40 Years of Pixar

It was February 3rd, 2026 at 6PM. Pixar Animation Studios has just celebrated their 40th anniversary party, and now, the staff was heading home for the day. Daniel Chong, director of their next film Hoppers, and Pete Docter were having small talk as they were leaving the Steve Jobs Building.

“Can’t you believe Pixar was founded 40 years ago today by Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs, and the one who shall not be named?” Asked Daniel.

“Yes, because we just had the celebration party.” Said Pete. “And I had the pleasure of meeting all three of them.” As the two left the lot, two toys, a cowboy doll and a space ranger action figure, were hiding underneath the windows of the main lobby.

“Are they gone?” Asked the cowboy.

“Affirmative, Woody.” Said the space ranger. “Round up the gang!” Woody turned around to face the lobby.

“Okay, everybody!” Said Woody. “The coast is clear!” Mabel Tanaka hops out of a painting, statues of the Parr family come to life, and 22, Wally B, and Gale popped out of computers.

“Wally B!” Said Woody. “Go search around the building to find everyone else. Tell them to meet outside the Steve Jobs building!” Wally B buzzed in agreement and flew around the studio to find other characters. As he flew around, other characters noticed that it was time.

“Can’t you believe it, guys?” Exclaimed Flik. “It’s been forty years since Pixar was founded today!”

“Forty years?” Said Emile. “Does that mean there’s been cheese lying around all this time? Remy told me that cheese gets better the more time has passed.” Soon, Gypsy, Manny, Dim (with Rosey on his back), Atta, and Francis flew off to head outside.

“You fired!” Said Tuck and Roll in unison.

“Sorry, but I have to get going.” Said Emile, as he scampered across the floor and down the stair railing.

“How are we supposed to get down?” Asked Heimlich. “I’m now a beautiful butterfly, but my wings are just too small!” As luck had it, a human boy with an egg-shaped head walked over and noticed the bugs.

“Look, bugs!” He said. “Good afternoon. My name is Russell, and I am a Wilderness Explorer. Do any of you need help?”

“Actually, yes.” Said Slim. “We need to get outside, but none of us can fly.”

“I could help you get outside.” Said Russell, looking around for something to carry the bugs with. “How about this clay sculpture?”

“Okay, but I don’t think that’s yours.” Said Flik.

“It’s alright.” Said Russell. “I promise that I’ll put it back where I found it. C’mon, hop on. A Wilderness Explorer is friends to all, make it plant, fish, or tiny mole!” The bugs hopped onto the clay sculpture, and Russell decided to bring the bugs down. While Russel was walking outside, Carl Frederickson and Geri were playing a heated game of chess, only to be interrupted by Mike Wazowski.

“What are you guys doing?!” He asked. “Don’t you know that today’s the day?”

“Alright, alright.” Said Carl. “Just let me and Geri finish our game. Checkmate!” This caught Geri by surprise, and he reluctantly gave Carl a vintage WW2 pin.

———————

Meanwhile, in the studio’s Brooklyn Building (which wasn’t in Brooklyn), the Finding Nemo characters gushed out of a painting, only to find out that most of them need water to survive. Luckily, Luca and Wade were walking by, with Nigel perched on Luca’s shoulder.

“Oh no.” Said Wade. “These fish are stranded on the floor with no water! This makes me want to…” He then started bawling.

“Don’t make a sinkhole out of a mole crab burrow.” Said Luca, getting a pitcher of water. “I can get you outside safely. Who wants to go in the bowl?”

“It’s technically a pitcher,” Said Hank. “But I call dibs! So long, suckers!” He jumped into the pitcher and made a big splash, literally turning Luca’s face green.

“Don’t worry, guys.” Said Nigel, flying off of Luca’s shoulder as the boy walked off. “I’ll carry as many of you down with my bill. Water Boy, fill me up.” Wade squirted water into Nigel’s bill, filling it up with water.

“It’s time to jump in, dudes!” Said Crush, who didn’t need to be put in water since he had lungs and could walk on land. Marlin, Dory, Nemo, and Gill hopped into Nigel’s bill, and he soon flew off.

