The Science Behind Pixar

The Science Behind Pixar (originally called The Science of Pixar and sometimes called The Science Behind Pixar Exhibition) is a 10,000 square-foot travelling exhibition which opened on June 28, 2015 at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts. On January 10, 2016, it started a national tour to other museums around the United States.^[1] Since 2017, a second version of the exhibition has been touring Canada concurrently with the American version.

Exhibition[]

The exhibition features 40 exhibit elements which demonstrate the production pipeline at Pixar, the creator of the Cars films and shorts. They are divided into eight sections, each one focusing on a step in the filmmaking process:

Modeling
Rigging
Surfaces
Sets & Cameras
Animation
Simulation
Lightning
Rendering

Before entering the exhibit, visitors go into a theater to watch a five-minute introductory video. In the video, Pixar technical artist Fran Kalal and story artist Alex Woo briefly explaining Pixar's production pipeline. It also features Pixar characters Mr. Ray and Roz greeting the visitors and providing them safety precautions for the theater. Roz appears again at the end of the video to say that she will miss the visitors once they leave the theater.

Tour[]

The chart below lists all the known museums The Science Behind Pixar has visited or will visit and when they were open or will be open.

Museum	City	Opening date	Closing date	Notes
Museum of Science	Boston, MA	June 28, 2015	January 10, 2016
The Franklin Institute	Philadelphia, PA	March 12, 2016	September 5, 2016
California Science Center	Los Angeles, CA	October 15, 2016	April 16, 2017	The closing date was pushed a week from the originally planned date of April 9 for unknown reasons.
Science Museum of Minnesota	St. Paul, MN	June 9, 2017	September 4, 2017	Originally, the opening date was planned to be May 27, but it was pushed two weeks for unknown reaosns.
Telus World of Science	Edmonton, AL, CA	July 1, 2017	January 7, 2018	Starting here, a second version of the exhibition starts touring Canada.
The Henry Ford Museum	Dearborn, MI	October 14, 2017	March 18, 2018	The originally planned closing date was April 14, but it was pushed back a month for unknown reasons.
Science World at TELUS World of Science	Vancouver, BC, Canada	May 19, 2018	January 6, 2019
The Museum of Science and Industry	Chicago, IL	May 24, 2018	January 6, 2019

The tour is expected to last for ten years with limited tour availability beginning in 2021.^[2] Another stop will be at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, but the dates are currently unknown.^[1]

Trivia[]

The introductory video is similar to the introduction video for Pixar in a Box.
Mattel Disney Pixar Carss of Lightning McQueen, Chick Hicks and Brush Curber appear in one of the exhibit elements.