ixar Animation Studios, or simply
Pixar (
/ˈpɪksɑr/, stylized
PIXAR), is an American
computer animation film studio based in
Emeryville, California. The studio is best known for its
CGI-animated feature films created with
PhotoRealistic RenderMan, its own implementation of the industry-standard
RenderMan
image-rendering application programming interface used to generate
high-quality images. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of
the computer division of
Lucasfilm before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986 with funding by
Apple Inc. co-founder
Steve Jobs, who became its majority shareholder.
[1] The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion, a transaction which made Jobs Disney's largest shareholder.
Pixar has produced
thirteen feature films, beginning with
Toy Story (1995). It was followed by
A Bug's Life (1998),
Toy Story 2 (1999),
Monsters, Inc. (2001),
Finding Nemo (2003),
The Incredibles (2004),
Cars (2006),
Ratatouille (2007),
WALL-E (2008),
Up (2009),
Toy Story 3 (2010),
Cars 2 (2011), and
Brave (2012). Twelve of the films have received both critical and financial success, with the notable exception being
Cars 2, which, while commercially successful, received substantially less praise than Pixar's other productions.
[2] The studio has also produced several
short films. As of February 2013, its feature films have made over $7.7 billion worldwide,
[3] with an average worldwide gross of $596 million per film.
[4] Both
Finding Nemo and
Toy Story 3 are among the
50 highest-grossing films of all time, and all of Pixar's films are among the
50 highest-grossing animated films, with
Toy Story 3 being the all-time highest, grossing over $1 billion worldwide.
The studio has earned 27
Academy Awards, seven
Golden Globe Awards, and eleven
Grammy Awards, among many
other awards and acknowledgments. Since the award's inauguration in 2001, most of Pixar's films have been nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, with seven winning:
Finding Nemo,
The Incredibles,
Ratatouille,
WALL-E,
Up,
Toy Story 3, and
Brave.
Up and
Toy Story 3 are two of only three animated films to be nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. On September 6, 2009, executives
John Lasseter,
Brad Bird,
Pete Docter,
Andrew Stanton, and
Lee Unkrich were presented with the
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Biennale
Venice Film Festival. The award was presented by Lucasfilm founder
George Lucas.
History
Early history
Pixar's studio lot in Emeryville. The studio opened in November 2000.
Pixar was founded as The Graphics Group, which was one third of the Computer Division of
Lucasfilm that was launched in 1979 with the hiring of
Dr. Ed Catmull from the
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT),
[5] where he was in charge of the
Computer Graphics Lab (CGL). At NYIT, the researchers pioneered many of the CG foundation techniques—in particular the invention of the "
alpha channel" (by Catmull and
Alvy Ray Smith);
[citation needed] years later the CGL produced an experimental film called
The Works. After moving to Lucasfilm, the team worked on creating the precursor to
RenderMan,
called REYES (for "renders everything you ever saw"); and developed a
number of critical technologies for CG—including "particle effects" and
various animation tools.
In 1982, the team began working on film sequences with
Industrial Light & Magic on special effects.
[5] After years of research, and key milestones in films such as the Genesis Effect in
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and the Stained Glass Knight in
Young Sherlock Holmes,
[5] the group, which numbered 40 individuals back then,
[1] was spun out as a corporation in February 1986 with investment by Steve Jobs shortly after he left
Apple Computer.
[1] Jobs paid $5 million to George Lucas for technology rights and put them and $5 million cash as capital into the company.
[1]
A factor contributing to Lucas' sale was an increase in cash flow
difficulties following his 1983 divorce, which coincided with the sudden
dropoff in revenues from
Star Wars licenses following the release of
Return of the Jedi. The newly independent company was headed by Dr. Edwin Catmull as President and
Dr. Alvy Ray Smith as Executive Vice President. They were joined on the Board of Directors by Steve Jobs who was Chairman.