“Guess that means you come with me.” Said Wade. “You can place anything inside me, but not sponges. I’m afraid of those!” He touched the characters with his hands, and they made it into Wade’s body.

“What about me and Bailey?” Asked Destiny. “We’re not chopped sushi, you know.”

“Sorry.” Said Wade. “But I have a limit. Maybe that elephant can help you.” He then walked off with fish, a shrimp, and a starfish inside his liquid body.

“Who are you?” Asked Bailey.

“I’m Bing-Bong, best friend of Riley Anderson!” Said the elephant-like creature. “And Wade got it wrong: I’m not all elephant. I’m also part cotton candy, cat, and dolphin! And if you’re wondering how I’ll get all of you down, I have a magic sack that can carry 100 jillion tons!” He scooped up Destiny and Bailey with his magic hat, and they magically disappeared.

“I think I’ll walk down.” Said Crush. “C’mon, Squirt! Time to join the jelly-man!”

“You got it, dude!” Said Squirt, and the two turtles scuttled over to the elevator, with Priya, Anton Ego, Barley, and JJ also inside.

—————-

Back inside the Steve Jobs Building, Hamm was on a skateboard with Mr. Potato Head.

“Alright, everyone!” Said Hamm. “You know the drill. All characters on wheels smaller than a station wagon must take the elevator, while everyone less than three feet tall who doesn’t have bones must be carried by someone larger! You don’t want to get stepped on!” WALL-E, Red the unicycle, and Smash and Grab were waiting for the elevator to open, only for Guido to pop out. He rushed out and headed to the recording booth, where Joe Gardner, Miguel Rivera, and Giulia were all playing different instruments.

“Di' ai miei amici che è ora di prepararsi per la foto di gruppo! Stanno dormendo nel parcheggio.” Said the forklift.

“Do you have any idea of what he’s saying?” Asked Miguel.

“I do.” Said Giulia, since she was Italian herself. “He wants us to wake up his friends in the parking lot. Non preoccuparti, Guido. Ti aiuteremo.”

“Grazie mille!” Said the forklift.

“Sorry, but that’s a no.” Said Joe. “You two are only kids. I’m the only one of the bunch who can go out to the parking lot unsupervised. Let’s go, Guano.”

“E’Guido”. Corrected Guido.

——————

Meanwhile, outside the Steve Jobs building, Ember, BURN-E, Needleman, Smitty, and Rochelle have just finished working on a giant tank that would house the Finding Nemo characters. Wade, Luca, Bing-Bong, and Nigel have all walked/flew over to the tank. With the help of Hank, all but two of the Finding Nemo characters have been placed in the tank. He poured his sack into the tank, and Destiny and Bailey came out and made a big splash, turning Luca into a sea monster. Luckily, Questa flew by and protected BURN-E and Ember with her tail right before the water hit them. Crush and Squirt soon arrived at the area, and the older turtle noticed water on the ground.

“Did we miss something, dude?” Asked Crush.

“Just an elephant helping some fish, dear.” Said Ember.

“I’m a mammal!” Said Bailey. At the same time, Russel arrived with the bugs he carried.

“Now that you’re outside,” Said Russell. “Where do I put you all?”

“I can take them.” Said a Styracosaurus with a sandpiper, cat, raccoon, and some finches scattered all around his body. “They can rest on my horns with their friends.” Gypsy, Manny, Dim, Rosey, Atta, and Francis were all sitting on Forrest Woodbush’s left horns, with Hopper and Molt on the right horns.

“Hi, everyone!” Said Rosey. “If you’re wondering about Dot, she’s with that snow-globe near the giant log.” As Russell placed the bugs on Forrest's horn, Flik noticed an old human woman carving the word ‘Pixar’ out of the aforementioned log, along with other tools working by themselves. By the Witch’s feet, Dot was looking at a snowman in his snow-globe.

“You’re weird, but I like you.” She said.

—————-

Joe and Guido soon arrived at the parking lot, and the forklift was right: All the characters were sleeping.

