For years, claims have spread on social media platforms that some Pixar movies contain references to adrenochrome, a chemical produced from adrenaline that QAnon conspiracy theorists claim is harvested from the blood of children by "Hollywood elites."
"Has anyone heard of this A-113 equals Adrenochrome?" a Twitter post asked on July 9, 2023. "It's most definitely some kind of code these creeps are using...... #WeWantAnswers #Pixar #SaveTheChildren #Adrenocrome"
Has anyone heard of this A-113 equals Adrenochrome? It's most definitely some kind of code these creeps are using......#WeWantAnswers #Pixar #SaveTheChildren #Adrenocrome pic.twitter.com/EiL1dXiTkt
— Isaac's Army (@ReturnOfKappy) July 10, 2023
Attached to the tweet was a TikTok post from July 3, 2023, that also asked what the symbol "A113" spotted in various Pixar movies like "A Bug's Life," "Incredibles 2," and "Up" means.
We also found unrelated posts about the claim on other social media platforms, like a 2020 Facebook post and a 2020 Reddit post trying to find an "A113" symbol in the 2001 Pixar film "Monsters, Inc."
The alphanumeric string "A113" does appear in Pixar movies, but it does not refer to adrenochrome. Instead, it's a reference to a classroom (Room A113) at the California Institute of the Arts, where many Pixar animators like Pete Doctor, the company's chief creative officer at the time of publication, studied.
Director Brad Bird told Salon in 1999:
A113 was our classroom number. On "Family Dog" I put it on the license plate of the thieves' car. And I put it into every single one of my films, including my "Simpsons" episodes -- it's sort of my version of Hirschfeld's Nina.
Pixar's official YouTube account posted a video discussing the origin of the symbol on Sept. 24, 2010. In the video, it showed a picture of Pixar animators pointing at the number on the classroom door as proof of the A113 connection:
Reputable news and entertainment publications, including Vulture, Insider, and Vanity Fair, have also explained how "A113" was derived from the California Institute of the Arts. As of this writing, no reputable publication has linked the symbol to adrenochrome or the so-called "harvesting of children's blood."
We've previously fact-checked other claims about Pixar, like the false claim that the 2016 Pixar film "Finding Dory" featured a transgender stingray.