Pixar Place at Disney's Hollywood Studios is a fantasy recreation of the Pixar Animation Studios campus in Emeryville, California. Some elements, like the sign over the entrance and the multi-colored brick, are lifted straight from the real place. Others, however, are pure imagination. Here, it's as if the toys from Toy Story are running the studio, and today they're celebrating the original computer animated film that started everything.
Peek behind the Guard Shack, and you'll find the Green Army Men have set up a Command Post and taped up their "Top Secret" plans. Those plans are being enacted all over the studio. Above the Camera Department, a Message Decoder (that's a Scrabble game board to you and me) is being lowered into place. They're inviting the Guests in to meet the toys and participate in a screen test on the set.
The Company Store has been set up with everything from Tinker Toys to Cooties. A stack of books and Dominoes form the checkout counter to the left (Note: the title of one of the books is "Knick Knack," the story of a snowglobe-bound snowman from a 1989 Pixar short film). There's even a game of Battleship.
Just outside the shop, the Barrel of Monkeys has cracked open and the little plastic simians have escaped to help the Green Army Men with the rest of the decor.
Over the Studio Cafe, they've strung up a pennant and beads to identify Hey Howdy Hey Take-Away. It's a great place to grab a snack, but it's also surrounded by fun collectibles from the era of "Woody's Roundup." On one side of the chuck wagon is a "Woody's Roundup" thermos and a box of Cowboy Crunchies cereal, the only cereal that's sugar-coated and dipped in chocolate! Look at the top of the box, and you'll even see the label that it's a "Pixar Farms Digital Food."
At the other side of the Take-Away stands a Woody cookie jar, but crane your neck back behind everything to find a real treat. It's a rare, complete set of commemorative spoons and plates featuring the whole "Woody's Roundup" gang. Collect 'em all!
The decor of Pixar Place was an unexpected surprise when the area first opened, but I love that Imagineers have taken the story of the attraction beyond just the ride building.
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