WE LOVE PIXAR: A Monument To Creativity and Free Enterprise
by Brad SchaefferSometimes significant events in history can be triggered by random intersections, the results of which literally change the direction of the world in which we live. The entertainment/media industry is not immune to this phenomenon. The story of Pixar Animation Studios is one case in which the firings of three individuals at crucial moments compelled a junction which would result in one of the most successful, innovative and, if I may borrow from my dry business 101 lexicon, “bitchin’” companies the world has ever known.
John Lasseter
In a hyper-simplified form the story goes something like this: in 1985, Steve Jobs was fired from his position at the firm he co- founded, Apple Computers. Meanwhile at around the same time down at Disney Studios, an enthusiastic whiz with computer graphics, John Lasseter, was handed his walking papers. And a few years earlier, George Lucas, metaphorically speaking, was fired from his marriage. Thus was Jobs looking for a new project, Lasseter a new outlet, and Lucas some cash to assuage the costs of divorce. When the dust settled, Jobs would purchase the Graphics Group which was one-third of the Lucasfilm computer division for $5 million plus a capital investment of another $5 million. One of the acquired firm’s newer employees was Lasseter. C.E.O. Jobs’ company, headed by Dr. Edwin Catmull as President, would be renamed Pixar.
As is the case with many new businesses, Pixar was not an instant success. Sales of its core product, Pixar Image Computer, were limited. Fortunately Disney Studios was a client, seeing the device as a vehicle by which it could transition from the laborious 2-D pen and ink animation to CGI. It would prove to be a vital relationship for the young firm. Still, Pixar was losing Jobs over a million dollars a year due to the budgetary demands of its cutting-edge technology. He was even considering taking a loss on his investment and selling or terminating the venture. ”If I knew in 1986 how much it was going to cost to keep Pixar going, I doubt if I would’ve bought the company,” Jobs later told Fortune magazine.
Hoping to drive Pixar sales, Lasseter and Catmull labored day and night to create an animated short that was completely CGI in time to be premiered at the SIGGRAPH ( Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques) annual computer technology conference. They managed to pull it off and before the two minute and eighteen second Luxo Jr. featuring the now famous desk lamp mascot finished playing it was hailed with applause.
It would not be until the successful release of Toy Story (as part of a $26 million three picture deal with Disney) that Pixar would be on sound footing. It arrived in time for the 1995 holiday season and went on to gross over $350 million worldwide. Pixar’s IPO which would capitalize its transition from a CGI firm to full-fledged studio followed at the end of the same year priced at $22/share. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history.
Steve Jobs
Pixar has thrilled a generation of wide-eyed children and grateful parents. (I know if it’s a Pixar film, I need not grab the remote with my thumb at the ready on the “last channel” or “mute” buttons.) Few companies have so captured the wave of a new paradigm in their industry and surfed it to such dazzling heights. Pixar has produced eleven feature films with Toy Story 3 as the latest masterpiece. (Cars 2 is slated for summer 2011). There, quite simply, are not enough superlatives to describe its achievements. To date, the studio has earned twenty-four Academy Awards, three Grammys, six Golden Globes among its many accolades — and it has made $5.5 billion worldwide. It is one of, if not the, most critically acclaimed film studios of all time.
Pixar is one of the great American stories. It combines innovation, chutzpah, vision, unconventional thinking, stunning technology, and a great narrative of those who seized the moment in time and made it their own. The best of the best, it is a monument to the possibilities that only a capitalist society that rewards innovation and encourages risk-taking can foster. When creative people willing to take chances and alter the conventions of their time are given free reign to attain their full vision—or go down trying—the possibilities are boundless.
Today we have seen the rise of an unsettling political culture where ever more misguided eyes cast their unquestioning gaze towards a growing centralized state for guidance in their lives. So many Americans have placed so much trust and raw power in the hands of a governmental apparatus that has shown itself to be a haven for the truly cynical and, worse, the most mediocre among us from Congress and the White House on down.
