TheRoadToPixar
Active Member
Hello again, RPF!
A few years ago, we made our account here and posted one or two work in progress threads about our project. Since then a lot has happened and because we had such a positive reaction from the community here, we thought we would offer up another update.
As sort of a refresher, we are a rag tag group of friends that all worked together to turn a 1988 Toyota pickup into the Pizza Planet Truck from the Toy Story films and the Pixar universe. It started in 2011 and we quickly made leaps and bounds. A truck was purchased, painted and within a year we were essentially complete.
To see the work that we shared here a few years ago, including a recap of our trip to Pixar’s studio, see the following thread:
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=156971
So, what have we been up to? Since the epic Pixar road trip in 2012, we went back to the drawing board at HQ and starting figuring out how to make this truck the most screen accurate version on the road. It’s a little difficult because the truck is different in almost every film it is in. For instance in Toy Story, there are decals on the back of the camper shell, and in Toy Story 2 those decals have vanished. The rocket is another challenging obstacle, but we are on the verge of getting right where we want to be with it. More info on that in a bit.
Let’s start off with the interior. We’ve created a seat cover to match the truck’s seat in the first Toy Story film. The original is a bench and ours has built in headrests, so we met in the middle and covered our headrests as well.
The seat as seen in Toy Story
A WIP shot of our seat
Another small detail that we now have is the rocket keychain featured in Toy Story 2. We were lucky enough to get some outside help from our friends Gregory and Matt who helped design the rocket and 3D print it. It matches perfectly to the film!
The brief glimpse of the keychain in Toy Story 2
Ta-da!
Our keychain in action!
Rounding off the interior updates, this last detail is one of the more unique things about our truck. When we purchased it, initially it had a chrome “spinner” wheel stick shift knob. We made it work for a while but ultimately planned to swap it out and get something more authentic to the film. However, we took a little creative liberty and decided to go another route. We present to you the Luxo Ball stick shift knob!
"The Wand of Power" from Toy Story 2
Out with the old..
...and in with the new!
We took off the old chrome knob and purchased a classic 8 ball. Then, the 8 ball was painted it to make it look like the iconic Pixar Luxo Ball. It may not be screen accurate, but we believe it is a nice homage.
The exterior of the truck has also seen some changes since the last time we were here. Not only has the truck become a little dirtier, but we’ve also updated the side mirrors, the door magnets, and completely redesigned the roof rocket. Let’s dive into that.
The door magnets were one of the first things that graced the truck after it was painted. During our trip to the studio, we had the chance to chat with Bob Pauley, a Production Designer for Pixar and who actually had a large part in designing the original Pizza Planet Truck. He zoomed in right on our magnet and pointed out to us that everything looked great, but we were missing the mushrooms and peppers on the pizza logo! Needless to say, it was fixed in record time once we returned back home.
The lonely pepperonis..
Fixed!
We also replaced the side mirrors. The style that our truck came with didn’t quite match, but we were lucky enough to find an older Ford at a salvage yard that had the mirrors we needed.
What a view!
Lastly, the biggest change the truck has seen is the updated roof rocket. This has proven to be the biggest challenge of the project. In the films where the truck is prominently featured, to the untrained eye the rocket probably looks about the same. Upon further inspection though, it changes shape and size pretty frequently - almost shot to shot in the first Toy Story due to the different scene perspectives.
When we last posted here the rocket looked like this. We called it the “blimp rocket”:
The truck in 2012 at the Pixar campus
This rocket adorned the roof of the truck for quite some time until it met it’s unfortunate demise and fell off, nearly shattering the body. We began tinkering with new ways to create a bigger and better version. For this section I am going to link to a few of our blog posts if anyone is interested in seeing the progression. One of our first attempts after creating the new frame was filling it with foam, sanding it down and smoothing it out with some Bondo. We then created a homemade vacuum former and ended up with the second version. It was finished just in time for the Hollywood Christmas Parade we participated in:
The updated rocket
Some blog posts for your viewing pleasure:
https://pizzaplanettruck.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/we-have-the-technology/
https://pizzaplanettruck.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/t-minus-12-days/
https://pizzaplanettruck.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/the-return-of-the-rocket-and-a-trip-to-hollywood/
Just recently, we were back in the shop once more working on an updated version of the rocket. We were lucky enough to be an official photo op for the Disney D23 Expo this year, and the countdown was on to finish the new model. This version is not only much larger, but much sturdier. We used the specifications from the previous model and essentially supersized it. Plywood support rings were made and then bored out. Tailfins were attached after. The outer shell was made from balsa wood, and then fiber glassed over.
Soon after the rocket was painted, and our vinyl Pizza Planet decal attached. Below at the link you can see some of the techniques we used to form the new rocket.
https://pizzaplanettruck.wordpress.com/2015/08/24/rocket-science-2015/
We made it to the D23 Expo! The truck was a total hit on the show floor. We snapped some photos during the calm before the storm..
We’d like to give a special thanks to everyone here at the RPF for your kind words, help and support throughout the years. We aren’t even close to done yet, and we have plenty of ideas and plans for the future. Stay tuned...
