--- title: Origins: The Director of 'Up' on His Influences | TIME description: Pete Docter was one of Pixar's first employees, and has directed Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and last year's Up. Docter talks to TIME about his love of Miyazaki films and the genius of Fozzie Bear canonical: https://time.com/video/J1PLAO6X/ og:title: Origins: The Director of 'Up' on His Influences og:description: Pete Docter was one of Pixar's first employees, and has directed Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and last year's Up. Docter talks to TIME about his love of Miyazaki films and the genius of Fozzie Bear og:url: https://time.com/video/J1PLAO6X/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/J1PLAO6X/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Origins: The Director of 'Up' on His Influences twitter:description: Pete Docter was one of Pixar's first employees, and has directed Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and last year's Up. Docter talks to TIME about his love of Miyazaki films and the genius of Fozzie Bear twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/J1PLAO6X/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Origins: The Director of 'Up' on His Influences > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Origins: The Director of 'Up' on His Influences [Watch (HLS stream): Origins: The Director of 'Up' on His Influences](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/J1PLAO6X.m3u8) (6:31)  _Published 2010-03-05. Pete Docter was one of Pixar's first employees, and has directed Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and last year's Up. Docter talks to TIME about his love of Miyazaki films and the genius of Fozzie Bear_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Airbnb Lists Replica of Pixar’s Balloon 'Up' House](/video/i0htzkh9/) ### Airbnb Lists Replica of Pixar’s Balloon 'Up' House [Pixar's 5 Biggest Cash Cows](/video/ULnrf3sH/) ### Pixar's 5 Biggest Cash Cows [World Premiere\! Pixar's 'Inside Out' Trailer 2](/video/QRsX9PpE/) ### World Premiere! Pixar's 'Inside Out' Trailer 2 --- ## Transcript >> Good afternoon. My name is Russell-- >> This is Gilbert Cruz for TIME. com and you're watching Origins, a video series in which we ask actors, directors and other notables to talk about the movies, music and television shows that most influenced their work. Pete Docter is the director of the Pixar's film Toy Story one and two, Monsters' Inc. and last year's Up, which is only the second animated film ever nominated for best picture Oscars. >> Good afternoon. >> Let's skip to the end. >> See these? These are my wilderness explorer badges. You may notice one is missing. >> One of them that for sure influenced this film was one called the Station Agent. It's a film by Tom McCarthy. This is a beautifully simple film and really very similar in terms of the story structure, you know you've got a loner, shut in kind of guy who just wants to be left alone and is gradually drawn out to connect with other people in this small town. >> Hi. >> Hey. >> Did you get the mail yet? >> No. >> Bye. >> There was a shot that Tom McCarthy, the writer director used the simplest shot of the lead character walk along a set of train tracks and he comes into frame, it's a hell of a shot then comes the bobby carnival character and then another character. So, it's just this guy who just wants to be left alone followed by this parade of other people. We also called it the Station Agent shot and we have a shot basically like that in Up. >> Hey, that is a bird. I've never seen one up close but this is a bird. May I take your bird back to camp as my prisoner? >> Yes, yes. Take it. >> In Up where Carl walks in and is followed by Russell and he's followed by the bird and the dog and it's the same kind of thing or he just wants to be left alone but there they all go. >> Can we keep him please? Please? Please? >> No. Let's get to the falls. >> What about animation wise? >> Well, for sure Peter Pan. >> All right, men. Go out and capture a few Indians. >> One of the big challenges when we saw this jungle setting was the complexity of the visuals and they dealt with that very well and that's simplifying by reducing and blurring. They must have used some sort of water color that made it feel wet and foggy back there. Very much like you're lost in the mist or heat. They also really oversized some of the plants. You'll see these leaves that are the size of a person which is not that much of a stretch from real life. We got to go down there to Venezuela and see some of these jungles and they're fantastic but even exaggerating that more as we did in our film. >> Here Snipe. Come on out Snipe. Snipe. -[ unk ] Where did you get it? >> My uncle left it to me. >> Is he dead? >> No, he's hibernating. >> Maybe it's not so obvious, influence is the Muppets. >> Here I am, Fuzzy Bear to tell you jokes both old and rare. Waka- waka- waka. >> A lot of the characters were very simple, say Fuzzy Bear. There's a specific scene where he and Kermit have just left a place where he first met Fuzzy and they're driving down the street. >> You know Fuzzy, you really do have a lot of talent. >> Thank you. >> How about you and me putting together an act. >> Not, sorry. I only work as a single. >> Okay. >> You see Fuzzy stopped, is where you see its face changed before he finally says … >> All right. Just tuck me into it. We'll be a team. >> Oh, good. >> And it's just great examples of timing and movement used to imply facial expression change and we use that a lot on Carl and especially on the bird. You know we could have easily put in controls in fact they were there to be able to adjust the eye shape to look angry or surprised. >> What is that thing? >> It's a Snipe. >> There's no such thing as a Snipe. >> But you said Snipes are here … >> And I consciously purposely kept telling the animators don't do that. Just use it like a puppet. And there's a sort of enigmatic quality to that especially for the bird. >> Careful Russell. >> Hey, look Mr. Fredricksen, he likes me. >> Russell. >> That tickles. >> Get out of here. Go on. >> I have one last question and I don't know if you'd be able to talk about this but Miyazaki? >> Well, yes that's certainly an influence as well. Most of his films and I'm thinking specifically like Totoro and Spirited Away. He'll just make room for these scenes that don't necessarily further the plot but they create this mood and they just spent time with detail that makes you really feel immersed in this world. You know, the scene at the bus stop in Totoro where the girls are waiting for the bus to come in at night and they got the umbrella and there are just drips in the puddle of water and a frog and just all these little details that set the stage so well and you can almost smell what it's like there. He's just really experiential. We tried to make room for moments like that in Up as well. When Carl reaches the edge of this tapuwi and realizes where he is and the full meaning of it sinks in. 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