The title of Inside Pixar is a little misleading to Disney+ subscribers who thought they were going to get a close look inside the Emeryville animation studio. Rather than seeing the studio and the groundbreaking artistry that happens inside it, the short-form series is more like profiles on key individuals who work there. Five episodes are included in this first batch that premiere on Friday, November 13th, all on the theme of “Inspiration.”
The series premiere is called “Kemp Powers, Writing Something Real'' with the co-writer and co-director of Soul. Since this is Kemp’s first Pixar film, it very much feels like a one-man EPK to promote the film, which premieres Christmas day on Disney+. If it weren’t for the fact that the rest of the episodes follow the same format, I’d swear this episode was just a marketing piece to hype up Soul. While it’s full of cool bits of information about the development of the film’s barbershop sequence and working with the Black Story Trust, it feels a little weird to start a show like Inside Pixar with someone who just completed their first film for the studio.
Other episodes focus on Pixar employees with a little more tenure at the studio. This includes Deanna Marsigliese (Character Designer), Steven Hunter (Animator/Director), Jessica Heidt (Script Supervisor), and Dan Scanlon (Senior Creative Team/Director). These episodes tend to focus on more than one film from the past, present, and future, but don’t offer as much of a look “Inside Pixar” as you might’ve hoped.
The narrative of each ten-minute episode plays like a mini-documentary, interviewing the subjects of each episode in their home. That’s a big part of why the title Inside Pixar feels so wrong for this series. With the exception of a few shots to show each episode’s star at work, it’s a lot more personal than that. For example, the episode “Deanna Marsigliese, The Art of the Pivot” follows the character designer around the streets of San Francisco and to a coffee shop. However, it also gives fans a look ahead at the in-production film Luca.
Poor choice of title aside, Inside Pixar is a nice collection of character profiles on five studio employees. If you’re a fan of bonus features, you’ll eat it up like candy and crave more. But if the series is to continue, it would be great to see more of Pixar in Inside Pixar.
Inside Pixar premieres Friday, November 13th, on Disney+.