Myers’ office is a tiny studio in a corner of the sprawling Skywalker Ranch up in Marin. “That's very freeing in that it’s all built from the ground up.” “The great thing about animation is there's no sound to begin with,” says Myers. Myers is one of the sound designers behind all of the sounds used in that scene. When that happens, you hear the sounds of the monsters getting hit by glow urchins and running from them.
When a glow urchin hits a monster, his skin instantly swells into a comically giant wound.
So he and some friends take on an athletic challenge called, “The Toxicity Challenge.” And one part of it is running as fast as they can while other monsters throw what are called “glow urchins” - at them - they’re a sort of spiky jellyfish. And a particularly nerdy monster, Mike Wizowski, wants to be accepted by the ‘cooler’ students at school. Monsters University, for example, tells a story about monsters attending a university for monsters. That's where sound designer Tom Myers works his sonic magic, bringing animated characters to life. They’ve taken us into the worlds of rebellious toys, struggling superheros, lonely old men, wandering fish, brave young redheads.īut the worlds they create depend greatly on the sounds that exist there.įor that step, Pixar sends their animated films to Skywalker Ranch in Marin. The Bay Area is home to one of the world’s most famous animated film production companies: Pixar.