The quote above comes from Ed Catmull.I love a story about people who were absolutely clueless in the face of the “opportunity of their lifetime,” but they worked together relentlessly until they figured it out, realizing later they’d created history. Today, when we think of animation, Pixar is the first name that comes to mind for most of us. Before 1995, it was Disney. Did you know what changed that overnight? Toy Story. Buzz and Woody not only revolutionized animation forever, but they also stand as a quiet testimony to the biggest bet made by artists on machines and technology. Let’s explore how the bet not only worked out for Pixar, but by the time Toy Story 3 was released in 2010, they had become synonymous with animation. Flashback to the 1990sPixar's Academy Award-winning short film Tin Toy (1988), starring Tinny, a tin one-man-band toy, impressed Disney executives. Seeing the potential, Disney reached out to Pixar. In 1991, Pixar signed a deal with Disney for $26 million to jointly develop, produce, and distribute three feature-length animated films (per Time Magazine).Signing the deal was undoubtedly brave on Pixar’s part and definitely a massive gamble. The company was founded in the 1970s and had only worked on short films and commercials so far. Nobody had any production expertise on feature-length animations. Success meant creating the software and the hardware to accommodate it. The work was as ambitious as “inventing a new kind of movie altogether,” according to Time.In his interview with Time,...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Tuesday, 1 July