Companies like Pixar should serve as a reminder that free enterprise, warts and all, has been the driving force behind so many innovations and products that have made these days the historically best of days for those who have not given up faith in the power of the idea. Pixar’s story serves as an elegant illustration that it will be from the free-wheeling individuals, the courageous entrepreneurs — not some hopelessly inept and bloated bureaucratic leviathan — that the great advances of this nascent century will still come.
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72 Comments
An excellent story of "darkest before the dawn," failures being turned into successes and sticking it out. It's not easy, but it can be done.
Oh, and it will be easier when we throw the current Demothugs and RINOs out.
i am normally not a fan of CGI. It often looks too fake, ot stands out when used. Pixar, in addition to fine story telling, has masterd the art. I am never slapped in the face with a less than perfect sequence.
They are at the top of their craft, and no one can can dispute that they have earned it.
Americans should never forget what has made this place the greatest in the world and the envy of all other nations. This type of story can only happen here, and a little risk by an "evil capitalist" like Steve jobs has provided for thousands of jobs and countless smiles for kids young and old around the world.
Too bad Hollywood hasn't learned from Pixar yet. But that's OK, we already know what most of these people's politics are anyway.
The dichotomy between conservatives and liberals is never as clear as when we praise those who have achieved. Liberals aim to level things out by bringing those who are great down to an acceptable level. Conservatives don't concern themselves with leveling things out but they encourage and praise those who rise to those higher levels. Such is the case of Pixar, the living embodiment of the great man theory. Without them, Dreamworks and other knockoffs don't still exist, computer graphics don't move forward quite as quickly, and the world would be a little less colorful without the joys of fatherly fish, grumpy old men, fast cars who slowed down, huggable monsters, creative bugs, a rat chef, a diligent robot, an incredible family and a bunch of loyal toys.
Thank you Pixar, not only for giving us such great entertainment, but inspiring us by showing us what we should all aspire to in whatever venture we endeavor.
Its not a new story, its a story as old as time, be it a start up story such as PIXAR or one of Nation States. Its over coming the Obstacles that are put in our way. Be it defeat after defeat and then finding yourself and going on. Not only to make it thru another day but to go out and win. Well I didn't know that Cars 2 was in the works and the summer of 2011 is just 11 months away. I can hang on for that. Thou its sad that Paul Newman will not be here to let his wonderful voice.
Too right about the mediocre. Our rep (Jerry Costello D-Il) is the most mediocre of them all. His opponent called up a Congressman friend of her husband's and he thought Costello was new. J. Costello's been in Congress 22 years! If anyone is a bum in government, that guy is.
Pixar knocks it out of the park everytime. Great stories, great animation, and a knack for proper casting. Can anyone imagine someone else as Mr. Incredible?? Or Buzz Lightyear??
And although Ed Asner is a tool, Up was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Anytime a cartoon can put your emotions through a rollercoaster ride like that, you have to be impressed with it.
I've got to hand it to Pixar. They managed to make Ellen DeGeneres tolerable and that's no mean feat. Seriously though, "Finding Nemo" is one of the most beautiful looking movies I've ever seen and my favorite Pixar flick.
They have no problem taking full advantage of capitalism and the free market, and then bashing the hell out of it while they collect their huge paychecks. The correlation means nothing to them.
Cars 2, 2011… WOO HOO!
I have yet to be disappointed by any Pixar feature film. I am able to suspend some of the "preachy" point that were thrown into WallE and Finding Nemo because I WAS ENTERTAINED. It will be tragic if, at some point, the story telling is replaced by indoctrination. I pray everyday that Pixar does not succumb to this because their platform is that powerful.
In fact, as good as they are with computer graphics and animation, they are better at their storytelling.
And they are indeed GREAT at the graphics… look at Sully's face in the last shot of "Monsters, Inc.", or the eyes Woody and the gang in the incinerator scene in "Toy Story 3", or Doc's face (and grill) when he's out on Willy's Butte alone with the old racing tires in "Cars".
Those expressions are somehow genuine… they are just a marvel of making pixels into faces that look right. They make the emotions look right.
How in the effing world do they *DO* that?!?!?!
The answer… they love their audience. That's how they do it. Every time.
