It’s no secret thatPixar movies are filled with references to themselves. Eagle-eyed viewers will undoubtedly notice The Incredibles on the cover of a comic book inFinding Nemo, Nemo himself introduced as a toy inMonsters Inc., and a postcard fromUp’s Paradise Falls hanging on Andy’s wall inToy Story 3. These are just a few of the Disney-owned animation studio’s dozens of Easter Eggs across its vast filmography. Some of the films also share homages to Pixar itself, like the company’s iconic logo-hopping Lamp andits starred Luxo Ballappearing in the backgrounds.Itsmost prevalent Easter Egg, however, dates back to the studio’s very first feature film, and it has since appeared in every Pixar movie except one.
The Incredibles
A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy’s bedroom.
‘Toy Story’ Is the First Pixar Movie To Feature the Pizza Planet Truck
Back in 1995, Pixar made history by creating the first fully computer-animated feature film:Toy Story. StarringTom HanksandTim Allenas the instantly recognizable Woody and Buzz,Toy Storywas an unprecedented success. A filmmaking milestone, a box office hit, and a heartwarming story for the whole family to enjoy, the movie recaptured the best of its Disney-distributor’s legacy while simultaneously launching all cartoons into the digital future.
Nearly a generation later,Toy Storyis still a part of the zeitgeist, with three sequels,a fourth on the way, and dozens of spin-offsfromLightyearto the short segments on Disney+ gracing our screens — not to mention the ubiquitous merchandising connected to the toy-centered franchise. With the series becoming such a tent-pole property for Pixar,Toy Story’s influence naturally seeps into the studio’s other films. Nowhere is this more endearingly present than in therecurring appearance of the iconic Pizza Planet truck, which played a key role in the firstToy Story’s plot and has since shown up in the background of 25 ofPixar’s 26 subsequent features.
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The Pizza Planet Truck Appears in Almost Every Pixar Film, From ‘Cars’ to ‘Elemental’
Pixar’s second feature,A Bug’s Life, introduced the first Pizza Planet crossover, with the truck briefly appearing parked beside an old trailer. To more noticeable effect, the vehicle returned inToy Story 2, where the inanimate characters humorously and chaotically commandeer the Truck to save Woody. It’s since been spotted on the roads inFinding Nemo,Ratatouille, andCoco, inthe post-apocalyptic wreckage ofWALL-E, and personified among its vehicular peers inCars. Even in the medieval-setBraveor the prehistoricThe Good Dinosaur, Pixar snuck in the Pizza Planet truck as a sculpture and a conspicuously-shaped rock, respectively.
This begs the question of which Pixar movie lacks the Pizza Planet truck. One might assume it’s one of those archaically set ones, or something otherworldly and abstract such as2023’sElemental,Inside Out, orOnward. However, Pixar has found a way to creatively slip the vehicle into each of those movies. The sole exception is actually a cherished Pixar staple, ironically one packed with cars, cityscapes, and contemporary settings.
Why Isn’t the Pizza Planet Truck in ‘The Incredibles’?
The Incrediblescame out in 2004 as Pixar’s sixth feature film and its last beforeDisney properly acquired the company in ‘06. Directed byBrad Bird, the beloved cartoon superhero movie takes place in a 1960s-esque American world. Shots of urban environments, images of heavy traffic, and action-packed car chase sequences are abundant throughout the film. And yet,the Pizza Planet truck is nowhere to be seen inThe Incredibles.
After years of fans combing the film’s frames for a glimpse of the famous truck,The Huffington Postfinally asked Birdabout its absence in a 2015 article. Bird confirmed that, to his knowledge, the truck is not featured inThe Incredibles. His rationale was simple and straightforward: “I was busy making the movie. I didn’t think about the Pizza Planet… I just had other things on my mind.” It’s a genuine explanation, and considering how impeccable of a filmThe Incrediblesended up being, we can certainly give him a pass for forgetting to include this one small detail.
Where Is the Pizza Planet Truck in ‘The Incredibles 2’?
For Pixar-purists, though — ones who might see the Pizza Planet truck asan essential inclusion in each film— Bird still offers a shred of hope. When thePostfirst brought up the truck’s nonattendance eleven years afterThe Incredibles’ debut, the director seemed surprised and uncertain, initially responding, “Is that so? I don’t know.” After giving his authentic reasoning, he went on to say that one of the animators could have potentially drawn the truck into the film without him knowing. “I would not be surprised if it was not in there and I would not be surprised if somebody got it in there when they were building the sets,” he explained. Hence, the truckcouldbe mixed intoThe Incredibles' packed imagery, but it’s so well-integrated that the director himself and die-hard Pixar fans who have been dissecting the film for the past 19 years still haven’t spotted it.
Happily, the vehicle did make a more transparent appearance inThe Incredibles 2come 2018. Halfway through the film, after Elastagirl (Holly Hunter) fights a faux-version of the main antagonist, Screenslaver, the two jump from an exploding apartment building and land in a dark alleyway. Parked next to them, shown only in a single shot, is the Pizza Planet truck. Captured under hazy nighttime streetlights and retrofitted to fit the film’s mid-twentieth-century aesthetic, the truck looks a little different than usual, and most audiences probably didn’t catch it the first time around. Nevertheless, it is there, confirming thatPizza Planet does indeed exist inThe Incredibles' universeand thus completing this particular line ofinterconnectivity across the Pixar filmography.
Alas, we can all enjoy our favorite space-themed slice of pizza no matter what Pixar movie we find ourselves in. In the case ofThe Incredibles, though, we may want to dine-in, lest it take another 14 years before the arrival of another sequel finally delivers.
The Incrediblesis available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
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