Pixar Pics/What if... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Toy Story

The original "Toy Story" was released in 1995, and it shows off the toys' feelings for each other and for 'their boy', Andy. In 1999 "Toy Story 2" came out and was about how Andy goes off to Cowboy Camp, leaving Woody and the group to their own devices until Woody is stolen by a toy dealer, and the other toys must try to rescue him.

The catch here is that Woody was stolen as a valuable collectible, reunited with some of his former friends and decides he doesn't want to leave.

Answer: A Bug's Life

While both "A Bug's Life" and "Antz" came out in 1998, with "Antz" released first, and both having an ant as the protagonist, Pixar's "A Bug's Life" beat Dreamworks "Antz's" proverbial butt. Disney wins again! Pixar's picture tells the story of a creative screw-up named Flik voiced by Dave Foley (from "Kids in the Hall" and "NewsRadio").

He winds up destroying the food that was supposed to pay off the bully grasshopper, named Hopper, and now Hopper is demanding twice the amount or he will destroy the colony. So Flik must set out to find warriors to save the ants...

Answer: Lightning McQueen

Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, is on his way to race against The King (Richard Petty) and Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton). He inadvertently wrecks a road in Radiator Springs and must must stay to fix it. In this small town, McQueen discovers love in the car called Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) and friendship in the tow truck named Mater (Larry the Cable Guy); enough, in fact, for a sequel, "Cars 2", in 2011 about an international car race.

Answer: Finding Nemo

In 2003, Pixar told us the delightful story of young clownfish named Nemo and his father's (Marlin's) search for him. We meet a sweet blue reef fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) with a short term memory problem and we encounter a shark, a jellyfish, and the greatest predator of all - a dentist - who captures Nemo for his fish tank. How Nemo is changed by his journey and how he finds his way back to the Great Barrier Reef is a story worth seeing for yourself.

Answer: Mike and Sulley

In the city of Monstropolis, James P. Sullivan (Sulley), voiced by John Goodman as the furry blue giant, is the most intimidating monster around. He and his best friend, short green cyclops Mike (Billy Crystal), do their job by going around scaring children in order to generate the city's power. All of a sudden, by accident, Boo, a tiny girl winds up in their world and it is the monsters who are scared.

It is up to Sulley and Mike to keep her out of sight, to make things right, and to get Boo back home where she belongs.

Answer: The Incredibles

In "The Incredibles", superheroes have been outlawed. This forces Mr. Incredible, his wife, Elastigirl, and their three kids, Violet, Dash and Jack, to go undercover in Metroville and adopt the civilian identities of Bob and Helen Parr and their family. Bob Parr works for an insurance company called Insuricare but keeps advising his clients how to get around the system to get their money. Bob is fired and serendipitously (?) gets an invitation from a mysterious women to take on super tasks.

He jumps at the chance and uses his time to get back into shape, until he finds it was all a ruse and is captured by Syndrome. Now he needs his family to come to HIS aid!

Answer: Up

While all the choices are animated films involving dogs, it is Pixar's wonderful 2009 movie "Up" which tells of the adventures of Carl Fredrickson, a balloon salesmen and a widower. He decides to fulfill his wife's dream to fly to the wilds of South America (by balloons), and a Boy Scout named Randall accidentally comes along while trying to earn a merit badge. So how is this about dogs, you may well ask? Well, along the journey they come across a lovable golden mutt who wears a collar which allows him to speak and say things like "My name is Dug. I have just met you and I love you", along with other evil dogs and the requisite villain, Charles F. Muntz.

Answer: WALL-E

"WALL-E" is the last robot left on Earth, a planet which has been abandoned since it became just one large landfill. WALL-E is an acronym for 'Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth-Class'; he spends his time cleaning up the waste left on the planet, one piece at a time, and watching old musicals. All of a sudden he meets EVE, a sleek, modern robot sent to Earth on a scanning mission.

Naturally, having quite a romantic soul among those circuits, he falls madly in love with EVE and follows her on a journey across the solar system. We also find out what has happened to the humans... and I hope it's not a warning of things to come!

Answer: Remy

Remy, our hero, lives in the sewers of Paris and has a life-long dream of becoming a French chef. Of course, rats and food for human consumption do not go well together and Remy's family discourages his choice of an occupation. All of a sudden he finds himself directly below the restaurant of his culinary hero, Chef Auguste Gusteau. Gusteau's 5 star restaurant is visited by a food critic and loses a star, leading to Gusteau's demise and the loss of yet another star. Remy escapes many dangers and gets invited to the restaurant by Gusteau's ghost.

He winds up under the hat of Lingini, the garbage boy, helping to make him a chef and leading to a new bistro, La Ratatouille.

Answer: Riley

Riley Anderson is a happy, well-adjusted 11 year old girl who lives with her parents in Minnesota and loves skating, hockey and her best friend Meg. When she is first born, alone inside her head is the emotion Joy (Amy Poehler) but not for long! Joy is quickly joined by Sadness followed by Fear, Disgust and Anger (my personal favorite).

Her parents and Riley then move to San Francisco and her world starts to literally fall apart: the moving van gets lost; she is embarrassed in her new school; she loses her best friend; her father's business is not going well, and she screws up at a hockey tryout.

But Joy and Sadness (with a little help) bring her tears/smile back.