Buzz Lightyear, Mike Wazowski, Nemo and WALL-E are all heading to Hyde Park later this year as part of a new exhibit opening at the Museum of Science and Industry. "The Science Behind Pixar" explores the science and technology that go into making some of your favorite animated films, closely examining the techniques used by artists and computer scientists to bring movies like Toy Story and The Incredibles to the big screen.
The traveling exhibit originated at the Museum of Science in Boston and contains more than 40 interactive elements that give guests a behind-the-scenes look at the process of creating a computer-animated film. When it opens at MSI on May 24, "The Science Behind Pixar" will take you through the process of building a scene, from creating a character model and rigging it with a virtual skeleton to rendering the product so that it's ready to be shown in theaters. You'll be able to control a camera while learning how animators created a sense of scale in A Bug's Life and explore the properties of lighting that made it challenging to create convincing water animations in Finding Nemo.
The exhibit also features human-sized recreations of Pixar characters Buzz Lightyear, Dory, Mike, Sulley, Edna Mode and WALL-E that you can snap a picture with. "The Science Behind Pixar" will remain on display at MSI through January 6, 2019. The special exhibit is not included in MSI's museum entry and will require a timed-admission ticket, which is $14 for adults and $11 for children (ages 3–11).
Photograph: Michael Malyszko
Photograph: Nicolaus Czarnecki
Photograph: Nicolaus Czarneck