Pixar is a computer-animation studio, founded in 1986, known for its feature films such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, WALL•E, and Up, and many Oscar-winning or nominated shorts. In 1990, the studio, through John Lasseter, produced a series of shorts for Sesame Street featuring Luxo Jr..

Pixar began as The Graphics Group, a division of George Lucas' production company Lucasfilm. It was spun off in 1986 and sold to Steve Jobs, a co-founder of Apple Computer.

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy appeared with Pixar characters on the cover of The Walt Disney Company's 2004 annual report.

In 2006, The Walt Disney Company, distributor of Pixar's feature films, acquired Pixar, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney, and placing it under the same ownership as the Muppets characters.

On July 21, 2010, the team involved with producing The Muppets met with creative heads at Pixar to fine-tune the script.^[1]

The Toy Story short "Small Fry" was packaged with the theatrical release of The Muppets; marking the second time that a non-Pixar film has showcased a Pixar short before it (the first being Disney's Bolt), and the first live-action film to do so. The short was a product of Pixar Canada, a subsidiary studio that operated in Vancouver, Canada from 2010 to 2013.

Another Pixar short, titled "Party Central" and starring characters from Monsters University, was released theatrically at the front of the next Muppet movie, Muppets Most Wanted.

Muppet Mentions

• The Muppets have frequently been cited on different occasions by Pixar artists as an influence, perhaps most apparent in Monsters, Inc. The film's co-director, Pete Docter, has often stated that The Muppet Show influenced his work in terms of both humor and character.^[2]
  He expounded on it in greater detail in 2009: "The Muppet Show was a big influence on me and just because of the sense of quirkiness, the fun and especially the sense of very specific characters that they created. It really transcended puppets. I think, these guys became, for me, very deep characters. They have a lot of sides to them, and they’re really amazingly well-defined characters."^[3]

• Speaking specifically on character development, Docter used the example of Fozzie Bear's facial expressions to explain a bird character from Up, in an NPR interview:

Terry Gross: You gave Kevin emotion, the kind of emotion you couldn't read in the real bird that you based him on, so what kind of methods did you find for giving your bird emotion.

Pete Docter: Well, the cool thing was, we did the same thing that I described where there is no facial expressions. And, the Muppets do this wonderfully. Where you'll have Fozzie, who has no facial -- other than he can open and close his mouth -- the rest of it's just movement. So, the bird has a great deal of expression and range of attitudes, but it's all through movement.^[4]

• A San Francisco Chronicle reporter noticed Docter's Muppet influence:

Peter Hartlaub: Some of the characters in "Up" have a Muppet vibe.

Pete Docter: "The Muppet Show" was definitely something I watched when I was growing up. They're such great characters. I think in a lot of ways that was an influence on Pixar in general.

Peter Hartlaub: In what way?

Pete Docter: They just had this great specificity in their character. I don't even think they thought of them as puppets. They were caricatures of people, but they had real underlying foibles. Fozzie has some sadness to him. He's a failed comic, and that's what makes him funny, of course. ... There's a sense of funny, quirky, goofball stuff, but it always comes down to character, and the whole show is running off these personalities. That's what we're trying to do. However the plot works out, it's always a character study that gets you through the movie.^[5]

• On The Incredibles DVD, a feature devoted to Bud Luckey discusses his work on Sesame Street and shows a clip of "Ladybugs' Picnic".

• Also on The Incredibles DVD, Brad Bird speaks with an animator whose office is decorated with Palisades Toys Muppet action figures.

• In a brief shot from the short Presto, the main character runs across the stage with a group of balconies behind him. In one of those balconies, Statler and Waldorf can be seen (at the 2:37 mark).

• The end credits to Up include a dedication "to the real life Carl and Ellie Fredricksens who inspired us to create our own Adventure Books"; the list includes Mike Oznowicz, father of Frank Oz.

• According to Frank Oz in a 2012 interview, the character of Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. is named after Mike Oznowicz: "Well, [Monsters, Inc. director] Pete Docter was a dear, dear friend of my father’s and that’s how I knew Pete before my father passed away and before Pete was known at all years ago. He was just an animator. So I got to be very friendly with Pete after my father passed away and so, in honor of my dad, he named Mike Wazowski after my dad, which was nice."^[6]

• The book The Art of Up discusses the influence of Jim Henson and the Muppets on the character designs in the film Up.