Technological achievements aside, what has kept Pixar's reputation on top for the past 14 years is story — you can have all the computerized bells and whistles in the world, but if your story is either bad or deliberately tries to preach an ideological lesson that turns off half its potential audience, you're not going to be successful.
"Wall-E" is the only Pixar film that's come close so far to going to far into an ideological message, to the point that it threatened to swamp the story. In contrast, Disney's 2-D animation unit was riding high in the early 90s off "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King" when the studio heads decided their movies should be educating the public as well as entertaining them. "Pocahontas" pretty much did for Disney's 2-D animation operation what "The Deer Hunter" did for United Artists, and since then, the studio's only had one really successful 2-D release, "Lilo and Stitch" which is now over a decade old.
A Pixar CGI movie with the story lines Disney stuck onto it's 2-D movies would sink like a stone after you factored out the good will from the opening week's box office, while a traditional animated film with the story strength Pixar has shown would play just as well at the box office. It's not the type of animation the public cares about (albeit CGI is cheaper for the studios than hand-drawn), its what you do with it.
That was beautiful, man! (sob)
Great article illustrating the beauty of capitalism, and its ability to make individuals and society better. Pixar's production are great for adults and children, they are smart, funny, good looking, and have a good message. Sad to see that the world, especially in Obama's America, is going through an anti-capitalist shtick, and pixar might be a dinosaur in a few years. A relic of olden days. ;0(
I have no doubt they will pay old Doc Hudson (and the mighty Paul Newman) due respect and proper recognition…
…in fact, I hope they have a proper graveyard scene with the folks of Radiator Springs paying a visit to old Doc's memory.
Two things I loved Ed Asner in… his Santa Claus in "Elf" and Carl Fredrickson in "Up".
There's something about a curmudgeon with just a hint of a young kid inside. Gets me every time.
it is amazing
the expressions make these movies in my view
one of my favorites is a scen in TS1 where Woody opens Buzz's helmet and Buzz starts gasping. Woody's espression and head turn are as real as any actor could do. pure genius.
Pixar IS a great American story, and hopefully they are aware enough of the fact that it was America and capitalist system that allowed their greatness to develop. As readers of this blog are well aware, the more usual path is for people and organizations to turn on capitalism after achieving success.
On another note, I find that much as fantasy and sci-fi seem to be the most likely place to find conservative/libertarian leaning authors (Andrew Klavan notwithstanding:)), new animated movies seem more able to openly present conservative messages than live action films. It may just be the movies that come to mind at the moment – The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up – but I think it's more than a coincidence. Wall-E to me is an exception that proves the rule. It's the only Pixar my kids didn't care for very much.
The Pixar Films are films that I can, with confidence, take my family to and not have to worry too much about indoctrination from Hollywood. However, I have heard, that while Toy Story 3 is great, the animated short prior to the film is Hollywood Propaganda aimed at "teaching" something to our kids, so maybe we'll show up a little late. Anyone seen the short yet?
I've got a conservative movie/tv review blog here: http://hollywoodpropaganda.wordpress.com
Come on over and check it out and if you like it pass it on!
Today's review "The Book Of Eli".
To be fair, "Hercules" and "The Emperor's New Groove" were pretty fun.
I am thankful that BH is taking a moment to talk about PIXAR. With so much going on with the film industry that is negative and sometimes even anti-family and sometimes anti- the american way of life it's wonderful to take a minute to praise a company that is showing that 1) capitalism works in America and 2) good story telling that supports families and the heart and humanity of the American way of life can work. It's really wonderful that you're taking a moment to highlight that fact and praise a company who makes good movies even after they had great success. One thing I love about the end credits of a Pixar film is that they always list the names of "Pixar" babies born during the film process. Wonderful.
UP had one of the most powerful montage sequences that I've seen in quite some time. I am not embarrassed to say that when I think about that sequence I tear up. That's the kind of story telling that lasts long after Matt Damon's Green Zone is gathering dust. Thanks for highlighting the success of good, positive storytelling, BH.
