I believe that in one of the articles posted on this site a while back it was mentioned that Brad Bird liked the style of working employed at Pixar and wanted to work that way on 1906. If he does return to animation, I don’t see him going anywhere other than Pixar, especially after the marketing mess that happened with The Iron Giant (unless he wants to make a traditionally animated feature, in which case he might have to go elsewhere). His biggest successes so far were with Pixar. I think that the Mission Impossible thing is a way for him to prove that he can direct live-action so that he can do his own projects, not neccesarily because he feels like leaving Pixar.
As for induvidual animators etc. leaving the company, I think that’s a fairly natural thing for them to do anyway. Some people may change companies for a change of pace, others because there’s a project they really want to be involved with, some becaause they’d like to move to a more important position. Also, it may come down to what work is available, and how good the pay and hours are. If one company pays less for more hours, then you’d probably feel more inclined to go elsewhere. But I don’t know what the pay is for animators generally, so I can’t say much.
IMO, one of the most disappointing departures was the one from Doug Sweetland, he was hired by Sony to direct the computer-animated film called The Familiars.
It may seeem like a downer and a loss, but one must keep in mind that they’re also hiring new, fresh talent as well. A lot of art and animation grads straight out of college may have less expirience, yet they also bring a lot new stuff to the table.
And look at Unkrich. He was originally a film editor, and now he’s a director, and made (arguably) the most successful Pixar film.
I wouldn’t say Pixar is ‘losing’ anyone. I mean neither Andrew Stanton or Brad Bird have said they are officially leaving Pixar or anything like that. I’m sure it’s just temporary. I mean if they want to try Live Action they can and they can’t do it at Pixar, so I can see why they went to other studios to do that.
Can’t think of too many creative folks who like to stay in one place doing the same thing for the same compensation…especially directors. Woody Allen worked in a “rut” at Orion for many years, but most relationships between directors and studios are pretty fluid. It’s a fair guess that talented Pixar alumni will always have a home in Emeryville if the wheel turns 'round that way. No worries here about staff rotations at Pixar…
That’s very true, they are after all still on the Brain Trust and active at Pixar. For expample, Stanton was a Co-Producer on Up and helped work on the story for Toy Story 3. I think everyone’s overeacting about this, and as I’ve said before new blood only makes them stronger.
Exactly. There will always be a cycle. It’s sad that some of the more experienced artists are leaving or trying out other ventures, but creative people don’t tend to stay in the same studio for their whole life. They like to try out new things and find new challenges. It also leaves room for the new talent and come in and grow; providing their fresh ideas.
Pixar won’t die any time soon. The incoming talent will learn from the old and keep the company running at it’s top standards. And there’s still plenty of Pixar veterans working at the studio still.
I agree about the cycle of fresh talent, although I would like to see directors like Bird and Stanton return to direct animation at Pixar.
It’s somewhat parting from the original thread topic, but isn’t it a strange thing to imagine Pixar several decades from now? We see WDFA as this untouchable thing that most if not all generations living today grew up with (that meaning it existed when they were young, not that they saw it in theaters); for instance, my grandparents were children when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was first released. What if Pixar becomes the same way, but perhaps even better? What if they have thirty, fourty, FIFTY films before I’m dead? We’re essentially witnessing history in the making, the beginning of something that could grow to be even more fantastic and magical… Good gosh, that warms my heart to think about.
I’d definitely like to see Bird and Stanton come back to direct at Pixar too!
That is a really interesting point. I hope Pixar is the same way. I’d love to see Pixar’s growth for decades to come! And how awesome would it be for some of us to be working together at Pixar sometime in the future; be the fresh talent!
I agree with this. I want new artists for them, but those two made some of the better PIXAR films(IMO, excluding the Toy Story series), and it breaks my heart to see them work somewhere else.
There are A LOT of talented people out there who would love to work for Pixar. And with the success that Pixar has had since 95, they know what to look for in a person. Like others have said, it’s great that they are getting fresh new talent in there. People moving on was bound to happen one day. And nobody lives forever. The torch will have to be passed one day. Getting new people in their, and having them learn how Pixar does things early, will keep them from being in the situation Studio Ghilbli may find themselves in in five years or so.
I believe I have stated my views in another thread (I think the ‘Brenda Chapman/Brave’ thread) about the importance of ‘succession planning’. The Brain Trust is a brilliant business and creative strategy, but even it has shortcomings if it’s not continually revitalized with a new generation of leaders and decision-makers.
As much as we love Lasseter, Bird, Docter, and Stanton, they’ve already directed a fair amount of films. It’s been more than fifteen years since Pixar’s first feature, and it’s time for new storytellers to step up to the plate (we’ve seen that with Unkrich and Sohn).
Dreamworks surprisingly has little directorial mainstays (which might explain their lack of consistency and quality), but at least they give everyone, as the Aussies would say, a ‘fair go’. Don’t get me started on Blue Sky or Studio Ghibli (which has pretty much only one Brazilian and Japanese director. respectively).
So I don’t think Pixar is ‘losing’ anyone so much as gaining new voices and visionaries to lead the company into the next decade.
As for folks like Romano, Chapman, and Sweetland leaving the studio, they have the ‘right’ to do so, whether it be over creative differences, political manipulations, or simple ‘competitive offers’ from rivals. And the way the film industry works, unless you seriously ‘burned your bridges’, you are always welcome back (as Lasseter would tell you with regards to Disney).
I’m not sure about Brad Bird, but I cant see Andrew Stanton staying away from animation and Pixar for very long. And like its been mentioned, they keep getting new people too. To paraphrase a certain evil bear: When those people leave, new ones come in. When THOSE people leave, new ones come in And maybe after doing the same thing with the same company for awhile people just wanna move on or switch to something else for a little bit. I guess you’d just have to wait and see who comes back.
…I am sure there is a reason for leaving, whoever is leaving… a lot of good people already left, and some of them haven’t talked about Pixar very pleasantly. You are just mentioning directors, but you are forgetting all artists like TD, Environment and character artists, students, producers… Pixar is switching people a lot and even it looks like its great to work there, its very tough. We all love their movies, their work etc… but nobody really tells you what is the true. Anyway, who cares right? but most of the people who worked there are saying, that Dreamworks is the best place to work at. My opinion? I would go to small starting cg studio, where the environment is not like micro-management and all leaders don’t jump on your back and fire you, when some little problem happened.
I hope the same goes for BB.