Probing Pixar: Part 5

Last blog we examined how Disney and Pixar were able to reach an agreement after a long and difficult battle. I stated that this would help set up Pixar's security for a very long time. However, this is only possible if Pixar continues this unbelievable trend of movie success. In this weeks blog I will explain why Pixar movies are so special and why they are so much better than any other animated studios film's. I will examine two core areas where Pixar excels: character development and shot composition.

Firstly, when you think of animated films, the concept of character development doesn't seem like much of a prevailing component. Historically, animated films were designed to entertain, more importantly they were designed to entertain children. Pixar's films are targeted toward children, but the idea of making a film that is as equally entertaining for adults is a challenging one. Pixar combined traditional animated concepts with adult styles of character development. Two major examples are from Up and Toy Story 2. In these films Pixar presents three minute long music montages of several of the main characters. What is so special about this? Two things actually. Firstly, Pixar used these montages in an unconventional way in order to establish character development. In both films we discover these extremely important bits of background information that is later important to the story arc and important to the individual character's motivations and objectives. This is an adult concept which Pixar had the courage to implement in a children's movie. Secondly, Pixar risked that their story was so good and the characters were so compelling that they could get away with such an idea. The end result, a three minute piece that will likely bring you to tears. Below is the example from Toy Story 2 where we learn the background of Jessie the cowgirl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px0j1EHF8Y0

Shot composition is a very tricky and interesting element to film making. Those who are masters of their craft are able to implement shot composition in a way that pushes the story forward. Pixar began to experiment with this in their films. The greatest example of using shot composition to push story forward is in the film Ratatouille. In the clip below (@ 22 seconds) the critic tries the dish and they use the famous Hitchcock shot to push the background away and then a quick zoom into the eyes of the critic. This prompts a flashback of how important that dish was to him when he was a peasant child. The genius behind using shots, in an animated film, to illustrate character background is an extremely creative one. Especially if you consider that this is a new concept and Pixar is at the forefront. It illustrates the risks Pixar is willing to take in order to tell a good story in an affective way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDK2azVSE5Q

Probing Pixar: Part 4

Toy Story 2 would mark the beginning of Pixar and Disney negotiating for future projects. It was a six year process that was bumpy to say the least. However, it all started with Toy Story 2. I explained Pixar's process that lead up to its' first two successful films. That process did however take its' toll on director John Lasseter. Lasseter was scheduled to take a break following A Bug's Life. That break was cut short when those at Pixar found out about the progress of Disney's straight for DVD film Toy Story 2. John was forced back into action. The film wasn't very good and it was being rushed out in order to capitalize on the success of the first film. Lasseter came in and over the course of a weekend they re-story boarded the entire project. Within seven months they finished the film. Once again the film went on to monster success. Where does the business future of these two companies come into play?

Pixar's first two films made Disney an astronomical profit, and Pixar was compensated, however not nearly to the degree they should have been for their involvement. A long battle ensued between Steve Jobs and Michael Eisner at Disney. The goal was to have Disney purchase Pixar and pay them fairly for their contributions. Several years would go by until this was achieved, and by the time a deal was reached, the creative minds of Pixar took over the Disney animation leadership roles. This was pivotal for setting Pixar up securely for next decade and a half.

In this weeks blog I will be examining what is known as second product syndrome and how it impacted the decision making process at Pixar. One of the common problems with companies who are extremely successful with an opening product is translating that success into long term success. More often than not companies fizzle out after one hit because their mission all along was a fixation on that one idea, not a long term approach for company longevity. Additionally, these companies often don't have a full concept of why their first product was successful.

Fortunately for Pixar they had a number of elements working in their favor which would help establish them as the factory which produced hit movies. First, they were led by Steve Jobs who was very experienced in the business sector. To his own admission, his company, Apple, was one of those that suffered second product syndrome. This experience as well as the experiences of collegues enabled him to approach their second project in a much different way. No longer was there the idea that "well this worked in Toy Story so we should use this element and this element and this element in order to be successful". Instead it was a much different approach where everyone at Pixar didn't want to stick with the status qua.

Pixar's next project was A Bug's Life and it required a whole new way of perceiving story and creating a new and exciting world. Perhaps the thing that separates Pixar from its' competition is the dedication to story and the commitment to going beyond what even the animator's believe to be possible. John Lasseter was really the one pushing the animator's to make everything bigger and better in this film. For the scenes with thousands of ants, John was told that you could only code one hundred unique characters, and he ignored that notion and believed in his staff. Additionally, A Bug's Life stands out because the amazing accuracy and detail work that went into creating the film's world. Staffers at Pixar got minicams and used them at the gardens in front of Pixar to determine what the world looks like from a bugs perspective. When we talk about second product syndrome and why Pixar wasn't a victim of it, it becomes very clear, once we see how this film was made. Pixar remained a success because they pushed themselves to be better and to reinvent the concept of computer animation. Additionally, they did this to strengthen the story and to strengthen the world of their film. The end result being a film that was both a commercial success and a critical success.

Probing Pixar: Part 2

In this weeks post I will examine Pixar's emergence into computer animation, and the struggle and success that was Toy Story, the first ever feature length computer animation film. When I last posted, I left you with the introduction of Steve Jobs to Pixar. He had just invested in their company for nearly ten million dollars. He bought into the passion of John and Ed, and this was really the emergence of Pixar. In 1987 Luxo Jr was the first computer animated film to be nominated for an academy award. This was a very significant moment because not only did it illustrate the brilliance of this new technology but it also illustrated the significance of story, at a very early stage, that would be placed on anything made with the Pixar name. From here on, it was full steam ahead at John and Ed began to experiment, through these shorts, with different shapes, human images and different textures. This would enable John to perfect his craft and with each new project, become more ambitious with what could be done with computer animation. All of these factors would culminate, in 1989, when Bill Reeves and John Lasseter took home Oscars for animated short, the first ever awarded to a computer animated film Tin Toy.

