Tea Party

In the magazine this month, Paul Makovsky writes about the Utah teapot–the world’s first complex 3-D model, which, in the years since its design in 1975, has often been used as an inside joke among digital animators. The teapot has made its way into Pixar’s Toy Story, an episode of The Simpsons (above), and a […]

In the magazine this month, Paul Makovsky writes about the Utah teapot–the world’s first complex 3-D model, which, in the years since its design in 1975, has often been used as an inside joke among digital animators. The teapot has made its way into Pixar’s Toy Story, an episode of The Simpsons (above), and a video by the Norwegian synth-pop band Röyksopp. Watch video clips of these cameo appearances after the jump.

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Toy Story
After Buzz Lightyear learns that he can’t really fly, he is recruited for a tea party–with the Utah teapot prominently displayed.

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The Simpsons
In the third vignette from 1995’s Halloween epidode, “Treehouse of Horror VI,” Homer stumbles into an alternate dimension while trying to hide from his sisters-in-law. You can just make out the Utah teapot in the background of this 3-D world. Unfortunately, the only clip I could find online is in German.

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Royksopp

Röyksopp, “Remind Me”
You may recognize this song from a Geico commercial. The innovative music video, created by the French company H5, won the best music video award at the 2002 MTV Europe Music Awards. The Utah teapot show up at about 55 seconds in. (The band’s record label prohibits other sites from embedding the video, so you will have to watch it on YouTube.)

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