Lotso – Animation

How do Pixar animators translate an idea from storyboard to a frame in the film?

First stage

This is a storyboard drawn by Jeff Pidgeon and is one of the 500 drawings made for sequence #300 in Toy Story 3: a warm welcome, where Lotso welcomes the toys and tour the Butterfly room at the Sunnyside Daycare.

Second stage

This concept drawing was made by Dice Tsutsumi, it gives an impression of the colour and appearance of the new characters and the new environments.

Third stage

This frame shows the camera stage, which precedes the character animation, known as layout. The set is still not completely built at this point and will be completed as soon as the layout is finished. Some background toys are not present, the set decoration is not yet final and will be refined as the animation is completed.

Fourth stage

The characters have their final pose and position. The main characters and supporting characters are fully animated. Hundreds of toys now populate Sunnyside Daycare.

Fifth stage

Final animation of the clothes of the characters. This last image shows the final shading for the set and all surfaces have texture, colour and patterns. The Lighting Department is responsible for integrating all elements (characters, set pieces, cloth animation, etc.) to create the final image. Lotso was a special challenge for the Lighting Department, because he is completely covered with fur.