Art of Pixar
On November 22, 1995, Pixar Animation Studios forever impacted the future of fi lmmaking, storytelling, and the medium of animation with its first feature film, Toy Story. Released nine years after the founding of Pixar, Toy Story exhibited years of creative and technical achievements from a small group of passionate computer scientists and animators, led by present-day president Ed Catmull and chief creative officer John Lasseter. The feature, marking the birth of the new medium of computer animation, went on to become the highest-grossing fi lm of 1995 with $362 million in worldwide box-office receipts. Lasseter, director of Toy Story, was honored with a Special Achievement Academy Award for his “inspired leadership of the Pixar Toy Story team resulting in the first feature-length computer-animated film.”
Since then, Pixar’s computer animation has been embraced by generations young and old alike, and has inspired many of today’s computer artists. This past summer, Disney/Pixar released its 12th CGI feature, Cars 2. Along the way, the studio also has created a number of beloved CG animated short films. Beginning with Pixar’s second movie, A Bug’s Life, the studio has presented a short film at the start of each subsequent feature. Often, they serve as a technological test for the artists working on a new technique.
To truly appreciate the artistry behind the more recent fi lms, we think a road trip is in order, a journey through time to witness the progression of this art form through the work of Pixar (and later, Disney/Pixar) artists as they continue to improve on the techniques and technologies used to create these treasured fi lms. On this page spread, we present images from the studio’s features, and on the next, images from its various shorts.