“One of the first sketches I ever wrote, back in the fall of 2007.  In my sketch 101 I had an hour before class and no sketch.  Whipped this out in that time.”

-Brian Glidewell

Pixar’s Scraps of Wood

Brian Glidewell

INT. PIXAR OFFICE

GRAPHIC: The Pixar logo is on a black screen.  Logos of Pixar movies appear as the announcer mentions them.

Announcer (V.O.)
The wizards at Pixar gave our favorite toys life in Toy Story. They gave us a view into the life of our underwater friends with Finding Nemo. They gave us a world where cars lived, loved, and laughed with Cars. In the summer of 2008, they’re going to answer the question “What if my lumber acted like humans?” Welcome back to The Making of Pixar’s Scraps of Wood.

Cut to Pixar office.  THOMAS sits center.  CHYRON: Thomas Awdry, Head Animator.

THOMAS
We at Pixar really were on a roll following Ratatouille and Cars.  We had kind of hit a roadblock, though.  We couldn’t think of anything else to anthropomorphize.  That’s when we realized, what about the very thing our society is built from?  Wood.

Cut to concept drawings.  Drawings of various characters, all of which are pieces of wood with mouths and eyes.

THOMAS (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Scraps of Wood is the story of a brash, young kid named Broken Table Leg who thinks he can go it on his own, that is, until the evil Board With a Nail In It tries to take over the junk pile. In the end Table Leg learns that he can accomplish anything with his friends.  Like in all of our other movies.

Cut to motion-capture studio.  A piece of driftwood with white Styrofoam ball lies on a green floor with a green screen behind it.  A monitor is in the foreground with a wire-frame model of the wood on it.  More pieces of wood are thrown from off-screen.

THOMAS (V.O.) (CONT’D)
We’ve been in the motion-capture studio for months, seeing how wood behaves and moves. We’re trying to make our wood as realistic as possible, with the exception that the wood can walk and talk.

Cut to sound effects studio.  A MAN is shuffling boards together in front of a microphone.  Cut to him hitting drumsticks together, sanding a table and throwing wood against walls as Thomas speaks.

THOMAS (V.O.) (CONT’D)
And we’ve been just as busy in the sound effects studio, trying to realistically capture the sounds of wood.

Cut to recording studio with FRANKIE MUNIZ and KEVIN SPACEY each at a microphone.

ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
Featuring the voice talents of Malcolm in the Middle’s Frankie Muniz as Table Leg and Kevin Spacey as Board With a Nail.

KEVIN
Just give up, Table Leg!  You and your wood chip friends are through!  The scrap heap is mine!

FRANKIE
Never!  You can’t beat us as long as we work together!

ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
Don’t forget Wanda Sykes as the sassy Mahogany.

Cut to WANDA SYKES at a microphone.

WANDA
Oh no you didn’t, Board With a Nail In It!

Cut to Wanda sitting in an interview.

WANDA
I kind of thought it might be a little racist for my character to be called Mahogany.  But then they offered me a lot of money and I realized that the movie’s all about diversity.  Or something.

Cut to McDonald’s. Excited KIDS pull wood chips out of happy meals.

ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
And kids, look for Pixar’s Scraps of Wood toys in Happy Meals this summer!

Cut to black screen with logo.

ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
Pixar’s Scraps of Wood featuring songs by Randy Newman: coming to a theater near you in the summer of 2008.  And look for Pixar’s next magical adventure is the summer of 2009: Rice.

END.

*Festival Performer