The Pixar Story

This film was included in the special edition DVD of "WALL-E" and that is how I first saw it. "The Pixar Story" is my favourite documentary of all time and that is mostly because I am biased. I have been a Pixar fan since 1995 and my love for the studio has grown with each new feature film they have released. "The Pixar Story" taught me new things and gave me explanation on why I like Pixar so much & why they are so successful. A lot of people, events and films led to the creation of this studio and after achieving a record number of hit Hollywood movies, a documentary about this amazing studio was warranted. "The Pixar Story" is very inspirational because of the stories of those working there. My goal with this review is to articulate what makes the documentary special without writing a synopsis. I must mention some plot points in order to best critique the film however.

I don't know why I didn't make the connection until now but the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind this documentary (Leslie Iwerks) is the granddaughter of Disney legend Ub Iwerks, who helped to create Mickey Mouse and the Silly Symphonies of the 1930's among other things. Some of his work is included in the opening montage of the nearly one hundred year old history of animation. There are Disney clips of Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Mary Poppins but also of non-Disney animated sources such as Felix the Cat, Bugs Bunny and "Gerald McBoing-Boing". The montage concludes in such a powerful way because of the editing, sound and music. The CGI lamp transitions into its final form as it hits the ball and then Buzz Lightyear echoes this revolutionary piece of animation by saying his signature line before leaping off the bed knob. "The Pixar Story" credits the success of Pixar to three men who played different roles at the studio but shared the same passion and drive for what they did individually. You have "the animator" (John Lasseter), "the investor" (Steve Jobs) and "the computer guy" (Edwin Catmull). Had it not been for Jobs' passing, he probably would be still involved at Disney/Pixar. The most important quote of Lasseter's in my opinion came from this documentary and it is spoken very early on: "The art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art". This is one theme of the documentary and more themes will be examined later. In telling Lasseter's story, we hear about his time at CalArts. We can be pretty sure that this is the "A-113 group" that is referenced in numerous animated films and not just those coming out of Pixar. This is where animators from the Golden Age of Animation at Disney (such as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston) passed the metaphorical baton of the industry to those who would later bring about the Disney Renaissance (namely John Musker, Ron Clements, Don Hahn, Glen Keane and others). It was in the classroom A-113 where "unplanned collaboration" started to bear fruit and something that Steve Jobs would later encourage and maintain at Pixar. It wasn't until I saw this documentary that I learned that "The Brave Little Toaster" was Lasseter's film originally. I grew up with that movie as a kid. It was supposed to be Lasseter's directorial debut and would have combined 2D animated characters with computer backgrounds. This was not to be because of the lack of vision of the heads of the Disney Studio's at the time. Lasseter was fired from Disney after his "Toaster" pitch. The documentary makes you feel the tragedy of this event, almost as if Walt Disney was fired from his own studio. One piece of evidence of this being a tragic mistake for Disney that is not mentioned in the documentary is the eventual success of "The Brave Little Toaster" once it was made.

There is a nice transition from Lasseter's storyline to that of Ed Catmull. It is done using another theme of "The Pixar Story", which is the misunderstanding of the future and its technology. A common fear mentioned throughout the film is that computers would replace 2D animation. The core fear that animators in the 1980's had was computers replacing creativity. Lasseter understood however that the computer is only a tool like a pencil. This would lead to some irony after Lasseter proved this ideology to the world. I love how "Star Wars" is first mentioned in the film because the use of the John Williams theme. Once Lasseter and Catmull joined up at Lucasfilm, they made "The Adventures of Andre and Wally B." and this is when Lasseter released how art and technology could feed off one another. He saw the limits of what he had but instead of feeling restricted, Lasseter felt like he was working on an ancient Mickey Mouse cartoon. In turn, he challenged the technical people working on the short film to invent ways to use his 2D animating skills in the computer. I like how George Lucas didn't just shut this graphic group down but rather supported them in the goals so that they could accomplish them independently. Enter Steve Jobs. I am grateful that "The Pixar Story" includes him as one of the "three founders". Other films about Steve Jobs made after his passing fail to mention this part of his career because it occurred during the time after he himself was "fired from his own studio". I am even sure that the success of Pixar in the mid-90's indirectly led to his return to Apple. Once Pixar started to make short films and software, Disney and Pixar began to work together. The company however began to lose money and at the same time, the Disney studio tried to coax Lasseter back to direct a feature film. This brings up a third theme of "The Pixar Story", that "sacrifice brings forth the blessings". Steve Jobs continued to invest in Pixar despite the losses and Lasseter stayed with the company instead of going back to Disney at that time. It seemed that the only way that Disney could capitalize on Lasseter as a director was to distribute the first Pixar feature film. Even though "Toy Story" was green-lit, its triumph seemed almost impossible after Black I-Forget-What-Day-of-the-Week-it-Was. I love the image of Grumpy at this point in the documentary. The creative story team at Pixar didn't despair for long but instead gave themselves the freedom for two to three weeks to do what they wanted without Disney interfering. The Disney Studio, who was ready to shut things down for good, finally saw the potential after this time period. Even the filmmakers were blown away with what they were seeing in its finished form and had faith in "Toy Story" but even they were blind to how big it would become.

