Pixar's John Lasseter animated about Hawaiian shirts

Russell Yip / The Chronicle

John Lasseter  realizes that the armholes of his Hawaiian shirt - black silk with colorful cars that he wears for media interviews for the upcoming "Cars 2" - have been sewn shut.
The culprit of the prank, his wife, Nancy.

It isn't even 8 a.m. on April Fool's Day at the Lasseter home, and the high jinks have already started. The San Francisco Chronicle, opened on the kitchen counter, is covered in mayonnaise. Another prank, before we arrived, involved a trampoline, a light bulb and what looked like half a pint of fake blood.

But the biggest shock so far this morning may be the sight of John Lasseter, walking up to the breakfast table in a simple white T-shirt.

Lasseter, an animation pioneer at Pixar, director of five feature films (including the upcoming "Cars 2") and now chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, is known for his Hawaiian shirts. Since he gained worldwide media attention as the director of "Toy Story" in 1995, the filmmaker has rarely been seen in anything except a short-sleeve shirt with a very festive design.

John Lasseter entering the room in a white T-shirt is like seeing Woody the cowboy in a tracksuit.
Earlier this year, we asked Lasseter for a tour of his closet so we could learn firsthand how he chooses which one to wear to work each day. The meeting happened to fall on April 1 - a holiday that is celebrated enthusiastically by John.

 Lasseter, born in Hollywood, was once a ride operator for the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, and it shows during a tour of his home.

"This closet takes Visa and MasterCard," Lasseter quips, opening the door with a flourish.



The family's theater, wine displays and Lasseter's floor-to-ceiling library of model train cars and engines are some of the E-ticket attractions in their spacious Glen Ellen home. But the Oscar-winning director seems equally excited about the relatively simple room where his clothes are kept.

The walk-in closet is clean, brightly lit and huge. Walls to the left and right contain Nancy's clothes, but the eye is immediately drawn to the splashes of color on the far end of the room. Covering an entire wall, packed together tightly in two rows, are 374 Hawaiian shirts.

"This is not the complete collection," Lasseter says, almost apologetically. "These are only the ones in active rotation."

The shirts are hung neatly and separated by subject matter, with train-themed shirts, tropical shirts and Pixar shirts in their own areas. One side of the lower rack contains seasonal wear, including 30 Christmas-themed shirts. And there's a section for sports. Lasseter lights up when sorting through an impressive collection of San Francisco Giants shirts.

"My beloved Giants," he says. "I'm hoping they'll come out with (a special edition shirt) after winning the World Series." There are more subtle shirts - including a section with classy-looking midcentury modern designs - that Lasseter often chooses for nice restaurants and benefits. We counted only six long-sleeve shirts, looking almost comical in a tiny area on the far right side of the lower rack. Lasseter says he mostly wears long sleeves at night to awards shows and other events that require a tuxedo.

 The shirt tradition started half a lifetime ago, when the 54-year-old Lasseter was 25 or 26. A friend gave him a beautiful cotton Hawaiian shirt, which he wore to tatters.

"I wore it until the collar got worn through, and then I flipped the collar and re-sewed it." Lasseter remembers. "The second one was ... an old-fashioned Hawaiian shirt, a retro two-color one. I wore that like crazy. And that's when I started getting them."

Lasseter used to put less thought in choosing each shirt. There's more of a method now, which depends on Lasseter's mood, the weather and especially what he's going to do that day.

"Nancy always said ... don't just pick the shirt to wear, but pick the subject matter of the shirt to match what you're doing in the day. So basically I started filing my shirts under subject matter."

 The filmmaker thinks he has more than 1,000 Hawaiian shirts total; the rest are stored in bins. Most were bought by the director, although there have been some notable gifts. Last year, officials at the Venice Film Festival presented a shirt featuring all of the Pixar movies with their Italian logos. And his favorite shirt is a 50th birthday shirt given to him by his family - with screened images that serve as a tour of his life as a filmmaker, husband and father of five boys.

That was another Nancy Lasseter surprise, with artistic nods to John's birth in Hollywood, life in the Bay Area, a family motor home trip (towing a '62 Ford Falcon) and the Marie E., a beloved narrow-gauge Porter locomotive that once belonged to legendary Disney animator Ollie Johnston.

It's time to put on his shirt for the day, and Lasseter heads to the section with cars.

"My thought process today? I'm going to be doing some publicity for the new movie 'Cars 2,' " Lasseter says, of the movie which opens June 24. "We're going to be interviewed, and it's going to be photographed and videoed a lot."

He bypasses a few shirts with characters from the first "Cars" movie, and chooses a comfortable-looking black silk shirt with multi-colored vehicles on it - one that he's been photographed in before.

"My sister gave this one to me," he says. "I just love the almost cartoon-y cars on it."

Lasseter makes a presentation of putting on the shirt, until his arms get stuck in the sleeves. A telltale needle and thread rest on a nearby table. Nancy Lasseter sewed the sleeves shut an hour earlier.

There's confusion on Lasseter's face, then a glimmer of recognition (April Fool's!) before the director's face gets red and he lets out a bellowing laugh. He storms down the hall to confront his wife on a rowing machine.

They share a laugh, as Nancy pulls out the thread.

"That'll teach you to wear that shirt all the time."

E-mail Peter Hartlaub at phartlaub@sfchronicle.com.
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