Exclusive "scoop" on why Fenton's Ice Cream plays a part in the new Pixar movie

Diablo asked Up's director how the East Bay landmark got a big plug in Pixar's newest instant classic.

I had a chance to see Pixar's newest movie, Up, a few weeks ago in an early screening. The film, which became the first animated and first 3-D movie to open the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, is an absolute instant classic. It his theaters this Friday, in both 2-D and 3-D versions. While enjoying the film, I was pleased to see cameo appearances from two East Bay landmarks, the Fox Oakland theater, and more prominently, Fenton's Ice Cream on Oakland's Piedmont Avenue. I was able to catch up with Up's director, Pete Docter, and producer, Jonas Rivera (both East Bay residents) and ask them why they gave Fenton's such a shout out.

Diablo: Since I work for a magazine that celebrates the East Bay, I was delighted to see two very sweet references to Fenton's Ice Cream in Up. How did this plug make it into the movie?

Docter: (Co-screenwriter) Bob Peterson originally wrote the ice cream parlor as Vande Miller's, which is in New York, where he grew up. We switched it to Fenton's later. We have Hidden City restaurant in Point Richmond in Monster's Inc. Everything in our film has to be designed, so we might as well make it specific and meaningful, that's the way we look at it.

Diablo: Does anyone at Fenton's know that they're in the film?

Docter: Oh yeah, we cleared it through them.

Rivera: I got a couple free sundaes out of it (laughs).

Docter: We're going to take them a picture from the movie at some point.

Posted at 12:23 PM in Pete's Popcorn Picks | Permalink