# A113: the animation Easter egg that started in a classroom

A familiar string of letters and numbers leads back to CalArts and the people who studied there.

[Canonical HTML page](https://nosecrets.app/en/stories/a113-animation-classroom-easter-egg)

Published by: [No Secrets Research](https://nosecrets.app/en/about#methodology)
Added: 2026-10-21
Topic: Entertainment

## Scope and context

Applies to: CalArts' published accounts of the A113 reference
Time context: School articles from 2016 and 2018
Sources checked: 2026-10-21

These sources explain the reference, not a frame-by-frame inventory of every film. Both come from CalArts.

## A real room behind the code

CalArts identifies A113 as a former character-animation classroom. Its 2016 account names alumni including Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter who studied there. The reference carries a shared school connection into animation.

[1: California Institute of the Arts](https://blog.calarts.edu/2016/05/24/vulture-video-tackles-the-meaning-of-a113/)

## The room had another life

The school's 2018 student guide says character-animation classes were no longer held there and graphic-design students used the room. That describes the room at the time of publication, not its present-day timetable.

[2: California Institute of the Arts](https://blog.calarts.edu/2018/08/14/calarts-101-10-things-new-students-need-to-know-2018-edition/)

## Sources

1. [Vulture Video Tackles the Meaning of ‘A113’](https://blog.calarts.edu/2016/05/24/vulture-video-tackles-the-meaning-of-a113/) — California Institute of the Arts. 2016-05-24. The school's explanation of the classroom reference.

2. [CalArts 101: 10 Things New Students Need to Know (2018 Edition)](https://blog.calarts.edu/2018/08/14/calarts-101-10-things-new-students-need-to-know-2018-edition/) — California Institute of the Arts. 2018-08-14. A later school guide records the room's use; same institution, not independent corroboration.

## Disclosure

AI-assisted research, writing and translation by No Secrets, using the linked public documents. This is a source summary, not firsthand reporting or an independently audited investigation. No affiliate links are used in this article.

The source-check date is not the event date. Original documents control if a summary differs.