“Ieri sera abbiamo fatto una grande festa e sono tutti esausti per il duro lavoro.” Guido explained.

“I have no idea what you said,” Said Joe. “But I know how to wake them up.” Joe got out his cellphone, put up the volume to the max, and played a familiar ring tone. This managed to wake up the Cars characters, starting with Mater.

“It’s the Ghost Light!” He shouted. “Drive for your life!” Mater took off like a bullet, and Lightning McQueen decided to follow him.

“I better follow Mater.” Said the race car. “Who knows what kind of mischief he’ll get into.” The other cars soon followed, with Chick Hicks nearly running over Joe! Luckily, Corey, the Manticore, swooped down to rescue Joe and bring him back to the group.

“A flying lion?” Asked Joe. “Now I’ve seen everything.”

“I’m a Manticore, actually.” Replied Corey. “Gotta exercise those wings every often.”

———————

Back at the front of the Steve Jobs building, Woody was with Buzz and Terry as they made sure that every Pixar character was available.

“Everything’s going great, guys!” Said Woody. “Witch, how’s the wooden letters going?”

“I’m a woodcarver, dear.” Said the Witch. “And it’s just about done.” She knocked on the log, and the sawdust fell to the ground to reveal ‘Pixar’ perfectly carved out of wood. Luxo Junior tried to jump on the ‘I’, but nothing happened, so Luxo Senior, Rocky Gibraltar, and Dim tried jumping along with LJ. Once again, nothing happened.

“I know how to solve this problem.” Said Violet, who also happened to be holding Jack-Jack. “Just make sure to get out of the way, first.” She grabbed a feather from Kevin, tickled Jack-Jack’s nose with it, and it caused him to sneeze. Jack-Jack fired a laser from his eyes, making the ‘I’ in Pixar disintegrate. Luxo Junior jumped on the ashy remains and proudly took the letter’s place.

“22!” Said Buzz. “Hold that piece of paper that says ‘of’!”

“This is so lame.” Said 22.

“Ian!” Said Woody. “Grab the blocks that Big Baby is holding.”

“What Big Baby?” Asked Ian.

“Look at your feet, dude!” Said Crush. Ian looked at the ground, and was mortified to see a creepy-looking baby doll holding alphabet blocks.

“What do you want me to do?” Asked the elf.

“Make them as big as doghouses!” Shouted Buzz.

“Alright.” Said Ian, grabbing the blocks from the baby. “Magnora Gantuan!” Ian aimed his staff at the blocks, and they slowly started to grow. After a minute, they were the size of doghouses, and they spelled ‘years’.

“Now, where do I put them?” Asked Ian.

“I got this covered, boy.” Said Lucius Best, or as you might know him, Frozone. “Bob! Panda girl! Lift these blocks while I make icicles to hold them up.”

“My name’s Meilin Lee.” Said a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl, turning into a red panda the size of a polar bear. She and Bob Parr grabbed the giant blocks while Lucius created the icicles.

“Are you sure they’ll support these blocks?” Asked Bob.

“They can withstand 5 tons!” Said Lucius. “Hurry up before it melts!” Bob and Mei walked over to the icicles and placed the giant blocks on them.

“Is that my cue, cowboy?” Asked Helen Parr, Bob’s loving wife.

“Not yet.” Said Woody. “Terry, do a head-count!”

“Let’s see.” Said Terry, pulling out an abacus from thin air. “Everyone seems to be accounted for... Wait!" She checks her abacus again. "That's weird. The count's off. THE COUNT'S OFF!!!"

“Who could be missing?” Asked Buzz.

“Let me see.” Said Terry, taking out a piece of paper. “It seems that the missing character is a sauropod named Arlo, from The Good Dinosaur. Does anyone know where Arlo is?” A feral human boy jumped off of Glordon and barked like a dog.

“Let me talk to him, Woody.” Said Jessie, sliding down Cruz Ramirez. “What is it, Spot?” Spot started growling and barking, but Jessie somehow understood.

“Arlo’s in the barn in the back of the studio!” Said Jessie.