[1]
Initially, while awaiting the consequences of
Moore's law, that would reduce the cost of computing a film, Pixar was a high-end computer hardware company whose core product was the
Pixar Image Computer, a system primarily sold to government agencies and the medical community. One of the buyers of Pixar Image Computers was
Walt Disney Studios, which was using the device as part of their secretive
CAPS
project, using the machine and custom software (written by Pixar) to
migrate the laborious ink and paint part of the 2-D animation process to
a more automated and thus efficient method. The Image Computer never
sold well.
[6] In a bid to drive sales of the system, Pixar employee
John Lasseter—who had long been creating short demonstration animations, such as
Luxo Jr., to show off the device's capabilities—premiered his creations at
SIGGRAPH, the computer graphics industry's largest convention, to great fanfare.
[6]
As poor sales of Pixar's computers threatened to put the company out
of business, Jobs invested more and more money and took more and more
ownership away from the management and employees until after several
years he owned essentially all the company for a total investment of
$50 million. Lasseter's animation department began producing
computer-animated commercials for outside companies. Early successes
included campaigns for
Tropicana,
Listerine,
Life Savers and
Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
[7]
In April 1990 Pixar sold its hardware division, including all
proprietary hardware technology and imaging software, to Vicom Systems,
and transferred 18 of Pixar's approximately 100 employees. The same year
Pixar moved from San Rafael to Richmond, California.
[8]
During this period, Pixar continued its successful relationship with
Walt Disney Feature Animation, a studio whose corporate parent would
ultimately become its most important partner. In 1991, after a tough
start of the year when about 30 employees in the company's computer
department had to go (including the company's president, Chuck Kolstad),
[9] which reduced the total number of employees to just 42, essentially its original number,
[10] Pixar made a $26 million deal with Disney to produce three computer-animated feature films, the first of which was
Toy Story.
At that point, the software programmers, who were doing RenderMan and
CAPS, and Lasseter’s animation department, who made television
commercials and a few shorts for
Sesame Street, was all that was left of Pixar.
[11]
William Reeves, CTE at Pixar, on rendering algorithms, raytracing and global illumination, 1995, after the release of Toy Story.
Despite the total income of these products, the company was still
losing money, and Jobs, still chairman of the board and now the full
owner, often considered selling it. Even as late as 1994, Jobs
contemplated selling Pixar to other companies, among them Microsoft.
Only after learning from New York critics that
Toy Story was
probably going to be a success and confirming that Disney would
distribute it for the 1995 Christmas season did he decide to give Pixar
another chance.
[12]
He also began then for the first time to take an active direct
leadership role in the company, making himself its CEO. The film went on
to gross more than $361 million worldwide.
[13] Later that year, Pixar held its
initial public offering on November 29, 1995, and the company's stock was priced at US$22 per share.
[14]
Pixar built a new studio in Emeryville which opened in November 2000.
Management and employee attitudes
Some commentators have recognised distinctive features of the way
management has been organised at Pixar. Features of management noted
have included: Jobs' attitudes and behaviours, including his inspiring
of employees and his confidence in them; Pixar personnel's deeper
commitment to their work and creations and the impact of those, than
their desire for money; a lack of strict management practices and of a
rigid hierarchy; the quality and aspirations of employees hired; the
creativity and imagination of all individuals working at the company;
the design of the Emeryville campus of Pixar as a social workplace, and
the encouragement of cooperation, teamwork and open conversation between
all levels of employees.
Disney
Pixar and Disney had disagreements after the production of
Toy Story 2.
Originally intended as a straight-to-video release (and thus not part
of Pixar's three-picture deal), the film was eventually upgraded to a
theatrical release during production. Pixar demanded that the film then
be counted toward the three-picture agreement, but Disney refused.
[15]
Though profitable for both, Pixar later complained that the arrangement
was not equitable. Pixar was responsible for creation and production,
while Disney handled
marketing
and distribution. Profits and production costs were split 50-50, but
Disney exclusively owned all story and sequel rights and also collected a
distribution fee. The lack of story and sequel rights was perhaps the
most onerous aspect to Pixar and set the stage for a contentious
relationship.
[16]
The two companies attempted to reach a new agreement in early 2004.
