Disney, Travel

Heading to Monsters University for Orientation #MonstersUEvent

#MonstersUEvent Acceptance Letter

Today I am heading to California for a special blogger event. I am one of 25 bloggers who were chosen to attend orientation at Monsters University (Pixar Studios). I am going to learn all about what went in to creating the upcoming Disney/Pixar movie Monsters University the prequel to Monsters, Inc.

I may even learn some advanced Scaring techniques while I am there.

JUST ANOTHER WIDE-EYED COLLEGE STUDENT – Mike Wazowski has arrived—and Monsters University will never be the same. With frightening new classes, a campus full of new friends and even scarier rivals, college life promises to be an interesting and uproarious adventure. Screaming with laughter and fun, “Monsters University” is in theaters June 21, 2013, and will be shown in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters.
JUST ANOTHER WIDE-EYED COLLEGE STUDENT – Mike Wazowski has arrived—and Monsters University will never be the same. With frightening new classes, a campus full of new friends and even scarier rivals, college life promises to be an interesting and uproarious adventure. Screaming with laughter and fun, “Monsters University” is in theaters June 21, 2013, and will be shown in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters.

The other 24 bloggers who will be attending are:

Our next couple of days are going to be jam packed with so many interesting experiences. I’ll be flying for hours on end today and when I land I’ll be meeting up with a few other bloggers at the airport to get into a van to take us to our hotel. We’ll be meeting the rest of the bloggers and our host, Marshall later on in the afternoon.

"THE BLUE UMBRELLA" (Pictured) BLUE and RED. ©2013 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
“THE BLUE UMBRELLA” (Pictured) BLUE and RED. ©2013 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

We hit the ground running with a trip to Pixar Studios to screen the short film The Blue Umbrella which will be introduced by Director Saschka Unseld. Then we will screen some footage from MONSTERS UNIVERSITY which will be introduced by Director Dan Scanlon & Producer Kori Rae. We will stick around for a Freshman Mixer (Reception) to get to know each other and folks at Pixar. Then it is back to the hotel for some much needed shut eye.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY
ARE WE HAVING FUN YET? – When it comes to college life, Mike and Sulley have VERY different ideas of what it means to have a good time—it’s a wonder these two mismatched monsters ever settled their differences. Directed by Dan Scanlon and produced by Kori Rae, “Monsters University” scares up audiences on June 21, 2013, and will be shown in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters. ©2012 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Tomorrow – my 39th birthday, by the way – we are heading back to Pixar Animation Studios for Freshman Orientation. We’ll arrive for a welcome breakfast and registration then it is off to some classes. Here is our class schedule.

ENGLISH 101: How to Tell a Great Story
Learn about the story process and how to draw a character from MU.
Instructor: Kelsey Mann (Story Supervisor)

SOCIOLOGY 203: The Deconstruction of a Character
Learn about the design of college-age Mike & Sulley, and creation & design of new characters in the film.
Instructors: Ricky Nierva (Production Designer), Jason Deamer (Character Art Director) & Daniela Strijleva (Character Designer)

ANTHROPOLOGY 152: Monsterizing the World
Learn about creating and “monsterizing” the world of MU.
Instructors: Dice Tsutsumi (Shading/Lighting Art Director) & Robert Kondo (Sets Art Director)

DRAMATIC ARTS: Bringing a Character to Life
Learn how the animation process works, and view an animation demo on a linux machine.
Instructor: Scott Clark (Supervising Animator)

PHYSICS 250: Global Illumination
View a presentation on the use of Global Illumination in MU and The Blue Umbrella.
Instructors: Jean-Claude (JC) Kalache (DP-Lighting), Sanjay Bakshi (Supervising Technical Director) & Christine Waggoner (Simulation Supervisor)

After classes we will have a Tailgate lunch and some Collegiate Activities. I am wondering what those are going to be.

Then we sit down roundtable style and interview the key players from Monsters University and The Blue Umbrella. I’m talking directors and producers.

And if that wasn’t enough for one day we have a special snack time with Pete Sohn who plays Squishy in Monsters University and then we go on a tour of the Pixar Campus. We bid farewell to Pixar and head back to the hotel for my birthday dinner. Okay, so maybe it isn’t specifically MY birthday dinner but I am hoping to hear Mexican Happy Birthday sung to me at Chevys.

On Wednesday we go on a field trip and Guided tour of the Walt Disney Family Museum (www.waltdisney.org). We’ll have lunch and time for the gift shop and then it is time to head back to the airport for our flights home.

Want to have a better idea of what we are doing while we are doing it. Follow the hashtag #MonstersUEvent on Twitter and Instagram for fun photos and updates. You can also learn about the film and the places we are going from these links below.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (6/21/13)
http://facebook.com/PixarMonstersUniversity
http://www.twitter.com/DisneyPixar (#MonstersU)
Monsters University Official Movie site
Monsters University Website

WALT DISNEY FAMILY MUSEUM
http://www.facebook.com/TheWaltDisneyFamilyMuseum
https://twitter.com/WDFMuseum (#WDFMuseum)
http://www.waltdisney.org/