Somehow I either missed or forgot that The Pixar Story was on my WALL-E DVD. Then Sophie mentioned it in another thread and I got to looking and found that I had it. So last night I decided to watch it.
I think it runs about an hour and 20 minutes long. I honestly could have watched longer if there was more material. I've loved Pixar movies since they started, though I didn't know as much about how the company began. This covers John Lasseter first studying animation and then getting a job at Disney. I had no clue that he'd worked there before. That didn't go well at the time, but in the long run, what happened was probably for the best because that allowed him to take the job with the group that became Pixar when they were still part of ILM. I enjoyed hearing about the early projects and even the trouble they had with
Toy Story to begin with - because of Eisner wanting the story to be more edgy. The most is shared about
Toy Story, though there is a decent amount for
A Bug's Life and
Toy Story 2, including how everyone at Pixar felt the material sucked while Disney said it was good enough...so they decided to start over. That dedication to making a good movie with a strong story is why their movies have been so successful. This was made in 2007, so the last few movies aren't included and there is only a short little clip of
Ratatouille. It would have been nice if there had been a bit more shared about some of the other movies.
There is a lot of footage showing them working on various projects over the years that I thought was really interesting. Some footage of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen doing the voices for Toy Story is shown. Interviews with the different animators are shared and are very interesting. Some of the people who have done voices for the movies are also featured. Steve Jobs is featured - I wasn't completely sure of what his part in the company was before, though I had heard there was one. The issues that came up between Disney and Pixar before Eisner was replaced is covered, along with how that situation worked out once the new guy took over at Disney - I have forgotten his name at the moment.
This is wonderful and definitely worth watching for anyone who likes Pixar movies.
By the way...Eisner is an idiot. I've felt that way for several years now, but some of what is shared in this about his decisions involving Pixar and animated movies in general just cements that feeling. Thank goodness he isn't at Disney anymore.
