypes in those times weren't intended to be offensive, although they easily could be.

Here you have everything stereotypical, including a black boy who shines shoes, and a Chinese boy who does laundry (and has a very stereotypical accent).



"This is the first appearance by Little Audrey. She would make a cameo in a Popeye cartoon "Olive Oyl For President" early in 1948, before inaugurating a new series of her own in June 1948.

"Like so many things from the 1940s, this cartoon is full of what would today be considered offensive racial stereotypes in what was probably an attempt at diversity. Check out the design on the black and Chinese kids, especially. "

More on this movie (above quotes from here):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0152285/

This animation was created by Famous Studios, which was the successor to the Fleischer Brothers studio.

"Famous Studios, later renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios, was the animation division of the Hollywood film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired Fleischer Studios and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...

"Fleischer Studios was a successful animation studio responsible for producing successful cartoon shorts starring characters such as Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor. The studio moved its operations from New York City to Miami Beach in 1938, following union problems and the start of production on its first feature film, Gulliver's Travels (1939). While Gulliver was a success, the expense of the move and the expanded staff required to produce the feature created finance problems for the Fleischer Studios. The studio depended upon advances and loans from its distributor, Paramount Pictures, in order to continue production on its short subjects and to begin work on a second feature, Mister Bug Goes to Town.

"Compounding the problems the studio was facing was the fact that the studio's co-founders, brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, were becoming increasingly estranged, and not speaking to one another due to disputes. On May 21, 1941, Paramount assumed full ownership of Fleischer Studios, and had the Fleischer brothers submit signed letters of resignation, to be used at Paramount's discretion. Following the unsuccessful release of Mister Bug in December 1941, Dave Fleischer, no longer able to cooperate with Max, left Miami for California, where he was hired to run Columbia Pictures' Screen Gems animation studio. Paramount responded by producing the letters of resignation, severing the Fleischer brothers from control of their studio.

"Paramount renamed the studio Famous Studios, and although they had ownership of the company, it remained a separate entity. Four top Fleischer employees were promoted to run the animation studio: business manager Sam Buchwald, storyboard artist Isadore Sparber, animator Dan Gordon, and Max Fleischer's son-in-law, head animator Seymour Kneitel. Buchwald assumed Max Fleischer's place as executive producer, while Sparber, Kneitel, and Gordon shared Dave Fleischer's former responsibilities as supervising producers and credited directors. Gordon remained only briefly before departing after 1943. Although the Fleischers left the studio at the end of 1941, Famous Studios was not officially incorporated until May 1942, after Paramount's contract with Fleischer Studios had formally run its course.

The Famous Studios cartoon series include:

Popeye the Sailor (inherited from Fleischer Studios, 1942 – 1957)
Superman (inherited from Fleischer Studios, 1942 – 1943)
Noveltoons (1943 – 1967)
Little Audrey (1948 – 1959)
Little Lulu (1943 – 1948)
Screen Songs (1947 – 1951; originally produced by Fleischer Studios 1929 – 1938)
Casper the Friendly Ghost (1950 – 1959)
Kartunes (1951 – 1953)
Herman and Katnip (1952 – 1959)
Modern Madcaps (1958 – 1967)
Jeepers and Creepers (1960)
The Cat (1961)
Swifty and Shorty (1964 – 1965)
Honey Halfwitch (1965 – 1967)
Merry Makers (1967)
GoGo Toons (1967)
Fractured Fables (1967)


More on Famous Studios (above quotes from here):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_Studios



More Racism in Animation...

Racism in Animation 3 - Pluto's Dream House (1940):
http://theanimationempire.blogspot.com/2008/01/racism-in-animation-3-mickey-mouse-in.html

Racism in Animation 2 - Santa's Surprise (1940):
http://theanimationempire.blogspot.com/2007/12/racism-in-animation-2-christmas-cartoon.html

Racism in Animation 1 - Fantasia (1940):
http://theanimationempire.blogspot.com/2007/12/racism-in-animation-1-fantasia-bans.html


We're posting Christmas cartoons every day until Christmas!

