The Science Behind Pixar exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center opened last October meaning I’ve had plenty of time to see it. There are two reasons that I waited until it had barely three weeks remaining before checking it out. The first is that I believe 2006’s Cars is the only Pixar movie I’ve actually seen in its entirety. The second is that I thought the exhibit was for kids only. Reason one is undeniable fact; reason two is pure nonsense.

The picture at left is of a divider in the exhibit. Some of the figures on it do look familiar to me because I’ve seen them in commercials or maybe in a movie that was playing somewhere I walked past. But I can’t connect any of them with movies or commercials they are in, and I sure don’t know their names. Characters are used to demonstrate different pieces of Pixar science, and I don’t doubt that knowing who they are would make things more fun — watching kids experiencing the exhibit proved that — but it’s not required.

The idea of a creative pipeline is central to Pixar’s operation. The steps that go from story and modeling to lighting and rendering are identified in an introductory movie and panels explaining them are arranged in a circle near the center of the exhibit.

The bulk of the exhibit space is filled with hands-on stations where kids and old men can pretend to participate in each of those pipeline steps in a variety of ways. I don’t know how many job openings Pixar expects over the next few years but I’m sure that, with this sort of recruitment tool, they will all be easily filled.

There are also a number of these smaller kiosks around with Pixar employees describing their jobs or how certain problems were solved. If neither the hands-on stuff nor the technical descriptions make you want a job at Pixar, maybe seeing the enthusiasm these employees have will do it.

Heck, after playing with some animation, lighting, and other pipeline steps, I was almost ready to ask about job openings myself. And I have no intention of ever working anywhere ever again. I am, of course, joking about this whole thing being a recruitment tool for Pixar — mostly. I am not joking at all about the exhibit showing how much fun and satisfaction there can be in science.

I attended The Science Behind Pixar on Friday, April 1. It is open through April 24.