I agree with Leia 1000%
Yeah, I have to agree with the responder above me, it's kind of like, "ehmmm, okay, what was that?" It's not so much propaganda, it merely talks about how people fight because they are afraid of the unknown when really, the unknown is where some of the most beautiful things are. The inference would be, especially from Hollywood, that conservatives fear those scary dark people, but I think you could just as easily look at it as a parable of how those on the coasts hate us in flyover country because we are unknown. In fact, the speech given in the short come across over talk radio, so that may have been the key to its angle.
Not saying that's certainly the meaning, but surely art can be interpreted differently and that could be one interpretation. Though coming from Hollywood, I tend to not give the benefit of the doubt.
"It combines innovation, chutzpah, vision, unconventional thinking, stunning technology, and a great narrative of those who seized the moment in time and made it their own. "
The factual research that they put into CARS blew me away. And it is true it is the only studio I know of where you could take your 10 year old and know you won't be embarrassed.
Its formation reminds me a bit of mighty INTEL, where 3 engineers came from – I think Fairchild Semiconductors to start the company.
http://www.mmorpg.com/newsRoom.cfm/read/17281/utm...
Brought a tear to me eye.
Bravo! Excellent essay. I know the Pixar celebration is going on all week, but I did not expect to see some one high light the fact that this could only have been accomplished with free markets and capitalism. Thanks for bringing this up.
The idea that a small cabal of super-duper smart people in far away Washington can make better decisions than 310 million individuals who understand their own needs and goals is so mind numbingly ridiculous it makes my head spin.
Thanks for the link, that was enjoyable!
One of the most beautiful things about America is that if you fail, you can pull yourself up by your own boot straps, dust your self off, and get back up on that horse.
I know its not unique to America, but it works best here. I could not even begin to imagine living in a society where the government makes you take a test in high school that determines your entire life plan.
If you ask me, the answer is they love their jobs. When you love what you do, you do it with love. Great things happen when that occurs.
Some number of years ago I was hooked on a computer game called Unreal Tournament. What was really cool was you could set up one computer as a game server and people from all over the world come connect to the server and join the mayhem of destroying every one in sight.
It also had a nifty little feature, a graphics editor that allowed anyone who bought it to create their own playing field. I played on one server for about a week before I realized what the setting was. Some one created Andy's bedroom and yard and the players were all toy size. I knew it was toys and a room and yard, but it took me a while to figure out it was from Toy Story.
Turns out there is a great little spot underneath Andy's book shelves that's a perfect for a sniper.
Free markets baby!
Learn 'em, live 'em, love 'em.
A free market is nothing more than no one being able to tell you how to earn or spend your own money.
Human creativity unleashed from the chains of tyranny of government is a beautiful thing.
Steve Jobs was also part of the duo that proved a computer doesn't have to be a big huge multi-million dollar contraption that you can only get from IBM.
You can also make one in your garage with the money you got from selling your VW MiniBus.
Possibly a statue in the town square.
Seems to me America needs to go through every generation or so just to prove to itself it does not work.
While I wasn't really thrilled with the ending of WALL-E, the first half alone was worth it all.
Plus she's way hot in that steel bikini.
(Sorry, could not resist.)
I believe you're correct. It's been some time since computer 101, but they took their design to their bosses at Fairchild, and they told them to get back to work and stop this silliness.
They shopped their idea around. I know they took it to IBM, one of IBM's greatest failures. IBM told them why would any one want a desk top computer when they can a brand spanking new $15 million IBM main frame?
So they decided to strike out on their own. At one point the team broke up. Some of the engineers wanted to wait till they released their new invention, they wanted to perfect it, but the business end said no, they needed to get a product on the market now to start generating revenue. So the stubborn engineers quit and started their own company. Intel put out the 4004, followed by the 8008 and then the 8088 microprocessors.
The other company named itself Xilog. And while they did end up with a superior product, they missed the bus. Xilog has had some success, I saw one in a slot machine my Aunt bought. It looks like they went for the niche market.
Close Ed.
I worked there for 10.5 years. They started with memory and very simple processors. the PC was first developed years later…
I've met two of the 3, Bob Noyce was dead long before I started there in 1991…
OhBoyandHowdyyessirShedid!
Too bad she (Carrie Fisher) has gone to pot since then…
I remember the name Bob Noyce.