Pixar then got into the commercial sector and hired Peter Doctor and Andrew Stanton from Cal Art. Around this time Pixar began a partnership with Disney as they had tremendous success in the early 90's with 2D hand drawn films which integrated a new animation software system. While this happened, some of the Pixar guys began using computer animation software for live action feature films such as Jurassic Park, for which they garnered large acclaim. However, at the time Pixar was losing a ton of money and essentially on life support. The company had no major way of making a profit. Steve did however stick with the company and continue to support them. It was around this time that John pitched a half hour Christmas version of Tin Toy to Disney. Behind the scenes Disney execs really wanted Lasseter to direct a film for them, so this idea was then turned into a hey what the heck feature. It is important to note that John only did this while staying with Pixar and not dropping them to become a director for Disney, a very fundamental value that we'll see pop up when we examine the business practices and strategies of Pixar. Thus Toy Story was born.

It was very important for the staff at Pixar that they were partnered with Disney for this project because they had someone there that could answer their questions and teach them in areas where they needed schooling. From the beginning of the project Pixar wanted to do something different from the style of films Disney made, they wanted to stand out. Also from the beginning John Lasseter had one actor in mind for the voice of his lead character Woody, Tom Hanks. They pitched Tom on the project simply by showing him the technology and it highly peeked his interest. Pixar began to do test scenes and work on storyboards, while Disney looked over their shoulder, they were told to make the film edgier and more adult. I note which they followed with negative results. They met with Disney execs to show them their storyboards and it was a disaster. The Woody character had morphed into one of the most repellent characters ever written. This was because it was no longer the project the Pixar team had when they started, Disney got too heavily involved. Production was halted and Disney demanded that Pixar lay off employees, they refused. Instead they threw away the notes and dedicated themselves to making the project that they wanted to see. After a few weeks of work they trepitched to Disney and production was started back up.

Toy Story began to really pick up steam and Tim Allen was brought on as Buzz Lightyear. The two dynamic leads would later really bring Toy Story to life. The main problem for the longest time, with this film, was that every time they showed the execs what they had, they weren't fully complete or rendered. This made Disney nervous because they had no idea what the final product would look like. However, on their final pass all the additions were made and it left Disney stunned. Toy Story would open with large success and huge critical reviews. It was the first film of its' kind and the rest is history. A whole knew type of animation was born and it was because of the perseverance of the people at Pixar that this was possible.

Probing Pixar: Part 1

Hello movie fans, it isn't often that great affinity, for content, can exist where finance prevails. This is true for most major studios, where blockbusters are negotiating tools for passion projects to get made. I say most because every so often studios can surprise you with their compassion and investment of quality. Then and only very so rarely are we lucky enough to have innovators, content masters and finance giants co-exist with one goal in mind, create the most spectacular and original content possible. This should be the mantra for Pixar Studios, because it is a mission statement they have followed for over a decade now, and one which only seems to be gaining momentum. In this eight part series I will examine several parts of Pixar, as a company, and as a competitor in 3D animation world. In this first part we will look at the roots of Pixar up to George Lucas' involvement with assembling one of the greatest group of animators the world has ever known.

Pixar begins and ends with John Lasseter, director of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 as well as Cars. He gained prominence, in the animation world, by winning back to back Student Academy Awards for several short animated pieces he did. He was then hired by Disney where he met a number of very influential people (Glen Keane and Randy Cartwright). At the time Disney was pretty desperate for an animated hit, as it had been many years since the success of Disney's Nine Old Men. A problem they kept running into was constant cuts, financial, on animated segments they worked on. They simply weren't given the latitude of creative control that they'd hoped. A change occurred and it was the release of the film Tron (1982) that really sparked Lasseter and his crews' imagination. Now there was this possibility of creating animation using computers and computer generated backgrounds, a fear held by the Disney brass. John and Glenn were given permission to further explore this. This lead to John and crew given permission to develop a feature length version of The Brave Little Toaster, which would have been the first computer animated feature. However, when John told the execs, at the pitch meeting, that the cost would be the same as a "regular" film he was fired, as well as his crew. While this was happening George Lucas began to assemble his own crew of animators from both Utah State and the New York Institute of Technology. Ed Catmull was made head of Lucas' new branch, after he created the first computer generated hand for the film Futureworld. This crew of people began experimenting with integrating art and science together to create things never before imagined. This culminated in a spectacular sequence being created for The Wrath of Khan. John Lasseter became a part of this when he talked with Ed at a conference right after he was released from Disney. John was hired because he was the talented animator that Catmull and his group desperately had been craving. It was from here that Lasseter and Catmull began to explore character creation in the 3D computer generated world. ILM and Lasseter worked on Young Sherlock Holmes to create a stained glass knight that fought with a live action man, garnering industry recognition. This lead to the creation of the Pixar computer and software to edit, however this became a negative because the companies' focus became software sales. Lucas additionally became agitated, and began to step back from the organization. A little over a year later John and his crew were introduced to a man by the name of Steve Jobs, who Catmull and Lasseter enchanted with the idea of the first computer generated feature film. This now gave them most of the financial muscle to begin to work toward their dream. In next weeks segment I will explore the emergence of Pixar into the animated world.