Today’s Apple presentation was no exception to "the Pixar rule."
It’s become somewhat of a tradition. Steve Jobs shows of his latest gadgets, and among other films, the latest from Pixar is used as an example of the product’s quality.
The new devices in question are the 2010 incarnations of the iPod touch and Apple TV. Toy Story 3 (now up for pre-order on the iTunes store) is seen above in publicity stills demonstrating features such as AirPlay and the Retina display.
Although it will be considerably less talked about, the most important innovation from today’s presentation (as far as Pixar is concerned) is the enhanced Apple TV. In my opinion, this is the future of how we rent movies. Just think about how many people can "discover" often overlooked films like A Bug’s Life with just a click of a button.
This kind of synergy proves once again that when you’ve got the best consumer electronics, you can’t settle for any less than Pixar perfect. After all, the company’s relationship with Jobs spans over two decades.
Note: This post is not meant to be proper coverage of Apple’s recent event. For more details on all of the latest products, don’t hesistate to visit Apple’s site.
Your thoughts?
Last modified: September 1, 2010
My guess is the reason why Jobs still uses Pixar in his presentations is because of the connection between the two.
It’s great to see that we can see Pixar stuff showcased by Apple!
Well I’ve been able to watch a Pixar movie at the touch of a button for over a decade now. Ever hear or “On-Demand” or “Pay-per-view?”
Good one Anonymous 2. Very clever. Last time I checked, On Demand and Pay per view don’t have anywhere near the kind of selection you’d find on iTunes. Anyway, my point was about discovery, not availability. But if you want to get technical, A Bug’s Life doesn’t seem to be widely available on these decade old outlets. ^^^
Jobs is the single largest shareholder in the Disney company as part of the sale of Pixar to Disney.
I want to Own a lot of my movies—can’t do that with the new Apple TV. And I don’t want them selling my preferences and other private information more than they already do without my explicit permission.
Yeah, I don’t know how I feel about Apple TV. I also last it last night on the news. As far as a rental service goes, I think it is a pretty awsome deal. However, for just watching television, I’ll think I’ll stick to cable.
It is nice to see Pixar getting the exposure though!
Guys, I’m not trying to sell you the Apple TV. I’m just pointing out the synergy between Apple and Pixar. sigh
Pixar doesn’t need gimmicky exposure. Pixar is Disney’s. Disney is the size of the sun, Apple is merely the size of the moon.
Any Pixar film is more widely well known than any Apple product.
Pixar films are not independent movies, they are huge money-making blockbusters, they won’t really benefit (significantly) from being available on a new gadget.
Having said that, it’s only natural (yet nice) that Apple winks at Pixar and vice-versa. Other than that, the only benefit Pixar gets from Apple is surely a cheap/free supply of Macs.
This sounds genius! Apple = always great with their products.
Anon. 4 — If you think that’s what my post was about, you missed my point. It’s really simple: A great company (Apple) showcases their product with great looking films (Pixar’s), not the other way around. It’s even in the title.
No one is claiming that Pixar is indie or that it needs any promotion from Apple, but like you said, it’s nice that Jobs stays true to Pixar and I pointed that out.
Apple has to promote the Pixar brand, but really doesn’t because story is king. Anyways, in Japan, Apple has to because the Pixar brand and Walt Disney Studios Japan combined is about three times smaller than Studio Ghibli brand. From April 4th to July 31st Pixar/Walt Disney Studios ‘word of mouth’ on the internet was 13,095, but just the brand Studio Ghibli or Ghibli it got 39,126.
http://japan.cnet.com/image/l/story_image/2041/20417815/08032010_02.jpg
Also, the animation video industry, in Japan, is down 4.2% in 2009 compared to 2008.
http://release.nikkei.co.jp/detail.cfm?relID=259093&lindID=5
So, what I’m saying is Apple is promoting two things: the Pixar brand and downloading animation to boost sales for his baby Pixar which he co-founded.