If you’ve ever seen a Pixar film, you may have noticed the number A113 pops up… a lot!… Actually, it’s in every single Pixar film. For this reason, Laughing Place has declared January 13th Pixar day. I must preface this listicle by saying that A113 references aren’t exclusive to just Pixar films. In fact, one of the first hidden A113’s was in Disney’s direct-to-video film The Brave Little Toaster (which started life as an idea by John Lasseter).

What is A113?

In case you aren’t already informed, A113 is a classroom number at California Institute of the Arts, aka Cal Arts. The school’s history is directly tied to Walt Disney, who founded it in 1961, and many of today’s animation icons spent a great deal of time inside this classroom learning the fundamentals of animation. For this reason, many animators pay homage to their tutelage by hiding this number in their films.

Toy Story

In all three Toy Story films, A113 is the license plate number of Andy’s mom’s car.

a bug’s life

When Flik walks through the cardboard gates to Bug City, a box in the background features a familiar number.

Monsters Inc./Monsters University

In my opinion, the A113 in Monsters, Inc. is a bit of a stretch. The numerical columns in the door vault are all “A” and a number. One of them is “A13,” which fans claim is a valid A113 because it has an “A” and one “13”. Monsters University, on the other hand, has one of the most fitting references as it is the number of the lecture hall where Mike and Sulley first meet.

Finding Nemo

P. Sherman, 42 Wallabee Ln., Sydney! A113 can be found in Finding Nemo on the underwater camera used to stun Marlin when Nemo is kidnapped. Since the Sea Meister A113 camera will likely be out of date in Finding Dory, it’s anyone’s guess where the number will pop-up in that film.

The Incredibles

Brad Bird got a little creative in The Incredibles, where A113 appears numerous times in multiple formats. In one scene, Mirage mentions that she and mr. Incredible will meet Syndrome in room A113. There are two visual references to the number as well, but only when you combine shots. At no time does “A1” and “13 appear on-screen at the same time in the film.

Cars and Cars 2

In Cars, the first A113 to appear is on a train that almost hits Lightning McQueen before he arrives in Radiator Springs. But the most repeated appearance throughout both films is on Mater’s rusty license plate.

Ratatouille

One of the rats that comes to Remy’s aid towards the end of the film is a former lab rat named Git whose ear is tagged with his ID number.

WALL-E

The award for “Most Obvious Use of A113” goes to WALL-E, where it is both verbally and visually used as the directive to prevent the Axiom from ever returning to earth.

Up

A113 has a more somber appearance in Up, where it is the court room number in which Carl Fredricksen is ordered to give up his home.

Brave

To find A113 in Brave, audiences had to look a little harder. In fact, it was tougher to find than the Pizza Planet Truck in this particular film as it appears this time in Roman numerals (ACXIII). Inside the witch’s hut, the number is carved into the wooden beam above the door. On top of that, the beam is only ever shown in shadows. How anyone even read it in the first place is beyond me.

Inside Out

Going back to its classroom roots, A113 appears in Inside Out as the number of Riley’s new classroom in San Francisco.

The Good Dinosaur

Since The Good Dinosaur is not yet available on home video, I don’t have a screen shot to share. But A113 is hidden in this film like all the others. Look closely at the chicken fence on Arlo’s farm and you will notice one of the fence posts is in a zig-zag pattern, almost like a “Z” with an extra appendage. Looking left of that will reveal two vertical sticks and lastly, three sticks propped against each other to make an “A.”