by Kenneth K. Ong
I never was a fan for theme parks whenever I travel. Maybe its because of the Scrooge in me or perhaps its because oftentimes I can be entertained by things that do not have anything to do with park rides and long queues. Imagine my excitement when I found out that I would be able to catch the “Pixar: 25 Years of Animation” exhibit during my recent trip to Hong Kong.
I was lucky enough to catch the last day of the exhibit at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum located at Sha Tih at the New Territories near the Shing Mun river. This was my first time to venture so far away from my usual HK haunts of Tsim Sha Tsui and Central and imagine my surprise when I finally got off the Che Kung Temple Station of the MTR to find a Hong Kong that is filled with lush greens, tree-lined jogging paths, and biking lanes. To get to the Museum, I had to walk a bit and then across the river on a pedestrian bridge. Lucky for me, I brought along my trusty and light Crocs which made walking in the “Crown Colony” such a breeze.
Coming such a long way from downtown Hong Kong and me being a Pixar fan, I expected to be wowed by the exhibit and boy was I impressed! Displayed at the Museum’s foyer and lobby are larger than life models of Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story and Sully and Mike of Monsters Inc., and these are just for starters.
The Pixar: 25 Years of Animation exhibition showcases the various types of conceptual and character art done by the studio’s artists for all of Pixar’s past works and work in progress (yes, I got a sneak peek at some stuff from the second Cars movie). The artwork gives visitors some artistic insight into the long process of making everyone’s much-loved CGI movies. There were over 400 items made up of conceptual sketches, storyboards, maquettes (small scale models) and special media installations that feature never before seen artwork.
One of the highlights of the exhibit is the Toy Story Zoetrope featuring rotating sculptures of all your favorite Toy Story characters that magically come to life right before your very eyes.
Aside from the character gallery, there was also an environment and scene exhibit that immerses visitors into the many different and diverse worlds called artscapes created by Pixar, be it from the lush gigantic gardens of A Bug’s Life, to gay ol’ Paris in Ratatouille, to the apocalyptic future in Wall-E, every piece of art in the exhibit was sheer graphic brilliance. And seeing some Filipino names attached to those rough pencil sketches of Nemo or beside the beautiful styled storyboards from The Incredibles, makes me proud to be Pinoy.
The exhibit may feature everything that is cutesy and endearing for kids, but I suspect the Pixar: 25 Years of Animation Exhibit was made more for the kid in everyone of us. Each corner and sketch bringing back memories of good times, inspiring everyone to open their eyes to creativity, and making one think, “So what’s next?”