- TAE

Pixar's Up - New longer trailer that shows the house taking off

1:05 - Is that a hidden Mickey with the girl's hair or is it just a coincidence? =^)You've got to wonder if Pixar is throwing in Disney references along with all their usual Pixar references, now that Disney owns Pixar. They did that with their first movie, Toy Story, when Andy was listening to Lion King music in the car.

Also, it's obvious that Lasseter is trying to get Pixar to help Disney, because they released a Cars short this week and put it before Bolt to try to get more people to go see Bolt. They also are advertising that the short is before the movie now (I haven't heard of the shorts being advertised more than the movies since Disney's popular Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony shorts).

1:07 - And there's the first true Pixar reference, the Luxo Jr. ball! The light shines on it just long enough for you to recongnize it. You can also find that ball pattern in Red's Dream (circus floor), Toy Story (Buzz bounces off it), Incredibles (Jak Jak plays with it), Monster's Inc (in Boo's room), and more!

Also, it's hard not to notice that the first 23 seconds (0:10-0:33) are devoted to the previous Pixar films. Basically, Pixar's saying, "We know this isn't a sequel or a platform for a popular comedian (ala DreamWorks animations), but you gotta trust us. We're Pixar."

It's interesting, because Disney had to do a little of that in the late 20s as well. His Mickey Mouse cartoons were selling very well, but his Silly Symphony cartoons weren't doing quite as well at first. So he put "Mickey Mouse Presents a Walt Disney Silly Symphony" as the title. Case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOvbsj2ytf0


The first Up teaser trailer just showed balloons and the house flying by:



Not super funny, but it helps build the concept of the movie.

I'm hoping that the movie establishes these two characters more before they take off. I'm curious what adventures they will stumble upon.


Enjoy!

- TAE

Christmas Cartoon 19: Santa Gets Busy!

"Santa was naughty this Christmas! It's time to deliver the presents and he is getting busy with Mrs. Clause!"



Hahahaha!!!

We'll have a Christmas cartoon every day from now until Christmas.

- TAE

All the Pixar Movie Inside Jokes

Update: Added Up references at bottom. Originally posted 1/30/08.


Source articles include:
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2007/12/09/a-special-where-s-wall-e-edition-of-why-for.aspx
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/05/31/easter-eggs-in-pixars-up/
---------------------

Have you ever wondered how often Pixar films cross-reference each other? Well...

"I have to admit that the guys up in Emeryville do delight in doing stuff like that. As in: Bringing characters from different Pixar projects together.

"Or -- for that matter -- making reference to earlier and/or upcoming productions in the most recent Pixar release. How many of you recall that the title of this animation studio's very first short (i.e. "The Adventures of André and Wally B") ...



... is the name inspiration for Wall-e and it wound up being printed on the spine of one of those storybooks that you saw behind Woody in "Toy Story"?



Tin Toy, Knick Knack, and Red's Dream are other Pixar shorts on the books above. (I also think it's interesting that the one on the far right is Grimm's Fairy Tales.)

Remember how the Lion King music played in the car near the end of Toy Story. Or the lamp from Luxo Jr. (You know? That 1980s-era lighting fixture that's featured so prominently in the Pixar logo?) ...



... The lamp also makes an appearance in that John Lasseter movie. Albeit with a bright red paint job.




Luxo Jr. Ball

Even the yellow ball from "Luxo Jr." (With its distinctive red star and blue stripe) ...



... turns up in "Toy Story." It's the ball that Buzz Lightyear bounces off of as he's trying to prove to all the other toys in Andy's room that he really can fly.



"So when did Pixar get started with making all of these in-jokes and/or self references to its own movies?," you ask. My understanding is that this practice actually dates back to 1987. Where -- as staffers at this animation studio were rushing to complete "Red's Dream," the short that they planned on placing in competition at that year's SIGGRAPH -- they realized that the circus center ring that plays such a prominent role in this film's dream sequence was a bit on the bland side.

Sooo ... Hoping to inject a little more color into "Red's Dream," Lasseter & Co. lifted the color, textures and designs featured on the rubber ball in "Luxo Jr." and then made that the floor of their circus's center ring.