• Two Pixar staff members dress up as The Martians at their 2009 "Halloween Celebration".^[7]

• A 2017 live stream tour of the Pixar Animation Studios facility shows that the animation wing is decorated with replicas of The Muppet Show arches. (video)

• Pete Docter again pays tribute to Frank Oz's father, Mike Oznowicz in Soul, where his name appears on the wall of 22's former mentors.

• In Inside Out 2, during a scene where Riley and her hockey teammates are having pizza in a common area, the name of the pizzeria seen on the box is Spinney's; a tribute to Caroll Spinney added by director Kelsey Mann. The book The Art of Inside Out 2 presents concept art for the restaurant and reveals that it was intended as a more prominent Easter egg for a deleted scene.^[8]

References

• The title of Pixar's second animated feature was referenced in the title of the first season Farscape episode "A Bug's Life."

• The title card for the Kermit segment of Pepe's Profiles ("A Frog's Life") is similar to the title design of the Pixar feature film A Bug's Life.

• In Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet, Danvers says that Monsters, Inc. gave fellow sixth-grader Cody Carter nightmares for weeks.

• An interviewer for Fandango asks Elmo if he likes Up and WALL•E. Elmo says he likes all of them, especially Toy Story 3.

• In The Case of the Stolen Show, Rizzo (during an interrogation) mentions he and Lew Zealand (or Fozzie Bear)^[9] were at a cooking class taught by his cousin Remy (a reference to the rodent protagonist in Ratatouille).

• When Grover asked for movie recommendations on X in 2023, Mr. Snuffleupagus suggested Ratatouille.^[10]