I got into electrical engineering technology just as the computer industry really started taking off, 1985.
At that time Xilog was still an equal to Intel, so the professors made sure we knew how to program them as much as the Intel stuff. The 8088 had just come out and so had Motorola's 6800.
At that time, anything was possible. My senior year one of the pop tunes that was a hit was The Future's So Bright I Got To Wear Shades. And that's the way we all felt. We were at the right place, at the right time.
On a side note, the guys that invented copiers came to IBM too, and IBM told them why would any one want a copier when they can buy an IBM Selectric typewriter. IBM also invented the work station but decided to sit on it because they thought it would hurt main frame sales.
They got that part right, but Sun decided not to sit on theirs.
Someone please tell me that now that disney has bought out marvel comics we'll start seeing kid friendly marvel/pixar super hero movies. Putting comic book movies back in the genre (kids) they belong would be the best thing to happen to the industry since sound.
What? How could you not like the "Pizza Tree"?
The over all theme that humans are kind of sucky is hard to dress up no matter how funny the jokes.
But over all, I did enjoy the movie. Two thumbs up, just not two excited thumbs up. Granted that might have been the only way the could figure out to justify the first have the movie on earth.
I'm not suggesting in any way that I could have come up with a better story line, but it just seems to me to be either contrived or a buried eco message.
I will grant you, if pizza trees did in fact exist, that is one carbon credit I could get behind.
I dunno Ed… I always got the feeling much like Ratzenberger's captain, it was Wall-E who actually "awoke" them.. they'd just been given everything for so long they just assumed it would be like that forever, thanks to their govt (aka, Sigorney Weaver and Otto), they completely missed everything around them.
"We have a pool?"
Sometimes, it only takes a spark of an average person to wake people up… I understand why people saw the enviro-message, but to me that was very little of the whole thing.
I agree, WALL-E woke the humans up.
I just don't agree with the concept that humanity would turn itself over to sloth if it were possible. There are plenty of humans who would, but the whole human race? I don't buy that part.
I have more faith in my fellow American. For almost 50 years I've witnessed what Americans can do, and its a lot more accomplishment than the seven deadly sins. If it weren't, we wouldn't be typing on lap tops, connected by ISP's to the internet to form a virtual community.
Granted, I'm a libertarian and a Catholic, and that alone should be enough to drive any parapsychologist or confessor nuts. But from everything I see humanity is marching forward despite what the MSM tells us, not backwards.
This movie showed it going backwards.
Well, swaying just a bit off topic just think what Xerox could have done with their PARC if they just an an inkling of the technological possibilities – the GUI and mouse – back in 1969…
Oh yes, Xerox cam up with the GUI. No technical person I know disputes that,
Aren't there many kid-friendly Marvel flicks? Spider-Man and Fantastic 4 come to mind.
well, not as good as pixar probably could swing it – Case in point look at the second fantastic four movie – god aweful. The most recent trend has also been increasingly adult oriented – Iron man while good movies, has alot of unneccessary things that i wouldnt take my 5 year old too. Mainly the issues of intoxication and how the main charecter seems to treat every hot girl.
The short could have been as great as all of the others before it, but it had to get preachy. It was about like watching the end of one of the cartoons my kids watch on Noggin where they give you the "lesson from today's show" at the end. Even if I agree with your message, it's annoying.
a bug's life…..love it!
Pixar is quite simply one of the best film studios ever. "Up" was great and all of their films are so filled with human emotion. Hats off to you guys.
Oh, I'd definitely agree that Spider-Man and Fantastic 4 don't exactly radiate quality. They're pretty harmless for kids, though, unless you don't want kids watching inane crud.
Wow, what a terrific article! And a terrific studio. The world is a better place thanks to these creative geniuses. (And Bighollywood a better blog since this author joined). Thank you Mr. Schaeffer for pointing out the 'only in America' angle to this amazing story. You will not find many approach the story from this direction. I hope the guys at Pixar all made gazillions. That's not a crime…despite what Obama and the other far left drones think! That's called free enterprise. More power (and riches) to them. They deserve it.
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