Red's Dream:


As the story goes, a few folks at SIGGRAPH 1987 told John that they thought that it was really clever that "Red's Dream" had referenced Pixar's first SIGGRAPH submission, "Luxo Jr." Which suggested that there was some sort of connective tissue between these two animated shorts.

Which -- let's be honest here, folks -- was NOT what John Lasseter & his team of animators were trying to do when they were working on "Red's Dream." Truth be told, these guys were just looking for a quick-and-dirty way to add some additional color to that film's dream sequence. But given they seemed to get extra points with the people at SIGGRAPH for trying to be clever ... Well, in-jokes and self references then became a way of life at Pixar Animation Studios.

...Witness how the ball from "Luxo Jr." can be seen in the Parrs' living room during "Jack-Jack Attack" ...





1:07 - And there's the first true Pixar reference in Up, the Luxo Jr. ball!

In this image, the ball on the far right is from Luxo Jr, and the ball to the left is from Up:



The light shines on it just long enough for you to recongnize it. You can also find that ball pattern in Red's Dream (circus floor), the ball in Toy Story (Buzz bounces off it), in Incredibles' Jak Jak Attack (Jak Jak plays with it), and Monster's Inc (in Boo's room)!


Dinoco Gas

Pixar pursued self-references whole heartedly, which is why the gas station that Andy's Mom pulls into in "Toy Story" ...



... then became the racing sponsor that Lightning McQueen was lusting after in Pixar's "Cars."





John Ratzenberger

Check out how John Ratzenberger has made an appearance in every since Pixar movie to date. He’s considered the animation studio’s good luck charm. He appeared as Hamm in Toy Story and Toy Story 2, PT Flea in A Bug’s Life, the Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc, the Moonfish school in Finding Nemo, the Underminer in The Incredibles, Mack in Cars, Mustafa in Ratatouille, and John the human in Wall-E.



In Up he voices the construction worker from the first act of the film named Construction Foreman Tom.





A113

What started as an inside joke of CalArts alumni (a reference to the classroom number that was used by Animation students, including John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird, Pete Docter) has been present in not only every Pixar film, but Disney movies, Iron Giant, The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, Powerpuffgirls and Tinytoon Adventures.



“A-113 is obvious in this film,” Stanton said. “It’s the most obvious we’ve ever made it.” In Wall-E, A-113 is actually part of Auto Pilot’s “directive” outlined by BuyNLarge CEO Shelby Forthright’s (Fred Willard) video recording. “Directive A-113” is also one of the tracks composed by Thomas Newman for the WALL-E soundtrack.

A113 is featured on the court room door in Up:





Apple

Pixar’s history with Apple is a long one. Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak, bought The Graphics Group (later renamed Pixar) from Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division in 1986, and served as CEO until Pixar was acquired by Disney in 2006. Apple has been featured in previous Pixar productions like on the hood of one of the race cars in Cars. There are several references to Apple in WALL-E, the most obvious is when WALL-E watches Hello Dolly on an older video iPod. Also, when WALL-E is done charging he makes the Mac startup chime.



WALL-E destroys a Macbook when he releases all the faulty robots.

Eve was actually designed by Apple’s behind-the-scenes design guru Johnny Ive, the guy responsible for the design of the iPod. Andrew Stanton told Fortune: “I wanted Eve to be high-end technology - no expense spared - and I wanted it to be seamless and for the technology to be sort of hidden and subcutaneous. The more I started describing it, the more I realized I was pretty much describing the Apple playbook for design.” Auto’s voice is the creation of MacTalk, Apple’s text-to-speach program. An old mac keyboard can also be found in WALL-E’s truck (photo below)



In Up, Carl's alarm clock uses the Chicago typeface (made by Apple).

Two other Mac references we found in Up take place during the credits.

A merit badge next to the Pixar Senior Staff credit seems to be a reference to the spinning beach ball icon on Mac operating systems. Thanks to Matt T for the photo.



During another credit sequence photo, Carl is seen investigating a Mac mouse in the end credits.



Pizza Planet Truck

There is one artifact that can be found in every Pixar film.

... Did you know that remote trailer with the deadly bug light in "A Bug's Life" ...