Connections

• Anne-Marie voiced Lauren in the UK version of Turning Red
• Will Arnett voiced Horst in Ratatouille
• Edward Asner voiced Carl Fredricksen in Up
• Richard Ayoade voiced Counselor Jerry in Soul
• Jon Batiste created original compositions for Soul
• Liliana Barba played additional voices in Coco
• Bill Barretta voiced a construction worker in Hoppers^[11]
• Vanessa Bayer voiced Diane in Hoppers
• Bob Bergen played additional voices in A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Up, and Monsters University
• Andy Blythe and Marten Joustra composed music for video game tie-ins for A Bug's Life
• Benjamin Bratt voiced Ernesto de la Cruz in Coco
• Yvette Nicole Brown voiced Coach Roberts in Inside Out 2
• Jere Burns voiced a detective in Incredibles 2
• Alan Carr voiced Alan the Squirrel in the UK version of Hoppers
• James Coburn voiced Henry J. Waternoose in Monsters, Inc.
• Robbie Coltrane voiced Lord Dingwall in Brave
• Billy Connolly voiced King Fergus in Brave
• Billy Crystal voiced Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc., Monsters University, Mike's New Car and Party Central
• Daveed Diggs voiced Paul in Soul
• Phyllis Diller voiced the Queen in A Bug's Life
• Craig Ferguson voiced Lord Macintosh in Brave
• Tina Fey voiced 22 in Soul
• Nathan Fillion voiced Johnny Worthington III in Monsters University and Monsters at Work
• Dave Franco voiced Titus in Hoppers
• Hannah Friedman made additional screenplay contributions to Elio
• Jamie Foxx voiced Joe Gardner in Soul
• Jim Gaffigan voiced Lorenzo Paguro in Luca
• Brad Garrett voiced Dim in A Bug's Life, and Auguste Gusteau in Ratatouille
• Dave Goelz voiced Subconscious Guard Frank in Inside Out and Inside Out 2
• Michael Giacchino scored The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Inside Out, Coco, Incredibles 2, and various shorts, DVD features, and specials
• John Goodman voiced James P. Sullivan (Sulley) in Monsters, Inc., Monsters University, Mike's New Car and Party Central
• Bill Hader voiced a referee and a slug in Monsters University, Fear in Inside Out, and Featheringhamstan in Lightyear
• Jon Hamm voiced Jerry Generazzo in Hoppers
• Jess Harnell played additional voices in A Bug's Life, and Monsters University
• Sean Hayes voiced Terri in Monsters University and Party Central
• Amanda Holden voiced Amanda the Spider in the UK version of Hoppers
• Tom Holland voiced Ian Lightfoot in Onward
• Ian Holm voiced Skinner in Ratatouille
• James Hong voiced Mr. Gao in Turning Red
• Bonnie Hunt voiced Rosie in A Bug's Life, Flint in Monsters, Inc., and Karen Graves in Monsters University
• Samuel L. Jackson voiced Frozone in The Incredibles and Incredibles 2
• Rashida Jones voiced Cool Girl's Emotions in Inside Out
• Madeline Kahn voiced Gypsy in A Bug's Life
• Mindy Kaling voiced Disgust in Inside Out
• Richard Kind voiced Molt in A Bug's Life, and Bing Bong in Inside Out
• Heidi Klum voiced Diane in the German version of Hoppers
• John Krasinski voiced Frank McCay in Monsters University
• Phil LaMarr voiced Krushauer and He-Lectrix in Incredibles 2
• John Lasseter was the former chief creative officer of Pixar, writer and director of A Bug's Life, and several short films, and was executive producer on most of the studio's theatrical releases through 2018
• Denis Leary voiced Francis in A Bug's Life
• Mark Lesser provided Parisian loop group voices in Ratatouille
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus voiced Princess Atta in A Bug's Life and Laurel Lightfoot in Onward
• Bud Luckey worked as a story artist and/or character designer on several Pixar features, voiced Rick Dicker in The Incredibles, and directed and provided the vocals for the short Boundin’
• Kyle MacLachlan voiced Riley Andersen's father in Inside Out and Inside Out 2
• Cheech Marin voiced the Corrections Officer in Coco
• Mona Marshall played additional voices in Monsters, Inc., Emmet in Monsters University, and Riley's Mom's Disgust in Inside Out
• Edie McClurg voiced Dr. Flora in A Bug's Life
• Frances McDormand voiced Momma Ida in The Good Dinosaur
• Bobby McFerrin sang the music for the 1989 short film Knick Knack
• Carla Medina voiced the departures agent in Coco
• Helen Mirren voiced Dean Hardscrabble in Monsters University
• Bobby Moynihan voiced Chet Alexander in Monsters University and Party Central, Forgetter Bobby in Inside Out and Inside Out 2, and King George in Hoppers
• Kathy Najimy voiced Dr. Sam Fairfax in Hoppers
• Laraine Newman played additional voices for Monsters, Inc., Up, and Monsters University and voiced Riley's Mom's Fear in Inside Out
• Catherine O'Hara voiced Brook Ripple in Elemental
• Peter O'Toole voiced Anton Ego in Ratatouille
• Sandra Oh voiced Ming Lee in Turning Red
• Patton Oswalt voiced Remy in Ratatouille and the short film Your Friend the Rat
• Frank Oz voiced Fungus in Monsters, Inc. and Subconscious Guard Dave in Inside Out and Inside Out 2
• Keke Palmer voiced Izzy Hawthorne in Lightyear
• Jonathan Paine was a character modeler for The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Boundin’, and One Man Band
• Hayden Panettiere voiced Dot in A Bug's Life
• David Hyde Pierce voiced Slim in A Bug's Life
• Aubrey Plaza voiced Claire Wheeler in Monsters University and Monsters at Work
• Amy Poehler voiced Joy in Inside Out and Inside Out 2
• Paula Poundstone voiced Forgetter Paula in Inside Out and Inside Out 2
• Karen Prell was an animator for A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc. (uncredited), and the short films Geri's Game and For the Birds
• Questlove voiced Lamont "Curley" Baker in Soul
• Mike Quinn animated crowds in A Bug's Life
• Sam Richardson voiced Conner in Hoppers
• Adam Rodriguez voiced a detective in Incredibles 2
• Isabella Rossellini voiced the Ambassador in Incredibles 2
• Maya Rudolph voiced Daniela Paguro in Luca
• Zoe Saldaña voiced Olga Solís in Elio
• Dale Soules voiced Darby Steel in Lightyear
• Kevin Spacey voiced Hopper in A Bug's Life
• Octavia Spencer voiced the Manticore in Onward
• Meryl Streep voiced Insect Queen in Hoppers
• Tara Strong played additional voices in Monsters University and Elio
• SZA wrote and performed "Save the Day" for Hoppers
• Russi Taylor played additional voices in A Bug's Life
• Kirk Thatcher voiced the foreman in Inside Out 2
• Jennifer Tilly voiced Celia Mae in Monsters, Inc.
• Ashley Tisdale voiced the leader of the Blueberry Scouts in A Bug's Life
• Jacob Tremblay voiced Luca Paguro in Luca
• Tracey Ullman voiced Grecklin in Onward
• Usher voiced a valet in Incredibles 2
• Wilmer Valderrama voiced Gaxton in Onward
• Julie Walters voiced the witch in Brave
• Jeffrey Wright voiced Poppa Henry in The Good Dinosaur

Sources

External links

• Official website