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.