“Toy Story 3” director puts Pixar collectables up for bid to help out with Japanese earthquake relief

Jim Hill

14 years ago

Look, I know it's been a lot of stuff in the news lately.
Rising gas prices. Obama's long-form birth certificate. William & Kate's wedding. Those horrific tornadoes that touched down in Alabama. Bin Laden being blown
away. The Mississippi reaching record flood stages. The ongoing strife in Libya. And — of course — The Donald being a dumb-ass.

But it's important to remember that – on the other side of
the planet – over a half million people are still dealing with the aftermath of
the worst earthquake in Japanese history. And thank to the one-two punch of the
wreckage caused by the tsunami and the continuing radiation issues
associated with the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, tens of thousands of people
are still displaced. And while construction of 100,000 temporary housing units
is already underway, it's going to take years – and billions of dollars –
before things even begin to get back to normal over there.

Lee Unkrich backstage at this year's Academy Awards with "Toy Story 3" 's Oscar for
best animated features. Image courtesy of the A.M.P.A.S. All rights reserved

But you know who hasn't been distracted by silly, trivial
things like the royal nuptials and/or the nonsense that regularly comes tumbling out of Donald Trump's mouth? "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich. This Pixar veteran
is determined to do whatever he can to help make things somewhat better for those who
are still living in school gymnasiums and other evacuation centers. Which is
why Lee is now auctioning off some of the Pixar-related collectables that he's
acquired over the years.

We're talking about things like this limited edition print
from the Disney/Pixar film, "Up."

This 7.25" piece was created by Ricky Nierva, "Up" 's production
designer. Only 1200 of these prints were ever made. They were then distributed to Pixar
employees as a gift upon completion of that Pete Docter film. And the version that's currently for
bid on eBay comes from Lee Unkrich's own personal collection.

The same goes for this limited edition print from the
Disney/Pixar film, "WALL-E."

This 11" x 14" piece was created by Ralph
Eggleston, "WALL-E" 's production designer. Personally signed by Ralph, only
1000 copies of this print were ever created. And the only way that you could
have ever gotten your hands on one of these beauties was if you'd been working at Pixar when
production of "WALL-E" was completed back in 2008. Unless – of course – you put
in a bid on Lee Unkrich's personal copy (which is numbered #31 out of a 1000).
Which is now up for auction in eBay.

Unkrich really dug deep for this Japan Earthquake and
Tsunami Relief Fund auction. Burrowing to the very back of his closet to
unearth a "Monsters, Inc." crew T-shirt from 2001 …

…which would be great to wear while admiring this print of a
very early conceptual vision of the Monsters, Inc. factory. Created by
illustrator & author J. Otto Seibold, this illustration was never made
available to anyone. Not the public. Not Pixar employees. It comes from Lee's
own personal collection. And the only reason that Unkrich had this piece was
because he was "Monsters, Inc." 's co-director.

But given that Lee just directed "Toy Story 3" … Well, that's
where most of the collectables that Unkrich has recently put up for bid have come from. If you drop by eBay now through May 11^th, you'll find
several very cool items like this TS3 crew baseball cap …

… which is embroidered the logo for "Tri-County
Sanitation" (i.e. the garbage dump where Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear finally got his just
desserts).

Not to mention that one-of-a-kind Toy Story 3 tiki mug which
Lee gave out to members of that film's production team. Only 500 of these
pieces were ever created. And – if you look close – you'll notice that this mug
(which was designed by Bob Pauley and sculpted by Jerome Ranft) has a Tiki
-fied Buzz Lightyear on one side …

… and an Easter Island Moai rendition of Woody on the other.

Now if you're looking for super-rare Pixar collectables,
the three that are currently up for bid on eBay are definitely worth pursuing.
Given that these unnumbered mugs were only created as samples, as Lee tried to
determine which glaze should be used on the final versions of these
end-of-production gifts.

Please keep in mind that – should you actually bid on any of
these items – that 100% of the final sale price will go to support the Japan Earthquake
and Tsunami Relief Fund, a GlobalGiving Project.

GlobalGiving supports grassroots projects around the world.
This project will disburse funds to organizations providing relief and
emergency services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
GlobalGiving is working with International Medical Corps, Save the Children,
and other organizations on the ground to provide relief to victims in the earthquake / tsunami disaster zone.

So don't miss out on the chance to possibly acquire some
truly awesome pieces of movie memorabilia (not to mention helping out some human
beings who are very much in need right now). Head on over to eBay and put in a
bid on those one-of-a-kind Pixar collectables that Lee Unkrich has put up for
bid.

Your thoughts?