PHOTOS: A visit to Pixar's headquarters in Emeryville, California

Back in December, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Ranch in San Rafael, California and Industrial Light and Magic’s headquarters in San Francisco’s Presidio district. After making that particular pilgrimage (and having already been inside Walt Disney’s office at the Disney Studios lot in Burbank) there were very few Disney-owned movie production facilities left to visit on my bucket list. But one of those places was definitely Pixar.

Well, last month I was fortunate enough to be invited to visit Pixar’s offices in Emeryville (just outside of San Francisco), for a “Cars 3” press day, and I thought it would be fun to share a look at the entrance and main lobby areas of Pixar’s Steve Jobs Building, the central hub of all of the world-famous animation company’s many various comings and goings.

WATCH VIDEO:

PHOTOS:

The famous lamp and ball from Pixar's "Luxo Jr.", the CGI animated short that started it all. — The famous lamp and ball from Pixar’s “Luxo Jr.”, the CGI animated short that started it all.

The front entrance to the Steve Jobs Building. Jobs is considered one of the founding fathers of Pixar and served as its CEO until Disney bought the company in 2006.

Rainbow Unicorn from "Inside Out". — Rainbow Unicorn from “Inside Out”.

Artwork from the upcoming "Cars 3". — Artwork from the upcoming “Cars 3”.

Buzz Lightyear and Woody from "Toy Story" in LEGO form. — Buzz Lightyear and Woody from “Toy Story” in LEGO form.

Flyers are plastered up around the Pixar lobby advertising upcoming events for employees.

A collection of awards won by Pixar Animation Studios over the years.

This Woody doll and the letter accompanying it made for a very touching tribute.

The inside of the Pixar Studio Store, where visitors and employees can pick up merchandise from just about all of Pixar's films and from the studio itself. — The inside of the Pixar Studio Store, where visitors and employees can pick up merchandise from just about all of Pixar’s films and from the studio itself.

Pixar's putting green and employees mailboxes. — Pixar’s putting green and employees mailboxes.

More "Cars 3" art in the lobby. — More “Cars 3” art in the lobby.

Employees and guests have access to this Cafe, named after the first animated short Pixar ever produced.

It was an honor just to be on the property and to get to explore the building just a little bit before moving on to other things that I’ll be able to report on in a few weeks. I also had the chance to play a little ping-pong in Pixar’s lobby, and I’ll never forget that either.

Stay tuned to Inside the Magic for more Pixar fun!