The risks that Pixar would take were just getting started. After 1995, another daunting challenge for Pixar was to create a follow-up to their smash hit film. Jobs had first hand experience with the "second product syndrome". This is where companies were too grandiose and had aspirations that were too high, resulting in their second creation being a flop. Pixar had to continue to challenge themselves without getting carried away. They again immerged triumphant with "A Bug's Life". Lasseter made yet another sacrifice when he gave up much-deserved rest to fix "Toy Story 2". This is the decision I think I am most grateful for because that sequel is my favorite animated film and my favorite sequel. "The Pixar Story" explains for me why I like "Toy Story 2" more than "Toy Story 3". At first, Disney said that "Toy Story 2" was good enough to release in November of 1999 as is. But when Pixar went ahead anyway to redo the film, the Disney Studio released that nobody had time to approve anything. This additional freedom given to Pixar out of desperation helped to make "Toy Story 2" into another blockbuster. If that wasn't enough of a risk, Pete Docter was chosen to direct "Monsters, Inc.". As mentioned in the film, he hadn't been a co-director previous to this but that ended up not mattering. The evidence of this can be seen by the Oscars he would earn later in his career. The building that Pixar constructed for themselves is important to feature in "The Pixar Story" because it encourages unplanned collaboration and creativity. The offices inside for example start off as blank canvases and the animators are given the freedom to make them into what they want. After the success of "Monsters, Inc.", Andrew Stanton inherited the pressure of living up to his directorial predecessors with "Finding Nemo". I like how the documentary tells side stories of the production of the Pixar films. Twice in "The Pixar Story", we see animator Doug Sweetland and what thought processes he uses to create his scenes. This is important because it displays why Pixar is special. The stories of the films are more important than other aspects. The story drives Sweetland's work. You would think that Pixar wouldn't have a trouble in the world after "Finding Nemo" surpassed past successes of the studio but Pixar created their own "trouble" in order to fend off complacency and its consequences. They did this by inviting in an outside director to make his next project at Pixar. Brad Bird even brought along his colleagues who were only experienced in 2D animation. After Pixar achieved their sixth hit in a row with "The Incredibles", more drama came about for the studio. This brings up the aforementioned irony concerning the fear of the computer. Suddenly the animation industry, who were afraid of computer animation at one time, were now under the impression that CGI films were foolproof and that 2D animation was no longer relevant. Also, the contract between Disney and Pixar was about to expire and no one could be satisfied on a new contract. Things worked out though by way of a merger between the two.

"The Pixar Story" is one of the most inspiration films I have ever seen because of its themes and the ordering of its storytelling. There are plenty of underdog moments in the movie as well. Lasseter was fired from Disney, was asked to come back but didn't and now he is the creative head of both Disney and Pixar. Jobs' invested 10 million dollars and later made 132 million dollars from that investment. At the end of the film, legendary Disney animator Joe Grant likens John Lasseter to Walt Disney and he is right to do so. We then hear from Walt Disney himself via archival audio. Disney himself had setbacks and sacrificed along the way to achieving fame and fortune, as did Lasseter more recently. This documentary was made in 2007 and since then, Pixar has continued its financial winning streak. Tom Hanks feels like he is part of "Dumbo" or "Pinocchio" because of Pixar and his commitment to being the voice of Woody since the release of this documentary is evidence of this. Steve Jobs concludes the film by summarizing that over-night successes actually require more than what can be done in just one night. "The Pixar Story", which we have just watched, proves this.

5 Stars