Brave Pixars extraordinary run of successful films starring male characters took a courageous turn in June with the release of Disney/Pixar’s 13th feature, Brave, the studio’s first princess film. The conflict in this feature centers on the relationship between Merida, a young “don’t wannabe a princess,” and her mother, the elegant Queen Elinor. Merida inherited her father’s fiery character along with his flaming red hair, rather than her mother’s calm demeanor. She would rather be outdoors riding her horse, rock climbing, and practicing archery like Fergus, her father, than studying to be a princess and meeting her pre-ordained destiny—marriage to the son of a rival clan leader. Behind the scenes, Pixar’s toolmakers and artists entered new territory as well, by developing and implementing new technology and methods for the first time that affected everything from the landscape to the costumes, from animation to Merida’s mop of curly hair. All the code executed at render time.
Pixar Cofounder Ed Catmull on Failure and Why Fostering a Fearless Culture Is the Key to Groundbreaking Creative Work by Maria Popova Why the greatest enemy of creative success is the attempt to fortify against failure. “Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before,” Neil Gaiman urged in his commencement-address-turned-manifesto-for-the-creative life. “The chief trick to making good mistakes is not to hide them — especially not from yourself,” philosopher Daniel Dennett asserted in his magnificent meditation on the dignity and art-science of making mistakes. What makes Catmull, who created Pixar along with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter and is now president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation, particularly compelling is his yin-yang balance of seeming opposites — he is incredibly intelligent in a rationally-driven way yet sensitive to the poetic, introspective yet articulate, has a Ph.D. in computer science but is also the recipient of five Academy Awards for his animation work. Ed Catmull (Photograph by Deborah Coleman, Pixar) Donating = Loving
5 Random Life Lessons I Learned At Pixar — Sutro 1. We. Not I. One of the things I'll always remember, is that there was this feeling of being part of a team, almost like belonging to the same family. Not only on a work level, but also on a personal level. I'll never forget that. 2. One of the most unforgettable moments of my time at Pixar, was the day I met Steve Jobs. I was coming in to work along the beautiful path at the entrance of the main building, where the roses bloom in ways I've never seen before in the Spring. But then he opens the door of the main building, which is now actually called The Steve Jobs Building, and he stops. My only thought is: "Shit. Until I get to the door, completely nervous (and it's not easy to make me nervous). I look at Steve and simply say Thank You. The day he died, I was at Pixar and it was one of the saddest days I can remember in the studio. And never be afraid of opening the door to someone behind you. 3. Children see the world in pretty unique eyes. We're all trying to figure it out. 4. 5.
Pixar’s Ed Catmull Emerges As Central Figure In The Wage-Fixing Scandal Ed Catmull. (Photo-illustration.) Pixar and Disney Animation president Ed Catmull has always had a reputation as a decent person, but newly revealed court documents show that he’s been working against the interests of Pixar’s employees for years, as well as trying to hurt other animation studios who didn’t play by his rules. The documents in question are from last year’s civil class-action suit against high-tech companies. (The lawsuit, which included Pixar and Lucasfilm as defendants, was the result of a 2010 U.S. Department of Justice anti-trust action.) Catmull’s deposition and emails from the lawsuit confirm that he was instrumental in operating a secret wage-theft cartel that violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. Pando Daily’s Mark Ames published a piece about the documents earlier this week. Catmull’s attempts to bring Sony into his cartel are documented in today’s piece. Catmull, however, didn’t forget. Catmull was questioned about the email in his deposition:
Deconstructing Big Hero 6 - article | CGSociety Deconstructing Big Hero 6: The OriginsDirector Don Hall at the Academy event “Deconstructing Big Hero 6” on April 23, 2015 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Deconstructing Big Hero 6: The Inspiration for BaymaxDirector Don Hall at the Academy event “Deconstructing Big Hero 6” on April 23, 2015 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Deconstructing Big Hero 6: The StoryDirectors Chris Williams and Don Hall, and Producer Roy Conli at the Academy event “Deconstructing Big Hero 6” on April 23, 2015 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Deconstructing Big Hero 6: The Two StylesHead of Animation Zach Parrish at the Academy event “Deconstructing Big Hero 6” on April 23, 2015 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Deconstructing Big Hero 6: Creating San FransokyoVisual Effects Supervisor Kyle Odermatt at the Academy event “Deconstructing Big Hero 6” on April 23, 2015 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Event recap at The Academy website:
hollywoodreporter A version of this story first appeared in the Nov. 27 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. Even with framed cartoons on his walls, Ed Catmull's office on the Pixar Animation Studios campus in Emeryville, Calif., is downright bland compared to the museum of toy trains, trucks and memorabilia that is John Lasseter's space down the hall. With Inside Out and Good Dinosaur, Pixar is releasing two films in a year for the first time. In truth, it has been challenging. You delayed Good Dinosaur a year to retool it. They completely trust that we're doing the right thing for the film and for the studio. Early in his career, Catmull wrote a program to animate a plaster cast of his hand (left). How much pressure do you get from Disney to make more sequels? Some people don't believe this: They don't give us any pressure and they don't pick any of the films. We've explicitly set it up that way. But I've heard there's a pretty big rivalry. Yeah. No.
‘The Good Dinosaur’: Pixar’s Biggest Production Nightmare Crash-Lands into Theaters The FBI groomed 14-year-old Richard Wershe to become a drug dealer and informant. The teen dope slinger helped put away the mayor of Detroit’s brother-in-law—and got in bed with his niece. When Wershe got busted, the FBI didn’t help him and the mayor got his secret revenge. Richard John Wershe, Jr. is a political prisoner in America. Wershe, who grew up in Detroit, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a non-violent drug crime committed when he was 17. Rather, Wershe was a paid confidential informant for the FBI who helped the feds prosecute drug-corrupted cops and the drug-dealing brother-in-law of Detroit’s mayor. The story of Richard “Rick” Wershe, 46, known in the media for years as White Boy Rick, is a tale of crime and punishment gone awry. Wershe was recruited by the FBI at age 14 to join the fight in the war on drugs as a paid confidential informant. It was 1984 and Detroit, like many American cities, was suddenly awash in crack cocaine.
