Who knew? Film's special sounds came from Wine Country

It's not unusual for movies to be filmed in Wine Country –– there have been numerous popular and beloved films shot here over the years in various locations (read all about it on page 197 in my book), and another going on right now in Guerneville (called "Lawless," starring Ted Levine and Justine Bateman). But with the release of "Toy Story 3" this summer, the region was captured in a whole new way: the cacophony of recycling.

Skywalker Sound, one of those many divisions of the Bay Area-based movie-making empire run by George Lucas, worked with the animated film's creator, Pixar Studios, to record the sounds of tractors, recycling sorting lines, and recycling trucks unloading their payloads for use in key scenes in the film. Those sounds were captured in Santa Rosa at the Materials Recovery Facility operated by Redwood Empire Disposal. Skywalker's sound technicians spent a day here in Santa Rosa with their high-tech microphones to stockpile the hubbub of trucks raising and lowering their hydraulic arms, collecting and dumping assorted loads of recycled materials, and just driving around.

Besides using those various sounds for this particular film, Skywalker Sound files them away into a giant sound library to be distorted and combined with other sounds for use in future films. The trash company agreed to forgo financial compensation from Pixar in exchange for depicting the film's animated garbage and recycling trucks in the colors of the company's fleet: green and white.

I'll never look at my neighborhood garbage truck the same way again.

Note: Toy Story 3 is out on DVD in early November.