9781422277379

such as Despicable Me Chance of Meatballs . In this book we’ll explore the ways these companies contributed to the growth of computer animation. We’ll take an up-close look at how the Pixar story unfolded, including the studio’s earliest days doing special effects for other movies and a short-lived stint selling computers for medical imaging. We’ll meet charismatic early investor— and later full owner—Steve Jobs, and find out how his unconventional ap- proach to business and technology helped open up new possibilities for animators. We’ll track the company’s rapid rise through the ranks of the film world through the 1990s and early 2000s—a period of tremendous growth that saw the release of such instant classics as The Incredibles but was complicated by business deals with Disney. Throughout it all, we’ll focus on the game-changing technology of digital animation and its relationship to the creative process. As Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter has expressed the company’s phi- losophy, “Art challenges technology, and technology inspires art.” Read on to find out more about the growth and development of that technol- ogy—as well as where it’s headed in the future. With the creative, com- mitted Pixar team at the helm—and other digital animation companies nipping at their heels—you never know what’s in store. and Cloudy with a

Jeffrey Katzenberg was one of the founders of DreamWorks.

Introduction

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