A few years ago, we made our account here and posted one or two work in progress threads about our project. Since then a lot has happened and because we had such a positive reaction from the community here, we thought we would offer up another update.
As sort of a refresher, we are a rag tag group of friends that all worked together to turn a 1988 Toyota pickup into the Pizza Planet Truck from the Toy Story films and the Pixar universe. It started in 2011 and we quickly made leaps and bounds. A truck was purchased, painted and within a year we were essentially complete.
To see the work that we shared here a few years ago, including a recap of our trip to Pixar’s studio, see the following thread:
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=156971
So, what have we been up to? Since the epic Pixar road trip in 2012, we went back to the drawing board at HQ and starting figuring out how to make this truck the most screen accurate version on the road. It’s a little difficult because the truck is different in almost every film it is in. For instance in Toy Story, there are decals on the back of the camper shell, and in Toy Story 2 those decals have vanished. The rocket is another challenging obstacle, but we are on the verge of getting right where we want to be with it. More info on that in a bit.
Let’s start off with the interior. We’ve created a seat cover to match the truck’s seat in the first Toy Story film. The original is a bench and ours has built in headrests, so we met in the middle and covered our headrests as well.
The seat as seen in Toy Story
A WIP shot of our seat
Another small detail that we now have is the rocket keychain featured in Toy Story 2. We were lucky enough to get some outside help from our friends Gregory and Matt who helped design the rocket and 3D print it. It matches perfectly to the film!
The brief glimpse of the keychain in Toy Story 2
Ta-da!
Our keychain in action!
Rounding off the interior updates, this last detail is one of the more unique things about our truck. When we purchased it, initially it had a chrome “spinner” wheel stick shift knob. We made it work for a while but ultimately planned to swap it out and get something more authentic to the film. However, we took a little creative liberty and decided to go another route. We present to you the Luxo Ball stick shift knob!
"The Wand of Power" from Toy Story 2
Out with the old..
...and in with the new!
We took off the old chrome knob and purchased a classic 8 ball. Then, the 8 ball was painted it to make it look like the iconic Pixar Luxo Ball. It may not be screen accurate, but we believe it is a nice homage.
The exterior of the truck has also seen some changes since the last time we were here. Not only has the truck become a little dirtier, but we’ve also updated the side mirrors, the door magnets, and completely redesigned the roof rocket. Let’s dive into that.
The door magnets were one of the first things that graced the truck after it was painted. During our trip to the studio, we had the chance to chat with Bob Pauley, a Production Designer for Pixar and who actually had a large part in designing the original Pizza Planet Truck. He zoomed in right on our magnet and pointed out to us that everything looked great, but we were missing the mushrooms and peppers on the pizza logo! Needless to say, it was fixed in record time once we returned back home.
The lonely pepperonis..
Fixed!
We also replaced the side mirrors. The style that our truck came with didn’t quite match, but we were lucky enough to find an older Ford at a salvage yard that had the mirrors we needed.
What a view!
Lastly, the biggest change the truck has seen is the updated roof rocket. This has proven to be the biggest challenge of the project. In the films where the truck is prominently featured, to the untrained eye the rocket probably looks about the same. Upon further inspection though, it changes shape and size pretty frequently - almost shot to shot in the first Toy Story due to the different scene perspectives.
When we last posted here the rocket looked like this. We called it the “blimp rocket”:
The truck in 2012 at the Pixar campus
This rocket adorned the roof of the truck for quite some time until it met it’s unfortunate demise and fell off, nearly shattering the body. We began tinkering with new ways to create a bigger and better version. For this section I am going to link to a few of our blog posts if anyone is interested in seeing the progression. One of our first attempts after creating the new frame was filling it with foam, sanding it down and smoothing it out with some Bondo. We then created a homemade vacuum former and ended up with the second version. It was finished just in time for the Hollywood Christmas Parade we participated in:
The updated rocket
Some blog posts for your viewing pleasure:
https://pizzaplanettruck.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/we-have-the-technology/
https://pizzaplanettruck.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/t-minus-12-days/
https://pizzaplanettruck.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/the-return-of-the-rocket-and-a-trip-to-hollywood/
Just recently, we were back in the shop once more working on an updated version of the rocket. We were lucky enough to be an official photo op for the Disney D23 Expo this year, and the countdown was on to finish the new model. This version is not only much larger, but much sturdier. We used the specifications from the previous model and essentially supersized it. Plywood support rings were made and then bored out. Tailfins were attached after. The outer shell was made from balsa wood, and then fiber glassed over.
Soon after the rocket was painted, and our vinyl Pizza Planet decal attached. Below at the link you can see some of the techniques we used to form the new rocket.
https://pizzaplanettruck.wordpress.com/2015/08/24/rocket-science-2015/
We made it to the D23 Expo! The truck was a total hit on the show floor. We snapped some photos during the calm before the storm..
We’d like to give a special thanks to everyone here at the RPF for your kind words, help and support throughout the years. We aren’t even close to done yet, and we have plenty of ideas and plans for the future. Stay tuned...