The new deal would be only for distribution, as Pixar intended to
control production and own the resulting film properties themselves. The
company also wanted to finance their films on their own and collect 100
percent of the profits, paying Disney only the 10 to 15 percent
distribution fee.
[17]
More importantly, as part of any distribution agreement with Disney,
Pixar demanded control over films already in production under their old
agreement, including
The Incredibles and
Cars. Disney considered these conditions unacceptable, but Pixar would not concede.
[17]
Disagreements between Steve Jobs and then Disney Chairman and CEO
Michael Eisner
made the negotiations more difficult than they otherwise might have
been. They broke down completely in mid-2004, with Jobs declaring that
Pixar was actively seeking partners other than Disney.
[18]
Pixar did not enter negotiations with other distributors. After a
lengthy hiatus, negotiations between the two companies resumed following
the departure of Eisner from Disney in September 2005. In preparation
for potential fallout between Pixar and Disney, Jobs announced in late
2004 that Pixar would no longer release movies at the Disney-dictated
November time frame, but during the more lucrative early summer months.
This would also allow Pixar to release DVDs for their major releases
during the Christmas shopping season. An added benefit of delaying
Cars was to extend the time frame remaining on the Pixar-Disney contract to see how things would play out between the two companies.
[19]
Pending the Disney acquisition of Pixar, the two companies created a distribution deal for the intended 2007 release of
Ratatouille,
in case the acquisition fell through, to ensure that this one film
would still be released through Disney's distribution channels. (In
contrast to the earlier Disney/Pixar deal,
Ratatouille was to
remain a Pixar property and Disney would have received only a
distribution fee.) The completion of Disney's Pixar acquisition,
however, nullified this distribution arrangement.
[20]
Disney had agreed to buy Pixar for approximately $7.4 billion in an
all-stock deal.
[21] Following Pixar
shareholder
approval, the acquisition was completed May 5, 2006. The transaction
catapulted Steve Jobs, who was the majority shareholder of Pixar with
50.1%, to Disney's largest individual shareholder with 7% and a new seat
on its board of directors.
[22] Jobs' new Disney holdings exceeded holdings belonging to ex-CEO
Michael Eisner, the previous top shareholder, who still held 1.7%; and Disney Director Emeritus
Roy E. Disney, who held almost 1% of the corporation's shares.
Pixar shareholders received 2.3 shares of Disney common stock for each share of Pixar common stock redeemed.
As part of the deal,
John Lasseter, by then Executive
Vice President, became
Chief Creative Officer (reporting to President and CEO
Robert Iger and consulting with Disney Director Roy Disney) of both Pixar and
Walt Disney Animation Studios, as well as the Principal Creative Adviser at
Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs and builds the company's
theme parks.
[22]
Catmull retained his position as President of Pixar, while also
becoming President of Walt Disney Animation Studios, reporting to Bob
Iger and
Dick Cook, chairman of
Walt Disney Studio Entertainment.
Steve Jobs' position as Pixar's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
was also removed, and instead he took a place on the Disney board of
directors.
[23]
John Lasseter appears with characters from
Up at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.
Lasseter and Catmull's oversight of both the Disney and Pixar studios
did not mean that the two studios were merging, however. In fact,
additional conditions were laid out as part of the deal to ensure that
Pixar remained a separate
entity, a concern that analysts had expressed about the Disney deal.
[24] Some of those conditions were that Pixar
HR
policies would remain intact, including the lack of employment
contracts. Also, the Pixar name was guaranteed to continue, and the
studio would remain in its current
Emeryville, California location with the "Pixar" sign. Finally, branding of films made post-merger would be "Disney•Pixar" (beginning with
Cars).
[25]
Jim Morris, producer of
WALL-E,
became general manager of Pixar. In this new position, Morris took
charge of the day-to-day running of the studio facilities and products.
[26]
Expansion
On April 20, 2010, Pixar Animation Studios opened a new studio in the downtown area of
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
[27]
The roughly 2,000 square meters studio is primarily producing shorts
and TV specials based on characters from Pixar's feature films. The
studio's first production was the
Cars Toons episode, "Air Mater."
sumber : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar
