Pixar bigshots Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson admit obsession with The Tiki Room
As we've noted before, Pixar, creator of Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, loves tiki, placing them in films and around their offices. In the January 2006 "Official Disneyland Resort Podcast," host Michael Geoghegan got director Pete Docter and storyboard artist/writer Bob Peterson to come clean about their personal obsession with The Tiki Room.
Michael Geoghegan (host): And finally, I mean obviously, this is the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. I mean...just for you personally, does Disneyland hold a special place for you?
Pete Docter: Oh yeah. I think...uh...most people point to a specific film that got them into like...Star Wars was a big thing for a lot of people, even at Pixar you know..."oh yeah, that was the film that got me into this business and jazzed to become an animator, become a filmmaker." For me, it was really Pirates of the Caribbean and the Tiki Room. Those things just...I uh...I...I dreampt about them. I mean, Disneyland. I grew up in Minnesota, we would drive out here every summer, and so one day a year I would get to go to Disneyland, maybe if I was lucky every other year or so, and those things were seared into my brain, and so this park has a really special place in my brain, and my heart and to be a part of that is... is... pretty staggering.
Michael: Bob?
Bob Peterson: Me too. We were over in Ohio actually. Instead of going west, we went south to Disney World and I was there when it had first opened in '71, I was 10 or something like that. And...again, the Tiki Room was the thing. When that room came to life. You know, even the walls open their eyes. I just couldn't believe it. And it made huge impression on me and, you know, to the point where I tried to build animatronics all though....
Pete: Yeah, me too!
Bob: Yeah, I know you did.
Pete: I got a bunch of bamboo, my... cause bamboo doesn't grow in Minesotta, my grandfather had somebody who lived in Santa Barbara, we cut it down, strapped it to the top of our VW bus and drove it back to Minesotta so I could try to, you know, try to recreate the Tiki Room in my bedroom. Is that patetic or what?
Bob: And did you date much back then?
(laughter)
Pete: No, why do you ask?