{"id":4627,"date":"2016-02-09T15:16:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T20:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/?p=4627"},"modified":"2016-02-09T15:16:24","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T20:16:24","slug":"jim-morris-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Pixar President Jim Morris Gives Insight Into The Studio's Creative Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>

Courtesy of Time Out: Hong Kong and Disney\/Pixar.<\/p><\/div>
\nJim Morris has been\u00a0president of Pixar Animation Studios since 2005. He came to Pixar after working for a lengthy period at\u00a0Lucas Digital. While at LucasFilm,\u00a0he\u00a0helped make a slew of films including\u00a0Harry Potter, Jurassic Park,<\/em>\u00a0and Star Wars<\/em>; just to name a few. During a\u00a0recent interview with Time Out: Hong Kong<\/a>, Morris gave\u00a0readers a little glimpse behind the scenes of Pixar and what it takes to create the\u00a0animated films\u00a0the studio is most\u00a0famous for.
\nOne of the main discussion points during the interview was the fact that Pixar, for the first time in the studio’s history, was able to release two feature length films in 2015. According to Morris, Pixar’s original plan was to have at least one original film every other year, followed by a sequel every other year.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s been a bit of a challenge this year. We\u2019re actually finishing films every eight months. We have enough production capability, but unfortunately that is not the issue! The issue is having the stories developed to the right point so we have enough content to make the films. That is the tricky part. It\u2019s worked out fine so far. It does make a crunch with publicity; everyone gets spread a bit thin. But we\u2019re feeling okay, we\u2019re not at the point of regret, yet!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The most important aspect behind every Pixar film is undoubtedly the story. Each Pixar film has been able to stand alone because of the unique characters that come along with the blend of animation and technology. In the scheme of storytelling at Pixar, the first step to\u00a0launching a thousand feels is the emotional core behind each story.<\/p>\n

“Usually the first thing that comes is an idea that engages the director. I would say there is some emotional core that motivates them to want to tell a story, and later we can infer a theme from that.\u00a0<\/em>Inside Out<\/em>\u00a0is an easy one to talk about \u2013 [director] Pete Docter was wondering why his daughter had changed. It started out as that core idea, but it evolved. It went through so many iterations. After we have that starting point, the characters get forged from that, and then more about the setting and the world gets forged from that.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Storytelling aside, actually getting the film up on it’s feet after the initial concept is approved is tough enough. Most of the hours put into a film at Pixar exceed Walt Disney’s standards for his classic,\u00a02-D animated films.<\/p>\n

“Something most people don\u2019t realize about our films actually is that, even though the computers are doing the animation, our average film takes 20,000 person-weeks to make. And that is probably a little bit more than most traditional, hand-drawn Disney films took. The amount of labour it takes to make a film like this is huge \u2013 the textures and scenes are painted by hand. Our joke used to be that we are where high-tech and low-life collide.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There has been some criticism towards Pixar for it’s lack of women directors. Brenda Chapman has been the only female director to take the helm of a feature film for 2012’s Brave,<\/em> but due to creative differences she was replaced by Mark Andrews halfway through production. Morris brought up that Pixar is indeed trying to fix this problem and make the company more diverse in regards to more\u00a0opportunities\u00a0for female storytellers.<\/p>\n

“One thing we\u2019re trying to do is to expand the roster of directors. We\u2019re trying to build the next generation and make the company more diverse, to get a breadth of voices to tell a range of stories. We\u2019re 37 percent female at the moment, and we\u2019d like to be 50 percent. We don\u2019t have a lot of turnover at Pixar though, which makes that somewhat challenging!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before concluding the interview, Morris was able to dish that there is some NEW<\/strong> original content in the works for a series of films\u00a0on top of the already scheduled (and very anticipated) studio line-up.<\/p>\n