... is also where Randall winds up after he gets banished to the human world in "Monsters, Inc." ?



Or -- for that matter -- did you notice the Pizza Planet truck that was parked beside this trailer?



Believe it or not, this particular vehicle (which is modeled after the Toyota HiLux) has appeared in every single feature film that Pixar Animation Studios has produced to date. It's the truck that Woody & Buzz stow away in when they're trying to hitch a ride to Pizza Planet in the original "Toy Story."

The Pizza Planet Truck has appeared in every Pixar film so far. Disney has actually put real Pizza Planet restaurants at Walt Disney World’s Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland Paris.



Toy Story 1:


Bug's Life:


This is also the vehicle that Buzz "borrows" in "Toy Story 2," when that space ranger is trying to prevent Buzz, Jessie and Bullseye from being sent to that toy museum in Japan.

Toy Story 2:


Monsters Inc:


You can also catch a quick glimpse of the Pizza Planet truck as Gill is explaining his latest escape plan to the Tank Gang.

Finding Nemo:


Which brings us to "The Incredibles." Brad Bird's very first feature for Pixar Animation Studios. Given that Brad was something of an outsider when he first arrived in Emeryville, he didn't automatically buy into all of Pixar's oddball traditions. Which is why -- when it came time to insert that obligatory Pizza Planet truck cameo into his picture -- Bird made it part of the Parrs' high speed return to the city aboard that badly battered RV ...

... Which is why all you really get to see of the Pizza Planet truck in "The Incredibles" is a pale blur.

The Incredibles:


The Pizza Planet truck also makes an appearance in the Piston Cup sequence of "Cars." You'll find him to the far left in the photo below, next to the RV that looks like Elvis Presley.

Cars:


...by the time "Ratatouille" came out, Brad was finally a true believer in the Pixar way of doing things. Which is why he happily included the Pizza Planet truck among all of the other cars that were motoring around Paris.

Mind you, Bird still didn't make it all that easy for animation fans to spy this vehicle. Given that he had the Pizza Planet truck drive across a bridge that was 'way off in the background while Skinner was chasing Remy through the foreground while riding on that scooter.

Ratatouille:


Wall-e:


Up:


In Up, it appears twice. Once when Carl’s house is first lifed into the air (photo above) and another time at the Ice Cream parking lot at the end of the movie. The first appearance is actually a different type of Pizza Planet car, not the usual truck featured in the other Pixar films.



Character and Brand Cross-References

First there are the just-plain-silly in-jokes. Like that moment in the "A Bug's Life" out-takes where it's revealed that Woody is working the clapboard on that particular Pixar production.



Or when Flik deliberately blows his own lines, using Buzz Lightyear's "To Infinity and Beyond" catchphrase rather than saying "For the Colony and oppressed bugs everywhere!"



Or how about that moment in the "Toy Story 2" out-takes, when Flik first tells Heimlich how happy he is to be working on "A Bug's Life 2" ...

... only to then discover -- just as Buzz Lightyear's machete comes crashing down on the branch that this ant & the caterpillar are standing on -- that the Pixar sequel that they're actually appearing in is "Toy Story 2."



Then notice how the crazy old man who's playing chess with himself in "Geri's Game" ...



... could wind up being the toy repair expert that Al calls in when Woody gets his arm torn off in "Toy Story 2." (He also has a chess piece in his toolbox.)



Perhaps the most famous set of self references to ever appear in a Pixar picture occurred in "Monsters, Inc." Where -- as Sulley finally returns Boo to the human world -- among the toys that we see scattered around this toddler's bedroom are the ball from "Luxo Jr." (You can see it in the photo below next to the easel) as well as a Jessie doll from "Toy Story 2" (On the white table to the left).



Here is yet another Pixar project that prominently features a baby, "Tin Toy."



As for Tinny himself, he actually make a quick cameo in a Pixar short, "Lifted." This tender-hearted wind-up toy is located under the bed during the attempted abduction sequence.



Mind you, some of these in-jokes go literally by in the blink of an eye. Take -- for example -- those itty-bitty birds that get their comeuppance in "For the Birds."



