SALT LAKE CITY — A new report from CableTV.com identified Utah’s favorite Pixar film, and it’s a rather interesting choice.
The report, which cross-referenced each of Pixar’s films with Google Trends data for each state, found Utah had a seven-way tie for its favorite Pixar film. The report listed Utah as the “most Pixar-loving state” in the country.
Utah’s favorite Pixar films included:
- “Cars 3”
- “A Bug’s Life”
- “Brave”
- “Inside Out”
- “Monsters Inc.”
- “The Incredibles”
- “Up"
“Utahns love Pixar movies,” the report said.
Interestingly, the report found “Finding Dory” to be the top Pixar film across all states, even though it didn’t rank within the top seven for the Beehive State.
The report found that all of Pixar’s films made the list of favorites, meaning “not a single one was left off the list of frequently googled Pixar movies.”
Pixar sequels were as popular than the predecessors, if not more, according to the report.
Regional culture may have played a factor, too. For example, “Coco” — the film inspired by Mexico’s Day of the Dead holiday — topped the list in California, which has the largest Hispanic population in the country.
Similarly, New Mexico’s top film was “Cars,” which features a Radiator Springs town off Route 66, which, in real life, cuts through New Mexico.
It’s not surprising Utah has such a deep connection to Pixar. After all, Ed Catmull, president and co-founder of Pixar, grew up and attended college in the Beehive State. He specifically studied physics and computer science at the University of Utah.
In fact, Catmull helped BYU and the University of Utah improve their animation departments over the years.
In 2013, Brent Adams, a BYU professor and current director of the school's Center for Animation, told the Deseret News he consulted Catmull about how to improve the school’s animation program.
"I was embarrassed to take so much of his time, but he had the most amazing insight into what we should be doing and how we could do it," Adams said in an email. "He is a genius. I am sure that it helped that he was from Utah and understood the culture of BYU and our constraints, but he told me that he spent time with faculty from lots of schools because of his love for education."