“We have a bunch of confirmed titles. There\u2019s\u00a0Finding Dory<\/em>\u00a0later this year. We\u2019re working on\u00a0The Incredibles 2<\/em>,\u00a0Cars 3<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Toy Story 4<\/em>. Dan Scanlon, who did\u00a0Monsters University<\/em>\u00a0is working on an original film. Mark Andrews, who directed\u00a0Brave,<\/em>\u00a0is working on one, too. We have a new director called Brian Phee, who is working on a new movie, and we have a few shorts that are in the works. I can\u2019t say much more than that or I\u2019ll get in trouble!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s certainly strange thinking that far into the future about films at Pixar, but\u00a0exciting to know there is some awesome content brewing at the studio and a new director in the loop. Be sure to check out the rest of the interview with Jim Morris over at Time Out<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Morris has been\u00a0president of Pixar Animation Studios since 2005. He came to Pixar after working for a lengthy period at\u00a0Lucas Digital. While at LucasFilm,\u00a0he\u00a0helped make a slew of films including\u00a0Harry Potter, Jurassic Park,\u00a0and Star Wars; just to name a few. During a\u00a0recent interview with Time Out: Hong Kong, Morris gave\u00a0readers a little glimpse behind …<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,194,31,135,81,13,102,2,123],"tags":[198,199,200,162],"yoast_head":"\nPixar President Jim Morris Gives Insight Into The Studio's Creative Process - Upcoming Pixar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pixar President Jim Morris Gives Insight Into The Studio's Creative Process - Upcoming Pixar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jim Morris has been\u00a0president of Pixar Animation Studios since 2005. He came to Pixar after working for a lengthy period at\u00a0Lucas Digital. While at LucasFilm,\u00a0he\u00a0helped make a slew of films including\u00a0Harry Potter, Jurassic Park,\u00a0and Star Wars; just to name a few. During a\u00a0recent interview with Time Out: Hong Kong, Morris gave\u00a0readers a little glimpse behind …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Upcoming Pixar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/upcomingpixar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-09T20:16:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com\/upcomingpixar\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JimMorris-Main.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"482\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"722\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nia Alavezos\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@upcomingpixar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@upcomingpixar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nia Alavezos\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/\",\"name\":\"Pixar President Jim Morris Gives Insight Into The Studio's Creative Process - Upcoming Pixar\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-09T20:16:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-09T20:16:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a5a08c9e7a00c34df5ddcb8daf8a98\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pixar President Jim Morris Gives Insight Into The Studio's Creative Process\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Upcoming Pixar\",\"description\":\"A Pixar News Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a5a08c9e7a00c34df5ddcb8daf8a98\",\"name\":\"Nia Alavezos\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c8582e61cd933a0cafc171c298069f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c8582e61cd933a0cafc171c298069f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nia Alavezos\"},\"description\":\"Nia Alavezos is a storyteller based in Cardiff, Wales. She recently made the great pilgrimage across the pond from sunny Los Angeles to pursue her dreams of living abroad. With over 6 years of animation experience (from working in the trenches on The Tom and Jerry Show at Renegade Animation to The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants at DreamWorks) she hopes to provide a unique commentary to Pixar's films, culture, and animation.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/author\/nia-alavezos\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pixar President Jim Morris Gives Insight Into The Studio's Creative Process - Upcoming Pixar","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pixar President Jim Morris Gives Insight Into The Studio's Creative Process - Upcoming Pixar","og_description":"Jim Morris has been\u00a0president of Pixar Animation Studios since 2005. He came to Pixar after working for a lengthy period at\u00a0Lucas Digital. While at LucasFilm,\u00a0he\u00a0helped make a slew of films including\u00a0Harry Potter, Jurassic Park,\u00a0and Star Wars; just to name a few. During a\u00a0recent interview with Time Out: Hong Kong, Morris gave\u00a0readers a little glimpse behind …","og_url":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/","og_site_name":"Upcoming Pixar","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/upcomingpixar","article_published_time":"2016-02-09T20:16:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":482,"height":722,"url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com\/upcomingpixar\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JimMorris-Main.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nia Alavezos","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@upcomingpixar","twitter_site":"@upcomingpixar","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nia Alavezos","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/","url":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/","name":"Pixar President Jim Morris Gives Insight Into The Studio's Creative Process - Upcoming Pixar","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-09T20:16:24+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-09T20:16:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a5a08c9e7a00c34df5ddcb8daf8a98"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/jim-morris-interview\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pixar President Jim Morris Gives Insight Into The Studio's Creative Process"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/","name":"Upcoming Pixar","description":"A Pixar News Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a5a08c9e7a00c34df5ddcb8daf8a98","name":"Nia Alavezos","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c8582e61cd933a0cafc171c298069f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c8582e61cd933a0cafc171c298069f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nia Alavezos"},"description":"Nia Alavezos is a storyteller based in Cardiff, Wales. She recently made the great pilgrimage across the pond from sunny Los Angeles to pursue her dreams of living abroad. With over 6 years of animation experience (from working in the trenches on The Tom and Jerry Show at Renegade Animation to The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants at DreamWorks) she hopes to provide a unique commentary to Pixar's films, culture, and animation.","url":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/author\/nia-alavezos\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/upcomingpixar.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JimMorris-Main-482x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/upcomingpixar.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JimMorris-Main-482x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Nia Alavezos","author_link":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/author\/nia-alavezos\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}