Bay Area boot shop used as inspiration for Oscar nominated 'Coco'
SEBASTOPOL, Calif. (KGO) -- Spend some time at Michael Anthony Custom Bootmaker in Sebastopol and you'll come to learn, after 24 years in his shop on Main Street, Michael Carnacchi is quite a character. So naturally, what happened one fateful day in 2015 seemed meant to be.
"I've been animated! Hah! As if I'm not animated enough already!" Carnacchi laughs with his Benjamin Franklin style spectacles halfway down his nose.
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A team from Pixar approached him, requesting to research his shop for an upcoming movie. He almost couldn't believe what was about to happen.
"When my apprentice heard they were coming, he said it was a reconnaissance rescue team coming in to steal my Luxo lamps," he said. Animated Luxo lamps are the lamps featured in every Pixar movie.
Alas, it was not. Instead, an exciting two-hour whirlwind.
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"They sent a team of animators, six of them, and put a mic on me, camera rolling and asked me a bunch of questions," Carnacchi recalled
After keeping the visit a secret for nearly two years, it turns out the movie they were researching was the blockbuster smash hit and Oscar nominated picture for best animated film: "Coco."
"I saw it the night it premiered, so I was kind of excited about that," he said.
Carnacchi doesn't know if his shop is the ONLY inspiration for the Pixar animators, but there are some clues in the movie, like the stool he's sitting on.
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"I would say, 'Oh that's my bench!" or "Oh that's my stool!'"
While the boot shop in "Coco" plays just a tiny role in the movie, for Carnacchi, it's OK.
"I thought, 'Wow that was quick!' Maybe just two minutes really, two minutes of fame."
It's somewhat of an unexpected dream come true for a longtime Pixar fan.
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"Now I can say my life's mission on planet Earth. I have become part of the movie so now I can die and be happy!"
Carnacchi says if "Coco" does indeed win for best picture, he'll make a custom pair of "Coco" boots, complete with a gold glittering Oscar statue stitched right into the leather.
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