9781422270462

that would have welcomed his leadership and business brilliance, but it was Pixar that attracted his attention. With Jobs overseeing the company, success was on the horizon, but it would be necessary to overcome some rocky patches along the way. The company’s first notable product, the Pixar Image Computer, was a game-changer. Lasseter put it to masterful use, producing Luxo Jr ., a two-minute animated short that earned an Oscar nomination in 1987. Two years later, Lasseter delivered Tin Toy , which nabbed an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. It was a reputation booster for Pixar, and innovations such as CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) and Renderman (rendering interface software) pushed it into the industry spotlight. While Pixar’s software and short productions were raking in acclaim and shiny awards to show off, its computer hardware business was leaking money and putting serious financial strain on the company. So, in 1990, Jobs sold off Pixar’s hardware division. All that remained were the 42 employees in Lasseter’s growing animation department. They worked on commercials and a few short pieces for Nickelodeon and Sesame Street , but profits were scarce and Jobs pondered selling the company. In the movie-making business, however, timing is everything, and a little sprinkle of luck never hurts, either. As Pixar’s profile was growing in the world of animation, The Walt Disney Company was dabbling with new animation techniques, too. Riding the success of The Little Mermaid in 1989, Disney executives were primed to explore other opportunities to innovate and create animated films. When Pixar pitched an idea for a potential Christmas-themed project, Disney responded with an even better offer: a massive $26 million deal to produce three computer-animated feature films, the first of which would be a movie called Toy Story .

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To Infinity and Beyond