THE GOLDEN FILM STUDIO
How Does Pixar Make Hit After Hit?
By John Stephan
From the late 1930s through the 1940s, animation was in what film historians call, its golden age. The world was introduced to such familiar toons such as Daffy Duck, Tweetie Bird, Droopy, and Bugs Bunny, cartoons such as Mickey Mouse and the rest of the fabulous five were in their prime, and Walt Disney showered the world with the birth of animated feature films, some of which stood as his greatest achievements to cinema. But in the infancy of this new millennium, perhaps another golden age for animation is before us thanks in large part to the most consistent American studio, Pixar.
Despite what many wish to believe, Pixar is not an over night success, it took several advances in technology, key financial risks, and the inspiration of one man, John Lasseter. Fresh from his studies in California (where he met future co-Animator, Brad Bird) Lasseter set his sights on Disney animation studios. There he began work as an animator on such features as The Fox & the Hound before he came across the marvels that were computer graphics. So drawn by this style of art he offered to create a film called The Brave Little Toaster all in computer graphics for Walt Disney studios, but when he tried to sell his idea to executes, they told him unless it is faster and costs less the answer would be no, and from there Lasseter was pushed out of Disney studios. But the story didn’t end there. Thanks to technological advances brought on by George Lucas and a financial investment by Steve Jobs of several millions, John Lasseter was given another shot at the world of computer animation, through a newly form independent studio known as Pixar.
In the early years of Pixar, the young studio tackled animated shorts including their first short, “Luxo Jr.,” the short gave them their famous mascot that appears alongside its logo at the beginning of all of their future feature films. Soon after the gates opened came Andrew Stanton, future director of the upcoming Wall-E. Amongst one of Stanton’s first contributions to the studio was a commercial for Tropicana involving a computer animated straw; in fact Pixar did campaigns for other companies such as Life Savers and Listerine. It would seem Pixar was sailing smoothly, but despite all of their artistic success with their animated shorts and commercials, the studio was loosing more money than it could rake in. They had to act big and quick, they needed something monumental, they needed a miracle, what they got was the first computer animated feature film - Toy Story.
With this new feature film, John Lasseter found himself right back where he started - Walt Disney Studios. Through this major animated studio, currently riding into a renaissance in animation of its own, they could widely distribute their product and earn them more income; so the team got to work. The team decided they wanted to create a story that appealed to children, but managed to entertain adults as well, and what begun as a relatively short film wound up into a running time stretching towards ninety minutes, far longer than any of them expected. To voice the leads to their cast of characters, Pixar signed up Tom Hanks, a young and upcoming actor fresh off his Oscar nominated role in Big, and Tim Allen, an already established stand-up comedian planting the roots to his new TV series, Home Improvement. After much deliberation and plain old hard work, the team pulled it together and wound up with a finished project, one that garner critical praise, an honorary Oscar, and raked in millions at the box office with a domestic and worldwide crown.
Floating on cloud nine, the Pixar team drove right into their next project, A Bug’s Life, one that would technologically push the team to their limits. One of the most difficult tasks that would be required for this film would be the thousands upon thousands of ants that needed to appear in crowd shots, but thanks to belief from director John Lasseter, he pushed his animators towards success, which is just what the film became. Sadly due in part to the release of the similar film Antz from DreamWorks, part of creativity of the story was diminished and a lackluster rivalry was born. Worn out by the stress of two computer animated feature films, Lasseter felt it was time to take a break and gave the next assignment, a direct to video sequel to Toy Story, to a secondary unit; little did he know this would be a grave decision…
When executives at Pixar came back to check up on the progress of Toy Story 2, not only were they disappointed, they deemed their product as unacceptable. The pressure only tighten as executives at Disney wanted the film to now be released in theatres and time was running out, it was basically a runaway wagon headed straight for a cliff. The Pixar team asked for more time to start over again, but were denied, so instead John Lasseter was summoned to save the day; with slumped shoulders and a folded frown, Lasseter took on the job. Starting with an inspirational rallying speech, Lasseter got the team back into spirit, and despite what Disney wished him to do, Lasseter did basically start from scratch leaving only a few elements from the original production in his new product, and in the passing months pulled of the impossible. Toy Story 2 met its release date, but surpassed everyone’s expectation earning that rare title as being as good or perhaps better than its predecessor, and gave the studio a Golden Globe for Best Picture - Musical or Comedy. But best of all Lasseter was finally able to receive the rest he had long deserved.
Pixar was now rolling in wealth, and from it they were able to buy their own studio lot in Emeryville. And with John Lasseter on his earned vacation, a new captain was to helm the ship of their next feature, veteran animator, Peter Doctor, his film: Monsters, Inc. Many executives doubted Doctor, but thanks to the same determination and creative freedom that had led to the previous three Pixar sensations, Monsters Inc. came together quite nicely, also thanks to the terrific voice talents of Billy Crystal and John Goodman, veterans in their own right. Come Oscar night, Monsters, Inc. would lose the nearly formed Best Animated Film category to their lackluster rivals DreamWorks and their film, Shrek.
However Pixar in the following year would shut DreamWorks away from the gold with their next computer animated film, Finding Nemo. With John Lasseter still resting, yet another new director would be needed, this time it was long time Pixarian, Andrew Stanton. Stanton got the idea for the film in the early nineties as he took his son to an aquarium and became captivated and lost in the ecosystem engulfing him. He was so mesmerized that he wished to share this same awe with the rest of the world, and he would with this next feature film. This time around, it was smooth sailing for the team, and their product came out just as smooth as the production, and audiences were just like Stanton back in that aquarium - captivated. The emotional adventure of a father trying to find his lost son touched millions, and the film quickly took on the title of the studio’s very best from many critics, and would prove to be their biggest financial success to date, winning the summer box office crown of 2003, and becoming the highest grossing animated film for its time, and is still the highest non-sequel animated film. And in the end, Finding Nemo found Oscar with the title Best Animated Film at the Academy Awards.
