When mentioning John Lasseter we are talking about one of the most important figures in the world of animation, not only because he is one of the founders of Pixar but also because he was one of the first inventors of animated film as well as being the first creator of computer animation.
Born on 12th January 1957, in Hollywood, his love for animation started at a very young age. In fact it was two Disney films that sparked his love for animation in the form of 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'The Sword in the Stone'. In fact, the relationship between Lasseter and the studio itself has been quite complicated, with comings and goings of both people and businesses.
The life and soul of Pixar
Creator of masterpieces such as 'Toy Story' and producer of the likes of 'Monsters, Inc.', 'Inside Out' and 'Moana', we feel it is time to tell you a few interesting facts that you may not know about John Lasseter, one of the founders of Pixar and the creative director of Disney.
1 Disney are the culprits
His love for animated started as a kid when used to draw cartoons during church services that his mother attended. However, what really sparked his interest to pursue animation works as a career was thanks to two Disney films in the form of 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'The Sword in the Stone'. Lasseter found the book that told the story of the Disney animation and provided details for the filming of Sleeping Beauty' and he soon realised that he wanted to do animation work for the studio. By the time he saw 'The Sword in the Stone' he made one of the most important decisions of his life: to become an animator.
2 CalArts, the class of the best animators
After getting into the University of Pepperdine, where all of his family had previously studied, he decided to take a leap of faith and quit university to join the California Institute of Arts (also known as CalArts), to follow his dream. With the support of his mother, he signed up on a programme created by two important animators for Disney, Jack Hannah and T. Hee. The programme was not only established by two Disney animators, but the teachers that taught the classes included the likes of Eric Larson, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, veterans of the studio and members of Disney's Nine Old Men, the core animators of the studio itself.
In his classes he would meet some future stars of the animating world such as Brad Bird who directed 'The Incredibles' and 'Ratatouille', Henry Selick director of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'James and the Giant Peach' and also Tim Burton who is the director of 'Edward Scissorhands' and 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.
3 Brief stint at Disney
After graduating in 1979, Lasseter almost immediately went to work for Disney, the stdui that he admired and was the reason he found his love for animation. The animator managed to beat 10,000 other candidates to land a job at the studio thanks to his short film called 'The Lady and the Lamp'. He had only just started when he was taking a look at some archives when he came across some video tapes about computer animations.
Lasseter, suddenly felt drawn to this new form of animation, convinced Glen Keane to make funds available for computers for future films. In order to convince the studio, he managed to do a piece of work based on Maurice Sendalk's novel 'Where the Wild Things Are'. Lasseter's enthusiasm didn't manage to convince his superiors and he bid farewell to the studio. Disney, the company which he had always dreamed of working for, turned their back on him.
4 A divorce lead to the creation of Pixar
After his Disney exit, Lasseter got a job with Lucasfilm Computer Graphics. It was thanks to the help of Ed Catmull, who admired his talent and enthusiasm at such a young age. In Lucasfilm, Lasseter concentrated hi studies on computing, cinema, animation and art.
The divorce of George Lucas lead to the 'Star Wars' director selling Lucasfilm Computer Graphics. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, bought the business and soon after gave way to Pixar in 1986. Lasseter turned the studio into a new and innovative business that started with an array of short films such as 'Luxo Jr.', 'Red's Dream' and 'Tin Toy', with the latter winning an Pixar's first Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1988.
5 'Toy Story' success and the influence on the studio
Although John Lasseter is virtually the life and soul of Pixar, he hasn't directed many of the feature length films that the studio has released. In fact, he has only been in charge of five in total. These include the famous 'Toy Story', 'A Bug's Life', 'Toy Story 2', 'Cars' and 'Cars 2'. However, he will return to take charge of 'Toy Story 4'. For the remainder of productions he has taken more of a back seat role and has acted as producers. Nevertheless, he is a source of inspiration for other directors which has surely contributed to the huge success of the studio.
6 Fan of Studio Ghibli and the master Hayao Miyazaki
Despite Lasseter being fascinated by the advances and innovation of CGI, this doesn't mean the American isn't a fan of the work of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation film studio especially those directed by his good friend Hayao Miyazaki.
As many people will know, Disney bought the distribution rights off Ghibli in 1997 after the success of 'Princess Mononke'. However, since the release of 'From Up on Poppy Hill', GKids is now in charge of distributing the films in North America. After the disaster that the studio faced with the censoring of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 1985, Lasseter put himself in charge in supervising the English voiceover productions for Ghibli, as well as directing the English version of Ponyo.
7 'The Brave Little Toaster', the origin of everything
When Lasseter worked for Disney, his proposed project was 'Where the Wild Things Are'. However, originally the proposed project was to be 'The Brave Little Toaster', the novel by Thomas M. Disch, published in 1980. In fact, after finishing 'Where the Wild Things Are', Lasseter and the producer, Thomas L. Wilhite, hoped to obtain approval from Disney to turn the book into a film.
In fact, both of them wanted to make into the first CGI film. However, the Disney directors, Ed Hansen and president Ron W. Miller, felt the project was too expensive as they estimated it would cost around 18 million dollars and was therefore discarded. The project was eventually transferred over to Hyperion Pictures, an animation company made up of old Disney employees and the film was release in 1987.
Funnily enough, the film was directed by Jerry Rees, who was Lasseters close friend and many animators subsequently came to work for Pixar. If you focus closely on the plot, there are definite subtle similarities between 'The Brave Little Toaster' and 'Toy Story'.
8 Disneys return to the big stage
Although Pixar had an agreement with Disney, it was not until the studio bought 'Finding Nemo' off them in 2006 when Lasseter officially returned to Disney. The same studio that turned their back on him 22 years before for "being too enthusiastic and innovative". Latters return was hoped to bring back some stability to the studio after numerous unsuccessful productions such as 'Home on the Range' and 'Chicken Little'.
Since 2007, Lasseter has been in charge of supervising all of the Walt Disney Animation Studios films. His words and advice go straight to the president and CEO of disney, Robert Iger, without interference from other individuals. Lasseter has been in charge of some films that Disney are known to have the capabilities of releasing such as 'Wreck-it Ralph', 'Frozen' and 'Zootropolis'. It also no coincidence that this period has coincided with the wobbly period for Pixar as they released some up an down films such a 'Brave' and 'Monsters University'.