After screening at Sony, the next stop of the tour was 20th Century Fox. After Ron Diamond, publisher of AWN, introduced the filmmakers to the studios execs in the audience, the group took the chance to walk around the back lot and grab a couple of coffee.

The Los Angeles leg of the Oscar Showcase tour kicked off at Sony Pictures Animation. The group congregated in the lobby where I met the new members of our merry band — I Met the Walrus producer Jerry Levitan, Madame Tutli-Putli executive producer David Verrall and Even Pigeons Go to Heaven producer Simon Vanesse. Not joining us for the first two events of the day was Madame director Maciek Szczerbowski, whose lobster taco from the night before was not sitting well with him. Jerry laughed when Walrus director Josh Raskin revealed that he had been describing him as “a 14-year-old kid with balls of steel.” I leave Jerry’s response to your imagination, because Walrus illustrator James Braithwaite warned Jerry not to say things like that around the human mimeograph as he pointed to me. I like to think of myself as the unofficial stenographer of the animated Oscar nominees.

Here is the last photo gallery from the San Francisco leg of the Oscar Showcase tour. We closed out the event at PDI/DreamWorks, where the Q&A audience asked some new questions and the nominees had a chance to chat with the studio’s artists.

Skywalker Ranch is an awesome experience and in this photo gallery you’ll understand why.

During our visit at Pixar we shot a great deal of wonderful pics with Pixar characters and employees, including Brad Bird and Ed Catmull.

Here’s the first photo gallery from the 2008 Oscar Showcase tour. Witness the nominees posing for pics with the many wonders on display inside the doors of the premiere visual effects studio.

Conversation was brief on the ride over to PDI/DreamWorks. With the tour winding down, I think we were all winding down as well. When we arrived at the studio, the screening was already in full swing. With a bit of down time, we mingled around the lobby and cafeteria, where the draw of more ping-pong was irresistible for I Met the Walrus‘ Josh and James, who said that ping-pong is needed for animation productions to work.

With the screenings so tightly packed, once My Love ended at Skywalker Ranch and the final film Peter and the Wolf began, a sedan raced off with our bags and the prints for the first four films to deliver them in time for the PDI/DreamWorks screening later in the day.

With the screenings so tightly packed, once My Love ended at Skywalker Ranch and the final film Peter and the Wolf began, a sedan raced off with our bags and the prints for the first four films to deliver them in time for the PDI/DreamWorks screening later in the day. After wrapping up the Q&A at Skywalker, the tour crew hopped into the van and headed to EA, where a screening in digital projection had already began. I Met the Walrus‘ Josh had planned to head to New York the next day for the Academy screening there, but the pace of the tour made him reconsider the extra flight, especially upon learning that he was the only one going, considering instead to stay behind and take a relaxing ride down the coast to L.A.

With the screenings so tightly packed, once My Love ended at Skywalker Ranch and the final film Peter and the Wolf began, a sedan raced off with our bags and the prints for the first four films to deliver them in time for the PDI/DreamWorks screening later in the day.

With the screenings so tightly packed, once My Love ended at Skywalker Ranch and the final film Peter and the Wolf began, a sedan raced off with our bags and the prints for the first four films to deliver them in time for the PDI/DreamWorks screening later in the day. After wrapping up the Q&A at Skywalker, the tour crew hopped into the van and headed to EA, where a screening in digital projection had already began. I Met the Walrus‘ Josh had planned to head to New York the next day for the Academy screening there, but the pace of the tour made him reconsider the extra flight, especially upon learning that he was the only one going, considering instead to stay behind and take a relaxing ride down the coast to L.A.

Once arriving at Skywalker Ranch’s breakfast area, after much more sleep than I had on my last visit, many of the tour members were already having a bite to eat before starting the hectic three-screening day. Madame Tutli-Putli’s Chris and Maciek had already enjoyed the Ranch’s bikes, cycling around the beautiful grounds on the brisk February morning. Peter and the Wolf’s Suzie and Hugh took advantage of the one site fitness center. Hugh had a change to be rescued by a fireman from the Ranch’s private fire station when he accidentally locked himself out of the gym in his bare feet. With a 9 am screening set, we headed out to the tech building around 8:30. Some of the late risers like Josh and James used the courtesy bikes as a way to get some exercise and catch up with the group.