Did you catch their blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in "Cars" ?



If not ... Well, I can't say as I'm surprised. These birds-on-a-wiretap go by in a 10th of a second in that John Lasseter film. You can catch a brief glimpse of them as Mac rolls through the countryside in that movie's "Life is a Highway" musical montage sequence.

Also in Cars, as Mac and Lightning are traveling to California, as Lightning talks Mac out of pulling over at the rest stop, there is a shot of a number of parked "sleeping" trucks at the rest stop. One of them has Mr. Incredible's original logo on it (the blue/red/black one, not the red/black/yellow one). (Thanks to Bill Clare for finding this one.)
...Take -- for example -- how Linguini ...



... is also the unfortunate human who gets brutally bashed about while he's being abducted in Gary Rydstrom's "Lifted." (Ratatouille was released a year after Lifted.)



Speaking of strange things that you can spy... Did you see where Brad had Bomb Voyage (You know? The explosives-crazed criminal that Mr. Incredible discovers robbing a bank in the opening sequence of "The Incredibles" ?) ...



... also makes an appearance as a mime who's working in the streets of Paris in "Ratatouille" ?





Take -- for example -- what happens to the logo for this animation studio in the opening portion of "WALL-E" 's international trailer. Where first the light in the Luxo Jr. lamp blows out and then WALL-E rolls on-screen with a replacement bulb.


Copyright 2007 Disney / Pixar. All Rights Reserved

Check out Wall-E and the Luxo Jr. lamp together in the trailer.

Wall-E trailer:


Skinner’s Scooter: The scooter Skinner used in Ratatouille can be found in the trashpile early in Wall-E. See the photo:



Hidden Mickey: A subtle formation of a silhouette of the head of Mickey Mouse and his two ears can be found in many Disney films. In The Incredibles, when Mr. Incredible was launched off the airplane to the island, several trees on top of a hill form a hidden Mickey. In WALL-E, a hidden Mickey can be found in the background of a scene on earth (seen below on the upper left corner):



Here it is up close:



Crush the Turtle in Wall-E: Finding Nemo’s Crush the Turtle can be seen in the animated credit sequence at the end of Wall-E.

Incredible Humans in Wall-E?: During one of the introductions to the sedentary humans in Wall-E, there is a Sigurney Weaver voice-over detailing cool new fashions - where a quick shot of a billboard featuring three thin models in red jumpsuits appears. The models are uncannily done in a style similar to The Incredibles, with one of the models looking very much like Mr. Incredible.

Hammy: The character John Ratzenberger voiced in Toy Story appeats in WALL-E’s truck. See the photo below, Hammy can be found right to the left of EVE’s head. (Rex from Toy Story, the red unicycle from Red's Dream, and the mirror from Presto are also inside the truck.)



And what about the second trailer for Pixar's 2009 feature film, Up?



1:05 - Is that a hidden Mickey with the girl's hair or is it just a coincidence? =^)You've got to wonder if Pixar is throwing in Disney references along with all their usual Pixar references, now that Disney owns Pixar. They did that with their first movie, Toy Story, when Andy was listening to Lion King music in the car.

1:07 - And there's the first true Pixar reference in Up, the Luxo Jr. ball!

Carl’s court summons features the number 94070, which is the zip code for San Carlos, CA, a city in Northern California not far from Pixar. Bradford “Brad” Lewis who produced Pixar’s Ratatouille and is directing Cars 2, was a former mayor of the city. Check it out:



The short boss from The Incredibles stands at the end of the isle, near the witness stand in the courtroom as Carl enters for his hearing. Here's the boss character in The Incredibles:



Carl is watching television before Russell shows up to ruin his peace and quiet. Check out what is he watching in the clip below.



A famous Shop@home segment made famous by the internet because of the host’s spectacular fail. Watch the full clip below. You’ll hear the part from the Up scene above about 20 seconds in. Watch the original commercial clip:



If you look really hard at some of the construction equipment on the construction site surrounding Carl’s house, you might notice the Buy N Large logo, the fictional corporation from WALL-E. Also, the numbers on one of the machines reads L-R 1572, which is Up art director Lou Romano’s birthday (April 15, 1972). Look for the Buy N Large logo in this scene:



Carl wears a cap from a Grape Sode bottle. The same brand of soda was featured in Toy Story during the Buzz Lightyear commercial.