With five smash hits, it was time to shake things up at Pixar studios, and in came new blood, a man who would become a legend, John Lasseter’s old school mate, Brad Bird. His enthusiasm brought a revitalization to the animators there, and his own personal team from the under-appreciated critical hit The Iron Giant, which brought in new and fresh talent. Bird got his team straight to work on his superhero adventure, The Incredibles. Meanwhile at castle DreamWorks, they were concocting Shrek 2, but back at Pixar, Brad Bird didn’t rely on celebrity voice talent and silly pop-cultural jokes, instead he good old film fundamentals: well-kept pacing, traditionally solid storytelling, believable voice acting, stunning action, unique style, breathtaking animation, and of course an iconic score from Michael Giacchino. Needless to say The Incredibles astonishingly was nearly up to par with its last feature film, and while it may have lost the box-office battle to Shrek 2, it did best it in critical acclaim and at the Academy. The Incredibles would mark the second film in a row to garner a Best Animated Film Oscar for the studio. Incredible!
Not so incredible as what happened next, no not their next feature film, but an expired contract with long time partners Walt Disney Studios. As computer animation was sending traditional animators packing for home, a resentful Michael Eisner, former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, was reluctant to make any deals with Pixar. Things were looking grim for Pixar, as it was a sad day when Steve Jobs, the business end of Pixar, began looking for deals with other studios; it was even a sadder day when Eisner threatened to make sequels to the Pixar classics without their creator - Pixar. But by a stroke of luck, and maybe some old magic from old Walt himself, Michael Eisner got the boot and a new CEO came in, Robert Iger, and he knew exactly what kept Disney a success over the past few years, it was Pixar. One of the biggest deals in recent business history was made, and Disney bought Pixar; to insure Pixar could still keep its creative free spirit, Steve Jobs was appointed to the board, and John Lasseter was made a creative executive over both animation studios. Yes it was a glorious day, and perhaps a glorious future, for thanks to the new direction Lasseter and company set the studio to, traditional animation looks to make a rebound with Enchanted, and the upcoming animated features Reputnzel and The Frog Prince.
Finally John Lasseter was ready to reenlist back into the animation force as a director, and his long break would prove to be useful as his long family road trip (along with his racing fan for a father) inspired his next feature Cars. With Finding Nemo wrapping up, and The Incredibles production well under way, Lasseter began his next feature film. Drawing in a similar storyline from Doc Holiday, Lasseter got his project done with few problems unlike his previous three productions, but perhaps Lasseter works best under production as Cars would become the least critically acclaimed Pixar film to date. While far from a dud, Cars didn’t wow critics over, and failed to bring home an Oscar, but audiences as always ate it up, and the film was yet another financial success for the studio. Unfortunately during production, one of the original Pixarians, Joe Ranft, died in a car accident; the film was dedicated in his honor.
Even in the course of another feature film, the Pixar studio never slows down, as the studio is famous for overlapping productions, it is the best way to assure quality entertainment to come out almost every year. The new production would headed by a new director, Jan Pinkava; his story was that of a rat who wanted to cook. Quickly he got right away to the Parisian fable, Ratatouille, developing the story and the character models, but half-way into production, he came across a bump, and was to be replaced, by veteran Brad Bird. For whatever reason, Jan Pinkava left Pixar, but Brad Bird still honored him as a co-director and co-writer. The bump though would not even lay a flinch on Bird as his enthusiasm, much of which was carried over into the lead character Remy the rat, led to a product only perhaps Brad Bird could have achieved. Thanks once again to his fundamentals with storytelling, lighting, and just plain old animation, Bird created a piece of art that would drop the mouths of the hungriest elitists and critics leaving them drooling for more. The title of best Pixar film, some say was stolen from its previous owner with this film, while other outright call it the best animated film ever, a title held up come Oscar night as Ratatouille gurgled up the more nominations in different categories than any other animated film ever, and of course yet another Best Animated Film win for Brad Bird and Pixar. Ratatouille was truly a dish of gourmet proportions.
As Remy gazes at the Eiffel Tower in the young iconic image, the same wonder that fills him fills critics everywhere who, after the achievement of Ratatouille, have deemed this era a new golden age for animation, and perhaps they are right, for not only is Pixar delivering hit after hit, but so is animation genius Hayao Miyazaki, the proclaimed new Walt Disney, over in Japan. Maybe in the future Pixar might begin a rivalry with Miyazaki’s company, Ghibli, but only the future can tell. As for now, critics and audience await Pixar’s most recent addition to the cinema world, Wall-E. The science fiction romantic epic will wow audience come June 27 led by possibly the cutest conception by the studio, in the rolling little robot who share’s his name with the film’s title. Director of Finding Nemo, Andrew Stanton, believes he can capture the emotions of the silent film era through this stunning animation, and like his previous film once again touch the hearts of million. An well early word on the street says he doesn’t match Nemo, he surpasses it. When someone asked Brad Bird, what the secret formula was to making Pixar films, Brad Bird simply said, “We all are film fans. We make films we would like to see.” With Wall-E set to land soon, the horizon for Pixar seems limitless, and only time will tell if Pixar may ever land from that cloud nine they have been floating on for over ten years.
