John Marcos
The youngest writer in the room, an indie darling known for his film 'The Father's Shoes'.
Highlight Bits & Quotes
16The Espionage of DreamWorks and the Secret Tunnels
The writers discuss the intense corporate espionage between Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks in the early 2000s, claiming Disney stole 'Zootopia' from their ghost movie 'Bootopia'.
"I get gun triggered by the word DreamWorks because of all the spying and the espionage."
"Disney stole it from Pixar."
"The similarities were too numerous to ignore."
The Problem Pit and the Sad Goat
The writers describe the 'Problem Pit', a room where employees discuss real-life trauma that is then legally owned by Pixar to be attached to zoo animals for movie plots, such as 'Sad Goat'.
"We call it the problem pit. infertility, college, hormones, loss."
"You sign away everything you say in therapy to be owned by Pixar in case we need it."
"I was dealing with depression and then I brought it over and I attached it to a goat."
Inside Out: Celebrity Emotions and Menopause
The writers pitch new emotions for Inside Out sequels, including 'Thoughts on AI' and 'Tech'. They reveal that Kevin Costner plays the emotion 'Menopause' by just doing his character from Yellowstone.
"One of them is Riley's thoughts on AI."
"I can't wait to let you guys know who's playing menopause. Kevin Cosner."
"His lines are actually just stolen from Yellowstone."
The 22 Rules of Pixar Storytelling
The panel lists increasingly absurd rules for Pixar films, including 'if the thing talks, it also bleeds' and 'mommies are shaped like this: Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.'
"Number two, if the thing talks, then it also bleeds."
"Number 17, mommies are shaped like this: Whoa. Whoa. Whoa."
"If the kids aren't crying by the end, it's not a Pixar movie."
The Pixar Writers Room Assembles
The hosts introduce the Pixar writers room, who immediately begin improvising a bizarre movie pitch about Sprocket the Flower who wants to be a refrigerator with legs.
"Sprocket the Flower wants to be a refrigerator."
"The societal issue it addresses is tax brackets."
The Pixar Cube and the Smart TV
The writers describe their high-tech workspace, comparing it to the Las Vegas Sphere but calling it 'The Cube,' where the walls are endless whiteboards that write themselves.
"It is the sphere. Except here at Pixar, it's the cube."
"Our Pixar headquarters is like Vegas but with more water."
Danny Dungle: The Peoplemaker
Danny Dungle explains his role in evolving Pixar's human character designs from 'freaks' like Cinderella to the modern 'soft' and 'bubbly' aesthetic, which he attributes to his discovery of cocoa butter.
"They call me the animation world the peoplemaker."
"You could actually chart when I discovered moisturizer."
Dimiranna and the Infertility Snowman
Dimiranna discusses her philosophy of designing 'pointy' villains based on the Bouba/Kiki effect, revealing her cut character from the movie 'Up': the Infertility Snowman.
"I DESIGN THE KIKIS."
"I made the infertility snowman and I pinned him up all around the office."
Danny's 'Wild' Tom Hanks Encounter
Danny Dungle builds up a celebrity encounter story with Tom Hanks that turns out to be completely mundane, involving simply returning a dropped phone.
"He dropped his phone and I picked it up and gave it to him."
"His wallpaper was a picture of a typewriter."
The Awkwafina Bathroom Incident
Wall-E and Dimiranna recount a disastrous encounter with Awkwafina in a bathroom stall while they were sharing a single light green vape. The story escalates with the arrival of a dancing Ellen DeGeneres.
"I think we should talk about when we met Aquafina."
"I have it written Wall-E on it so people think it's a prop."
Pixar Security Clearances: Level Woody to Level Frozone
The writers explain the tiered security system at Pixar where only Tier One (Level Woody) employees are allowed to know the moral lesson of a film, while Tier Five (Level Frozone) is for everyone.
"You cannot know the moral lesson of the movie unless you are at tier one."
"Tier five is Frozone. That's basically everyone."
The Pixar Research Trip Grift
The writers justify exorbitant research trips to Fiji, Milan, and Tokyo to observe basic human interactions and toilets, claiming Bakersfield just isn't the same for artistic inspiration.
"One of my favorite things about working at Pixar is the amount of money we spend on vacations to look at things to draw into cartoons."
"Do you really have to go to Fiji to observe people being friends with each other? Yes!"
Kind Snake: A Revisionist Garden of Eden
A pitch for a 2032 film where the snake from the Garden of Eden is a lonely orchard owner and Jennifer Aniston plays both Eve and the snake to show that 'the woman was the snake the whole time.'
"The woman was the snake the whole time!"
"God is a DJ and God is being played by Neo."
Rapid Fire Societal Problem Solving
The writers attempt to solve famine, inherent bias, and aging by turning them into Pixar metaphors involving cornucopias, body-swapping sharks, and dancing Ray-Bans.
"It's a cornucopia who learns to believe in himself before the jealous refrigerator comes."
"The dolphin goes: I have to terrorize this boat!"
The Last Kiwi Ever: A Pixar Pitch
The writers brainstorm a Pixar film about the last kiwi bird who suffers from dementia and believes it is a dog, eventually winning the Purina Dog Show.
"The last kiwi forgot that they were a kiwi. They think they're a dog."
"A kiwi wins a dog show. Let's go to New Zealand."
Lover the Honk and the Old Bell
A pitch for an Antarctic film involving an old bell and a character named 'Lover the Honk,' which the group decides is the perfect movie poster.
"Lover the honk is this old bell."
"I could see the poster now. Okay, that's it."