The Mermaid girl from the short film Knick Knack appears in Up on a brochure at the bottom right hand corner of the screen when Carl buys plane tickets. I don’t have a screen capture of this scene, and the art shown below doesn’t feature the character, but you get the idea.



Pete Docter’s real life daughter Elie (concept art left) is the voice of young Ellie in UP. She also drew some of the pictures in Ellie’s adventure book. The pencil and crayon drawing of Carl’s house on the right was done by Ellie Docter.



In Up, one of the specimens in the blimp is the large fish from finding nemo that has the glow bulb attatched to its head. You can see it when carl is first shown the room before having dinner in the blimp.

When first receiving Karl and Russell on the Spirit of Adventure, a dog brings a menu to Muntz, who glances at it and says "Surprise me". This is also a line and setup in a pivotal scene in Ratatouille.

When Carl first sets off, theres a shot of small birds fluttering across the screen. They're the same birds featured in the short, For The Birds

When Carl is talking to the construction foreman in front of his house, you can see the signage of a couple of stores across the street. One of them has the Harryhausen's logo from Monsters, Inc. in it (crossed chopsticks with an eyeball).

Here's the logo from Monster's Inc:





References to Future Films

They often like to include characters from their upcoming films in the backgrounds of the frame. For example, Boo’s fish toy in Monsters Inc ended up being the title character of Finding Nemo. A kid in the doctor’s office in Finding Nemo was reading a comic book of The Incredibles. WALL-E appeared in 2D on the Ratatouille DVD short film Your Friend the Rat. And Up’s Dug the dog appeared in silhouette in Brad Bird’s Ratatouille chasing Remy through the walls of a building.



In Monster's Inc Boo brings a toy to Sulley. And then -- as the icing on the cake -- this cute little girl hands her favorite squeaky toy over to that blue-haired beast. Which (not-so-co-incidentally) is shaped just like that cute little clown fish who'll play the title characters in Pixar's Summer 2003 release, "Finding Nemo." (Referencing a future Pixar movie.)



This particular in-joke launched a brand-new trend at that animation studio. Where the animators would then fold in a somewhat discreet reference to an upcoming Pixar production. Take -- for example -- that "Incredibles" manga that the little boy is reading at the dentist's office in "Finding Nemo."



Or -- better yet -- how about that cameo appearance that Stanley made in "Boundin'" ?



"And who exactly is Stanley?," you ask. Well, Stanley is the Stanley Steamer who founded Radiator Springs. It's his statue that Lightning McQueen winds up pulling off its pedestal when that race car accidentally winds up trashing that sleepy Southwestern town on his way to the Piston Cup.



Wall-E made his first appearance on the Pixar short that's included as an extra features on the "Ratatouille" DVD, "Your Friend the Rat."

"And where is WALL-E?," you ask. Well ... Toward the end of the short, Remy & Emile sing a song called "Plan B." And -- at one point in this musical fantasy sequence -- humans & rats are happily seated inside of this futuristic spacecraft, which is zooming along that planet's surface toward a launching pad.

If you take a close look at the driver of that craft, you'll see that it's a very stylized version of the star of Pixar's big release of the Summer of 2008, "WALL-E."



Up’s Dug the dog appeared in silhouette in Brad Bird’s Ratatouille, chasing Remy through the walls of a building.



And a new character (Lotso the bear) from Toy Story 3 is hidden in one of the scenes of Up.

The cute little pink teddy bear underneath the bed of sequence where Carl’s house floats by a child’s bedroom window. Up producer Jonas Rivera confirmed recently that “under her bed is one of the new stars of ‘Toy Story 3’.” RUMOR has it that the bear’s name is Lotso and that he will be one of the antagonists in Toy Story 3. If this is true, chances are he’ll be one of the toys at the day care center where Woody, Buzz and crew are relocated. No word on the character’s name just yet, or which actor or animator will be providing the bear’s voice.





Enjoy!

- TAE