A day or two ago, my dad invited me into his workroom so as he could show me an interesting e-mail that he had recently received from a friend of his. Upon hearing the word “Brad Bird” be mentioned, I was instantly intrigued. So, my dad drew up the e-mail, clicked on a link embedded within it, and showed me this:
I’m unsure as to whether or not any of you have seen this old photograph before, but I found it to be pretty neat. My dad personally knew/knows… ohh… 90% of the people in that snapshot, including Brad Bird and John Lasseter. (I spotted Brad Bird right away, as I’d seen a dated photograph of him before and already knew what he looked like back then. Lasseter is pretty easy to spot. Heheh.)
They have the same photo in the To Infinity and Beyond! book.
John Lasseter looks pretty much the same, but I had to do a double take on Brad Bird - he looks so different. I think it’s 'cause back then he had dark hair and now it’s turned to blonde(?). There’s someone else from Pixar too, but I’ve forgotten which one.
I have seen that picture before in the book To Infinity and Beyond!.
May I ask, Mitch, when did your dad meet the people in the photo, all at once, or slowly through his career?
So it’s in the To Infinity and Beyond! book, as well? Interesting. I’ve flipped through that book before, but I must have missed that particular photograph.
rachel - Yeah, Brad Bird looks like… Weird Al’, or something. It’s the hair. (snigger)
martini - My dad worked at Disney Studios with John Lasseter, Brad Bird, and (I think) Joe Ranft back in the late seventies/early eighties when The Fox and the Hound was being produced. (I’m unsure as to whether or not any of them received credit for working on the film, as a good majority of the artists at Disney Studios weren’t mentioned in the credits back then.)
I think one of the individuals pictured in the photograph was a student of his – Nancy Beiman (Belman?), I believe. (I’m not entirely sure, though.)
Most of those other people are folks that he knows personally or by name. I take it that he met them over time during his career. He was pointing out each person to my mom, sister, and I while we were observing the photograph, mentioning who they were and (at times) how he was connected to those folks in the business. I don’t know any of those guys, save for John Lasseter and Brad Bird (and I’ve heard of John Musker).
Heh. I thought it was funny that, when I met Brad Bird back in February of this year, my mom asked him (Brad) if he remembered my dad, and he did. I have no idea as to whether or not they were buds, though. (snigger)
I don’t know where I’ve seen that photo before, but I have seen it. I don’t have the To Infinity and Beyond book, but perhaps I’ve seen that photo on the internet or something. Either way, it’s so cool seeing what the most important people at Pixar looked like all that time ago! Thanks for showing us that, Mitch. Your dad is so lucky to have met such amazing artists and animators way back then.
Ditto on you and your dad being so lucky…
I couldn’t find John Lasseter, so it’s a surprise to see he was so much…slimmer back then.
Strangely, the first person I recognised was Brad Bird, if only because of his eyes. I must say, though, the hairstyle and glasses kinda looked like Mr Stanton at first glance…
Wow Mitch! That’s so awesome that your dad knows them! Talk about six degrees of separation! Me knowing you > Mitch’s dad > John Lasseter/Brad Bird! I feel special hehe
I haven’t seen this photo before so it took me a while to find John Lasseter and Brad Bird. Actually, I definitely recognized John Lasseter, but it took me a while to find Brad Bird. I ended up looking at the caption. I thought he was the one in the white shirt, second from the right?
ilikepinatas - Ha-ha. Yep, it’s pretty cool having connections.
Unfortunately, the image appears to have been removed, and I can’t seem to find it on that website anymore. However, I think that Brad Bird was the fellow in the black shirt, as rachelcakes1985 guessed.
