The Wonders of Pixar Animation

“Computers don't create computer animation anymore than a pencil creates pencil animation. What creates computer animation is the artist,” says John Lasseter. John Lasseter is a pixar animation worker who knows all about the long history of this worldwide known company. From when they were just a small branch of a company to now. Their smart talented workers each bring different helpful things to the company. And lastly their small, but important films. Now, the next time you sit down for a movie you may want to give it an extra thought on how difficult it is to create a Pixar film.

From Something Small to Amazing

In the beginning, Pixar was just a small branch of a company called New York Institute of Technology. It was only a small group who had little to no knowledge on animation. They set a goal that they could and would make computer graphics better then they were at the time. And before they knew it they had changed computer animation forever, but not before they went through a crazy roller coaster.

Eventually, the small branch broke off and went to Lucas Films (Ltd). The small branch brought friends and helpers with them, in an effort to help them grow. While they were at Ltd they successfully created the pixar computer (an animation computer). Then they made the smart decision to hire John Lasseter a former disney animator. He brought knowledge, experience, and much needed help to them. John Lasseter took advantage of the technology and used the computer to create many short films, but soon enough they were sold to Steve Jobs.

When sold to Steve Jobs he became there owner and they became an independent company, called “Pixar Animation Studios”. When Steve Jobs saw their advanced technology his original intentions were to market it, but they ended up making many successful movies with it. For example Toy Story there very first movie; it was loved worldwide and truly did change animation forever. This was only the beginning to Pixar's major success.

Eventually, even though they had much success with Steve Jobs he made an ultimate decision to sell them to Disney, so that they could partner on movies. When they were finally working together they combined there technology to create advanced and well put together movies. Soon enough they had a new president (Catmull). He was also named the president for Disney. And due to all of their success Disney and Pixar are still currently working together.(Pixar,2019 and Britannica school, 2019).

When you look at the detailed cartoon like characters in an animated movie you don't think of how they were made. Your mind is glued to follow the story plot, but in reality it is much more than the plot. As an illustrator its not making it however you want; its making it how the diretor is asking. As illustrator Jay Shuster says ¨He passes his ideas to me and I interpret them into 2-D¨ this explains the difficulties of creating a character. It's like taking an idea and turning it into reality. When you create these fictional characters you use references, and you look at them in a different way. For example when Jay Shuster was working on a tractor that was supposed to look like a cow he looked at the tractor and imagined a cow over it. This helped him succeed in what the director was asking.

Also, another thing that is looked past on is directing. You wouldn't think there even is the need to direct when its animated, but it is very important. When you are a director you set the goal and you have one of the final says of what goes into the movie, but with that there is a hard part. There are multiple illustrators creating different characters, and scenes for a movie so everyday you are asked a bunch of questions. This may not seem hard, but it can be very overwhelming. As director Brad Bird would say “Directing is like getting a barrage of questions”. And on top of it all teams bring these great ideas to the directors and the directors know its great, but they have to say no. It's also hard for the directors because when they show the movie everyone whos working on it is begging them to say yes, but sometimes they have to send it back because they know it could be better. (Pixar.Disney, 2016 and Susan hutchinson, 2018)

One thing Pixar has been doing for the longest time is short films. They started by just making commercials to releasing one with almost every movie. It's a common hobby that the workers share. They use them to give workers who usually don't get to be the leader take a small step to show there co workers what they can do. As a result, the workers have used these small things to tell meaningful stories with just pictures. They think it is an important part of there future and they hope it will carry on. They may not sound like much, but these powerful films can send a tear trickling down your cheek.

A new experiment they think can help the workers are sparkshorts. They have six months exactly to work on an animated short film with words. Not only is it a way for workers to tell personal experiences in a story form, but it benefits the workers. Therefore, these new workers are able to expose themselves to new techniques and skills. It lets there boss see what there capable of, and there strengths and weaknesses. The first Pixar sparkshort to come out was purl. It was like nothing Pixar had ever done before, but it ended up being a new thing that they would continue to do.

Lastly, it is very important to the workers so that they can prove themselves. Its an area were they can find new helpful skills from their co workers. Where they can learn new skills they didn't know they were capable of. They were created for these workers to show what they can do so that they are trusted more. They are almost like very important pop quizzes frustrating, but worth it. (Pixar, 2019)

As you can see, the process and hard work put into making a Pixar film is much more difficult than expected. Just to get to where they are put them on a long roller coaster. They made many changes until they finally found one that worked. And the many workers who spend hours on making the best decisions for the movie and their illustrations. Lastly, the small films that are making such a difference. Pixar Animation Studios is an example of how advanced technology has come. When setting the goal to change computer graphics they could have never dreamed to make it this far, but look at it. They successfully are making films that are animated look so real. Just imagine what our futures hold in the animated world.

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