[Caro] One of my mentors said early on that you have to think,
every time you hit the record button, you're capturing history.
We're magicians.
We create illusions with sound.
It's really exciting to be at the point of creation...
and, hopefully, capturing magic.
My name is Vince Caro.
I am the senior recording engineer here at Pixar Animation Studios.
This is the control room.
Out there, the recording booth, the live room.
We'll do voice-overs, sound effects, Foley, bits of music.
All the equipment is super high-end.
I have a fantastic collection of microphones, uh, both vintage and new.
This is the James Earl Jones as Mufasa microphone.
This is the one that I actually recorded him with.
Over my career, I've worked with Tom Hanks,
Holly Hunter, Billy Crystal, John Goodman.
There's just so many-- [chuckles] I can't even think.
As a kid, I loved music.
When it came time to go to college, I went into music school.
After college, I moved to New York, and I worked at RCA Studios.
Disney was coming in to do Beauty and the Beast,
and the manager said,
"Hey, you're the perfect guy. Do you want the gig?"
And I thought to be part of one of those would be a lot of fun.
After that they came back for Aladdin and Lion King.
RCA closed down.
I got a call from the people at Disney, and they said that,
"We're working with this little animation company.
They're making a film. Do you wanna do the recording session?"
And I said, "Absolutely." And that was the first Toy Story.
That was the first Pixar recording session that I had done.
Everything needs sound, luckily. [chuckles]
[old fashioned police siren sound]
[siren sound continues]
[siren sound fades]
Gosh, that's great.
It sounds like an old...
-TV police show, you know? -[man in studio] Yeah.
Sound effects and Foley, we separate those into two things.
Sound effects being stand-alone.
Uh, in other words, you just record various things:
bells, rubber chickens...
[chicken wailing sound]
-[laughs] -motorcycles, cars.
Can you ever have enough sound effects? No.
We're gonna work on 45A,
which is Ducky, one of the new characters in Toy Story 4.
Foley is a whole other art form.
They're sound effects, yes,
but you're actually watching the film and trying to match the motions.
And it always sounds more natural when, if you just took individual sound effects,
and cutting them in.
All right. Moving on to the zip line.
When you have a really good Foley artist, it's always better.
Perspective-wise...
-I'm gonna do something like this... -Yeah, so, she's further away.
So, I should probably come from this direction.
[man in studio] So, you got Bo with her staff.
Buzz, Woody, Forky.
That's better.
That's pretty good.
-[Peterson] So, hey, man. -[Caro] Hey.
-Let's get this set up. -This could get loud.
We are all set. We're rolling.
-Whenever you're ready. -Yeah, all right. Let me warm up.
I am Dug. I am Dug.
That's my key. That's all I need.
[Caro] Bob Peterson is one of our directors,
and he's just one of our great voice talents.
-He's Roz... -I'm watching you, Wazowski.
...in Monsters, Inc., you know, the character,
[raspy voice] "Wazowski, where's your paperwork?"
-He's Dug the dog in Up. -I have just met you, and I love you.
Mr. Fredricksen, it is time for breakfast.
Would you get up and feed me?
Oh, thank you, Master.
Now I will go out and guard the yard.
It is a beautiful-- Squirrel!
[chuckles]
He just makes me laugh.
What is that smell?
I will follow that smell.
Oh! That smell is gross. I love it.
[chuckles]
So true to life.
-Did we get it? -We did.
When I'm in the studio, and he's doing what he does,
I just say, "I can't believe I get paid to do this."
Recording live music is always fun to me.
You're surrounded by enormously talented people.
[singing in Spanish]
I think my favorite part is just...
watching... a tiny little idea
go into pencil sketches and storyboards
and then going to the film years later
and seeing it as this masterpiece of animation.
[music and singing continues]
You look at what's going on in the world, you know,
and you think, "My gosh, I should be doing something more important."
And I realize that...
what we make brings joy to people.
There is something inherently noble
about bringing joy to people around the world,
even if it's just 88 minutes of a film.
This is just a dream come true to come in here
and hit record and collect history.
I can't really think of anything that I'd rather do.
[continues singing in Spanish]
-[song ends] -Bravo.
[singer chuckles] All right.
-[man 1] Yeah. -[man 2] All right.
-[singer] Cool. -[man 2] Thanks, Vince.