Thursday, February 27, 2025, 7:38PM |  46°
MENU
Advertisement
Visitors encounter Mike and Sully from "Monsters, Inc." in the exhibition “The Science Behind Pixar.”
5
MORE

Step into 'Pixarburgh' at Carnegie Science Center

Michael Malyszko

Step into 'Pixarburgh' at Carnegie Science Center

Pixar has taken our imaginations to infinity and beyond and back again, but unless you’ve sat through the making-of shorts on the DVDs, you don’t know how the magic happens on Park Avenue in Emeryville, Calif.

Along with some splashy fun, “The Science Behind Pixar,” opening Saturday at Carnegie Science Center, is going to make that learning process unavoidable.

Created by the Museum of Science, Boston; and Pixar Animation Studios, the exhibition is a two-story, 12,000-square foot “playground” with more than 50 interactive elements.

Advertisement

If you’re thinking this a change of pace for the Science Center, you’re right.

“This is the first show like this we've done,” says Science Center director Jason Brown. “Our last one was ‘Titanic,’ which we just closed about a month ago. Other than that, we had ‘Pompeii,’ we had ‘Mummies.’ we had ‘Art of The Brick,’ which was an artist who had made these giant sculptures out of LEGOs. But we haven't had anything that's based on a film or film companies.”

Visitors will have the have opportunity to take selfies with life-sized recreations of Buzz Lightyear, Dory from “Finding Nemo,” Mike and Sully from “Monsters Inc.”, Edna Mode from The Incredibles” and lonely, lovable WALL-E.

Beyond that, they will also be able to manipulate the facial expressions of Jessie from “Toy Story 2,” right down to the eyebrows; customize a car hood in Ramone’s House of Body Art from “Cars”; direct a school of fish akin to Mr. Ray from “Nemo”; create a robot friend for WALL-E using magnetic body parts; explore the set of “A Bug’s Life”; and more.

Advertisement

“The ‘Finding Nemo’ one is like creating the environment, like how do you create that feeling of being underwater?” Brown says. “And then there's also things like how do you take a two-dimensional shape and extrude it to make a three-dimensional shape? How do you give hair a bounce, like a realistic bounce that's impacted by gravity? How do you make gravity feel real in an animated movie? It's just amazing when you think about how much thought and detail goes into creating a film like this. But then how they actually make it happen is really incredible.”

Visitors will also see the bigger picture of how the film evolves from concept to reality.

“They'll see terms like animation and rendering and rigging and modeling,” Brown says. “But not only will they learn how to make a film, they'll actually be able to participate, sort of, in the basics that computer animators go through to create these movies. I would guess that, of all the exhibits we've ever had, I think it will be the one that people will spend the most time in because there's so many opportunities to do stuff in addition to actually seeing stuff.”

The Pixar energy will not be contained in the traveling exhibition area. There will be “Toy Story Tuesdays” in the Rangos Giant Cinema with screenings of the films; weekend showings of other Pixar films; a Pixar laser show in the Buhl Planetarium; a Pixar-focused, 21-plus night free of kids; and a scavenger hunt for Pixar figures in the Miniature Railroad and Village.

Coincidentally, it’s all timed to the release of “Inside Out 2,” the sequel to the 2015 film about live personified emotions and the 28th offering from Pixar, which launched with “Toy Story” in 1995.

“We're trying to rebrand Pittsburgh as ‘Pixarburgh’ for the summer,” Brown says.

“It’s really the convergence of science and tech with art and creativity, which is pretty cool because, you know, as the Carnegie Museums, we are both science museums and art museums. So, this exhibition is really the perfect blend of what we try and do. And I would be remiss if I didn't say that the goal of this exhibition is we're hoping to create quite a buzz in Pittsburgh — pun intended.”

Timed tickets are $22; $15 members; $18 kids 3-12; $20 seniors (65+) at CarnegieScienceCenter.org/Pixar.

First Published: May 21, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: May 22, 2024, 6:34 p.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Arthur Smith walks off the field after losing to the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore Ravens won 28-14.
1
sports
Joe Starkey: Was Steelers GM Omar Khan kidding with his Arthur Smith comments?
Mayor Ed Gainey, left, shakes Police Chief Larry Scirotto’s hand after a news conference regarding the recent release of the staffing report for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in the North Side.
2
news
PG Politics: Ripple effects of former Pittsburgh police chief's abrupt retirement
Kevin Colbert congratulates Ben Roethlisberger after the Steelers beat the Jaguars 20-16 on Nov. 18, 2018, at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.
3
sports
Brian Batko's Steelers mailbag: How similar is this QB situation to the 2021 predicament?
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II, left, and general manager Omar Khan stand on the field before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
4
sports
2025 NFL salary cap is up to $279 million. Here's what that means for the Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris (22) dives for a first down against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in the North Shore. The Cincinnati Bengals won 19-17.
5
sports
Steelers talking with Najee Harris' representation at NFL combine
Visitors encounter Mike and Sully from "Monsters, Inc." in the exhibition “The Science Behind Pixar.”  (Michael Malyszko)
A girl tests the "Finding Nemo" intreractive in exhibition “The Science Behind Pixar.”  (Nicolaus Czarnecki)
Visitors check out the "A Bug's Life" display in the “The Science Behind Pixar" exhibition.  (Nicolaus Czarnecki )
A woman poses for a photo with a life-sized WALL-E in the “The Science Behind Pixar" exhibition.  (Nicolaus Czarnecki )
Visitors manipulate the face of "Toy Story 2" character Jessie at Carnegie Science Center's "The Science of Pixar."  (Michael Malyszko)
Michael Malyszko
Advertisement
LATEST ae
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story