3D World opens the doors to Pixar and discovers the secrets of the studio that changed animation forever

Now a household name the world over, Pixar Animation Studios began life in 1979 when it was simply known as the Graphics Group, part of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm. It wasn’t until it was acquired by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 1986 that two early Pixarians, Alvy Ray Smith and Loren Carpenter, devised the name Pixar from a made-up Spanish verb that they thought could mean ‘to make pictures’.

Initially conceived as a high-end computer hardware company, Pixar primarily sold its Pixar Image Computer to government agencies and the medical community, while John Lasseter’s animation department produced commercials for companies such as Tropicana, Listerine and LifeSavers. The studio’s first foray into animated shorts, 1986’s Luxo Jr., proved a game changer for animated filmmaking by using three-dimensional computer animation to tell the simple yet effective story of two charming desk lamps.

Almost a decade later, on 22 November 1995, Pixar forever altered the future of filmmaking with the release of its first feature film, Toy Story. Since then Pixar’s history has been one of powerful storytelling and technical innovation. 3D World spoke to current Pixar president Jim Morris, chief creative officer Pete Docter, chief technology officer Steve May, production designer Bob Pauley, and producer Kori Rae, to find out how they changed an industry and remained at its cutting edge for another 34 years and counting.

“THEY SHOWED US TOY STORY, AND WE KNEW EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO CHANGE AT THAT POINT”
Jim Morris, president, Pixar

TOY STORY AND BEYOND

Jim Morris, who worked for ILM as a producer of VFX at the time, remembers the ripples Pixar made in the lead up to Toy Story. “At the time animation had kind of hit the trough,” he tells 3D World. “It was after the big success of things like The Little Mermaid at Disney.” With the glory days of 2D animation seemingly in the rear view, Morris recalls the buzz within the tech world as Pixar’s three-dimensional shorts began appearing at industry events. “When The Adventures of André & Wally B. showed up, even unfinished, at SIGGRAPH it just blew everyone away,” he adds.

It wasn’t until Morris and George Lucas took a trip to Pixar’s original headquarters in Point Richmond that he realised 3D animation was only half of the studio’s achievement. “They showed us Toy Story,” he recalls, “and we knew everything was going to change at that point. Not only had they done something so technologically innovative, but the story was so good. I remember thinking, ‘this is like Casablanca’. It was a magnificent work of cinema, even with the limitations of the time.”