Every Company Disney Owns: A Map of Disney's Worldwide Assets See the partners we work with below. Expand each one to see how they process your data. You can object to legitimate interest processing per vendor. Privacy policy: Purposes (Consent): Store and/or access information on a deviceSelect basic adsSelect personalised adsMeasure ad performanceDevelop and improve productsSpecial Purposes: Ensure security, prevent fraud, and debugTechnically deliver ads or contentFeatures: Link different devicesSpecial Features: Use precise geolocation dataActively scan device characteristics for identification Privacy policy: Store and/or access information on a deviceSelect basic adsCreate a personalised ads profileSelect personalised adsCreate a personalised content profileSelect personalised contentMeasure ad performanceMeasure content performanceApply market research to generate audience insightsDevelop and improve products Privacy policy:
This professor teaches Pixar’s approach to creative genius Two hundred and fifty people. Four to five years. One groundbreaking movie. Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor Linda A. Pixar cofounder and president Edwin E. “Leading innovation is not about creating a vision and inspiring others to execute it,” Hill said in her TED Talk last year. Hill saw Pixar’s ability to incorporate individual “slices of genius” at work in a dozen industries around the world—and even in the archetype of the wild-haired inventor. “Edison may get the credit for his inventions—it was his laboratory, of course—but each one typically arose from years of effort that included many others,” as Hill and her co-authors put it. Hill puts such leadership into three organizational capabilities—creative abrasion, creative agility, creative resolution—for leaders to build into the culture. “They stopped giving answers, they stopped trying to provide solutions,” Hill and her co-authors write.
How Ed Catmull Spent His Last Day as Head of Pixar Executive Summary Sometimes a creative act by one leader can inspire others. Ed Catmull, Pixar cofounder and long-time leader, did just that after announcing his retirement in late 2018. He chose to spend his last day on the company’s Emeryville campus not being celebrated by his colleagues but, instead, sharing thoughts about the challenges they would face in the years to come. First, Catmull provided Pixar employees with his well-informed perspective on the challenges ahead. Second, he gave them a launching point and maybe even the framework for future conversations, among themselves, about how Pixar will continue to thrive. Earlier this spring I had the chance to witness two of the “farewell talks” that Ed Catmull gave to the people of Pixar. Each “farewell talk” was a separate, hour-long session with a different team in the company, but the content wasn’t tailored to specific departments. Make the sessions inclusive. Keep it intimate. Pose questions rather than offer answers.
How this Pixar storyboard artist made 'Float,' a Disney+ short about his autistic son - SFGate A scene from Pixar's short film "Float."A scene from Pixar's short film "Float." Photo: Pixar A scene from Pixar's short film "Float." Photo: Pixar How this Pixar storyboard artist made 'Float,' a Disney+ short about his autistic son Pixar’s newest short film “Float” opens with a visual of a dad playing with his son in the front yard. The story is close to the heart of director Bobby Rubio. RELATED: These are the highly anticipated Disney and Pixar movies coming out soon Rubio’s opportunity to bring his experiences to the screen came via Pixar’s SparkShorts incubator program. “[SparkShorts] allows us to tell these grittier stories,” says producer Krissy Cababa. “It’s not a fairy tale,” says Rubio. RELATED: Pixar movie scenes that you can visit in real life in the Bay Area In addition to shining a light on the challenges of parenting, “Float” also pays homage to his Filipino-American heritage.
Inside Disney’s New York Stream Factory It’s early September, just two months before the Nov. 12 go-live date for Disney Plus. Michael Paull, president of Disney Streaming Services, sits five floors above Chelsea Market, the bustling mall and tourist attraction in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood — in the global nerve center of the Mouse House’s video-streaming operations. On Disney’s earnings call a few weeks earlier, CEO Bob Iger called Disney Plus “the most important product that the company has launched” during his 14-year tenure in the job. Paull and his team at DSS are responsible for the development, delivery, design, support and marketing of Disney Plus, as well as ESPN Plus. The stakes are high for Disney’s multibillion-dollar push into the streaming wars. “Being able to operate at scale is very different from being able to operate in sort of single-digit-million subscribers. Popular on Variety Golden Globes 2020: Who Will Win Best Actor and Actress in a TV Musical or Comedy? Volume 0% Keyboard Shortcuts play/pause
Your complete guide to Bob Chapek, Bob Iger, and Disney CEO changes SoSo you just found out The Walt Disney Co. has a new CEO. You might be a die-hard Disney fan with an annual parks pass, or you might just happen to enjoy a Marvel movie once in a while. In either case, it’s likely that the news of Bob Chapek assuming the role of CEO at Disney has crossed your timeline. But Bob Iger was already going to retire, you might note. Are we surprised or are we not? Because Disney stands on the forefront of media in 2020. Disney has the biggest films and theme parks on the planet, and is trying to conquer everything from live sports to streaming video. So, we’ve put together a simple, readable primer. Before we talk about Bob Chapek, why is Bob Iger such a big deal? The first big thing Bob Iger did as chief executive of The Walt Disney Co. was acquire Pixar Animation Studios. Why did Bob Iger leave Disney? Iger’s original contract only had him as CEO through 2018, but his tenure got extended to 2019, after which he would spend three years as a consultant. Yes!