“Great!” Said Woody. “Buzz, you’re in charge while I’m gone. Make sure that nothing goes wrong!”

“I got your back, Woody!” Replied Buzz, and Woody followed Spot to find Arlo.

————

The human boy and cowboy doll soon made it to a barn right behind the Pixar studios. Inside the barn was Arlo, who was sulking on a bale of hay.

“Arlo?” Asked Woody. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m the black sheep of Pixar films.” He said. “My film cost the company 85 million dollars, whatever that is. Anyway, I’m sulking in the barn because no one really cares about me.”

“That’s not true!” Said Woody. “I’m sure that there are lots of people who love The Good Dinosaur. Besides, our partner studio Disney has had lots of box-office failures in the past, and many of them have earned fans! In fact, Wish is recently huge in Japan! Besides, there has to be at least one Good Dinosaur fan out there. So, what do you say?”

“Alright.” Replied Arlo. “As long as Disney Publishing makes a book adaptation of The Good Dinosaur that stays closer to the original draft, as well as perhaps rerelease my movie.”

————-

When Woody, Spot, and Arlo made it back to the front of the Steve Jobs building, something was off: Giggles McDimples, Bo Peep’s pint-size best friend, was now human-sized!

“Giggles?” Asked Woody. “How did this happen?”

“Sorry, Woody.” Said Ian. “Your friend here insisted on making her larger with my magic. She was smaller than a newborn pixie, for crying out loud!”

“C’mon, Woodster!” Said Giggles. “The magic wears off in half an hour.”

“Pull my string!” Said Woody. “We need to hurry this up. Helen, spell out 40! The number, not the word!”

“Already on it, cowboy!” She said. “Mei-Mei, do you suppose you could hold me?”

“You got it, Elastigirl!” Replied Mei, poofing into her panda form to pick up Helen. The mom then stretched out to spell ‘40’, with Bob holding her head. It now spelt “40 Years of Pixar” with Helen spelling out ‘40’, the Giant blocks spelling ‘years’, 22 holding a sign that says ‘of’, and a wooden carving of ‘Pixar’ with Luxo Junior taking the place of the I.

“That’s great!” Said Woody. “Everyone in place, guys. Hector, did you bring the camera?”

“You got it, muñeco vaquero!” Said Hector, walking out from behind Embarrassment. He was just ready to take the picture, but then Buzz intervened.

“Wait!” He said. “What about Hector? He won’t be in the photo!”

“I got it covered, amigo.” Said Hector, ripping off his arms since he was a skeleton. Luckily, the dismembered arms still held the camera intact. The rest of Hector walked back into the crowd for the photo.

“Can you turn the Flash off?” Asked Ember. “I don’t want my family to look blurred.”

“Got you covered!” Said Hector, and the dismembered arm turned the flash off of the camera.

“Okay, everybody!” Said Woody. “Say Catmull!”

“Catmull!” Everyone said. Hector’s hands pressed the button on the camera, and it took a picture.

“Is it over?” Asked Helen.

“Wait for the photo to pop out.” Said Hector, and a photograph popped out of the camera.

“Now, let’s see how it went.” Said Hector, walking out of the crowd to take a closer look at the photo. “It looks great, almost as good as the one Goofy took three years ago.”

“Thank Jobs.” Said Helen, snapping back to her original shape with Arlo catching her with his neck. “You really are a good dinosaur.”

“Now to put this on the boss’s desk.” Said Woody.

——————

The next morning, Pete Docter went into his office and found a letter that said ‘To: Boss’. He opened the letter, and included was a photo of over 280 different Pixar characters throughout the years in front of the Steve Jobs Building.

“We sure have some dedicated fans.” Said Pete. “But why does it say ‘boss’?” Across the hall, Woody and Buzz were watching from inside a poster of Toy Story 2.

“Should we do this again when Pixar turns 50?” Asked Buzz.

“You got yourself a deal, partner." Replied Woody. “For infinity and beyond.”

THE END

Check tomorrow for Author's Notes! There are lots this time.