In January, I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with John Lasseter before he accepted the Windsor McCay lifetime achievement award. He’s a great guy and very generous with his time so we (my friend who wrote the interview in Japanese) decided to make something to thank him for spending some time with us. Together we wrote a book with her writing and me drawing the artwork. Here’s the result:
Preview on lulu for those who want to read the whole thing:
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If you have any comments or suggestions, let me know. I can’t really do anything to change it, which includes some much needed editing, but any feedback would be helpful! Thanks!
Thanks lennonluvr9! Here’s more of the artwork which includes a few references to favorite pixar films. We didn’t use the storyboards because Yumi didn’t like my design of her. I included these board in the back of the book as extra features:
What do you guys think of the caricatures of John, Andrew and Doug? I think they need some work but the rabbit is ok
jeremyhopkins - Wow. What an undertaking. Both your work and your friends’ contributions are most impressive. I’m sure Mr. Lasseter will appreciate your efforts and dedication!
(Concerning the caricatures, I also like how Alec (the rabbit) turned out. John, Andrew, and Doug could use a bit of work, I suppose, but that’s simply my personal opinion. Other than that, it looks great! deviantArt before. I always thought that it was pretty sophisticated as compared to most of the other Pixar-related compositions up there.])
Wow, that must’ve been one big project! This is the sort of thing that a creative individual like Mr. Lasseter would be proud of! I love the simplistic but effective style of the art work and, as the others have said, the caricatures are brilliant. My favourite has to be the posing Mr. Lasseter, though I’m surprised he hasn’t got a Hawaiian shirt under that suit! Congratulations to you, jeremyhopkins, and also to your friend, for creating such a beautiful book!
Yeah, John is a great guy and I felt very fortunate to speak with him, Doug Sweetland, Ed Catmull, the lovely and sweet Debby Coleman, James Baxter and Dean Deblois. Looking back at the experience, what I take away is to do what you love to do. John loves his work and has a vast knowledge on all things Disney & film in general. He took a chance to stay with Pixar and made it great. That would be my advice to the Pixar fans out there who can’t speak directly with John - Do what you love to do, take risks when you feel passionately about something, and strive to make something special that will resonate with your audience. Then you won’t have to travel to Burbank or Emeryville because what makes Pixar special is always with you.
Thanks everyone for your kind words and for anyone planning to send a thank you letter(or book), it is a good idea to print out and proofread. Some of the grammar typos are really embarrassing but I couldn’t change them after the book was printed… gah! I don’t know if John liked the book or not because there was no response but he deserved a sincere ‘thank you’ for giving us some of his time. It was also in the tradition of the Japanese reporter I was helping to thank her guests. She sent Peter Jackson and Orlando Bloom a huge $100 book of all the photos she took of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ premiere.
Wow, that’s an amazing and very generous work you’ve done for PIXAR, jeremyhopkins! Congratulations on meeting John Lasseter and great job with your work!
Congratulations to you, 
