Update: I appreciate many of you readers asking me for a tour...unfortunately, I am unable to get you in! But you should visit anyways, the grand Pixar sign at the front gate is an amazing photo opportunity in itself! I often just drive my friends past the Pixar studios for this photo opp!
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I've visited many corporations in the Bay Area (and elsewhere) now and until I met Pixar, Google was always at the top of my list. Sorry Google, you are no longer the coolest campus.
I wasn't expecting much going in. I drove through the gates under the huge PIXAR metal sign, gave my ID and visit time to the security guard, who then printed out a badge for me and told me where guest parking was. The building is an unassuming brick building that matches the rest of Emeryville well. It looks industrial with its glass, steel, and brick, but not scary or unclean. In fact, it's very clean, and the campus in general is large, quiet, and peaceful.
The Luxo Jr. lamp sits right in front of the main building. Outside there is a soccer field, a basketball court, a swimming pool (possibly not Olympic sized, but it's a full size and much larger than Google's!), and a beach volleyball court...all lined with many beautiful and full palm trees.
The main building has a large atrium in the middle, with a gift shop and cereal bar on one side and the cafeteria on the other side, and the main theater straight through at the end. The offices are on either side of the building, and the open second floor is connected by a bridge. There are fully stocked kitchens throughout the building. They're different colors, but one of them uses the same standing tables as the Apple Retail stores. ;) The kitchens mostly have beautiful stainless steel appliances. You can tell quality design is in the DNA of Pixar (and Apple). Even the bathrooms at Pixar are beautiful. I like that the male/female designation panels on the bathroom doors are of the Incredibles characters. :)
If you've read the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, you'll know the story behind the Pixar building, and why it has a huge space in the middle intended to allow spontaneous meetings and conversations (and therefore, innovation and creativity) between employees. There are also secret rooms. :)
Speaking of Apple, there are Apple cinema display monitors on the walls throughout the building that display things such as how a story is created and the process it goes through. It was cool watching a movie clip in 2D/cartoon mode, and comparing that with the final product you see in the theaters.
Pixar is the best because not only do they create a fun and beautiful working environment, they have a lot of artists, designers, photographers, and other creative people that work here. The halls are lined with photographs and paintings and panels either from Pixar movies or employees' personal collections. It's almost like visiting a museum, but a really cool one. They also have statues of characters from Pixar movies, such as the Incredibles family, the monsters from Monsters, Inc, Finding Nemo, and more. My favorite display was the Cars 2 screen paintings. Those were amazing.
They frequently hold movie screenings, not just of their own movies, but others too. They have a new building which is superbly designed and built, with 2 theaters in it and a spiral staircase.
Oh yeah! The food at the cafeteria! You have to pay for it (subsidized prices), so in that respect it's not as amazing as Google. Everywhere else at Pixar though, food is free, like in the kitchens, the cereal bar. I ordered a pasta dish here, and it's quite customizable. It was also very delicious.
Sigh...I wish I had some skill that would be useful to work as an employee at Pixar. But alas, I am an optometrist... read more