Hacker Cinema
The Pixar Story
2007 · Film · documentary · 87 min
Directed by Leslie Iwerks
A look at the first years of Pixar Animation Studios - from the success of "Toy Story" and Pixar's promotion of talented people, to the building of its East Bay campus, the company's relationship with Disney, and its remarkable initial string of eight hits. The contributions of John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs are profiled. The decline of two-dimensional animation is chronicled as three-dimensional animation rises. Hard work and creativity seem to share the screen in equal proportions.
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Ub Iwerks invented the multiplane camera with movable cameras and parallaxing/zoom [1]
The first multiplane camera, using movable layers of flat artwork before a horizontal camera, was invented by former Walt Disney Studios animator/director Ub Iwerks in 1933, using parts from an old Chevrolet automobile. His multiplane camera was used in a number of the Iwerks Studio's Willie Whopper and Comicolor cartoons of the mid-1930s.
Ub Iwerks is the same guy that created/drew Mickey Mouse[2] and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, two cartoons that got Disney animation going.
American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician, who co-created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse. The works Iwerks produced alongside Walt Disney went on to win numerous awards, including multiple Academy Awards
Iwerks was instrumental in getting Disney started. Walt was the Steve Jobs and Ub was the Woz.
Even though Ub and Walt were best friends, Iwerks pretty much got effed over by Disney and later left to go to MGM to make Flip the Frog [3] and other animations.
It is sad most people don't know Ub Iwerks created Mickey Mouse and parallax via the multiplane camera tech/machine and many other things, nor his impact on animation and animation technology.
Ub Iwerks son, Don Iwerks [4], later worked at Disney and on 20,000 leagues under the sea, and some other neat stuff and is a Disney Legend member. Like his dad he later went to start his own thing in Iwerks Entertainment after 35 years at Disney.
In 1954, Iwerks got a camera technician position for the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, starring Kirk Douglas and Peter Lorre. He would spend the next 30 years driving film innovations for the Disney company. Notable contributions include the first 360 film techniques, 360-degree camera, and first Circle-Vision 360 film, America the Beautiful, and developing the process for creating seamless live action shots with animated backgrounds.
In 1985, after nearly 35 years at Disney, Don left to form his own company called Iwerks Entertainment. Iwerks became a leading developer of special films, special venues, and virtual reality theaters throughout the world.
Ub Iwerks really should get more respect as he created early Disney and it wouldn't have happened without him probably. Typical doer that ended up getting effed over and should be more recognized for the guy that created Mickey Mouse and Disney tech, he just didn't have the business prowess that Walt had.
Despite a contract with MGM to distribute his cartoons, and the introduction of a new character named “Flip the Frog”, and later “Willie Whopper”, the Iwerks Studio was never a major commercial success and failed to rival either Disney or Fleischer Studios.
He did attract the legendary Chuck Jones[5] to work with him though, Chuck went on to create some of the best animation and cartoons ever with WB.
Newly-hired animator Fred Kopietz recommended that Iwerks employ a friend from Chouinard Art School, Chuck Jones, who was hired and put to work as a cel washer.
Ub would probably hate what Disney has become but he was instrumental in helping create the magic of the early days.
If Ub was alive today he'd probably be making adult swim/cartoon network type cartoons or stuff like Pixar made pushing tech limits. His granddaughter made the documentary 'The Pixar Story'[6]. The Iwerks family and legacy towards animation/movie tech should be more known, especially Ub.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplane_camera
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ub_Iwerks
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_the_Frog
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Iwerks
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Jones
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pixar_Story
Wasn't this Toy Story 1? Well, I'll watch this Catmull's talk.
Still, Pixar Story is a great documentary really, and if you have the chance read the book as well.
It's "The Pixar Story"[1]. A great documentary, highly recommended.
But Pixar wasn't all roses either - during the tight production of Toy Story 2 (because they changed almost all of the story and had to rush it for christmas), a couple (who were both animators) forgot that their 1-year old was in the car (and not in the day care!), and the girl was there for almost 10 hours... She lived, but still a pretty horrible story.
The source for this unpleasant anecdote is [2]. It's a long talk by Ed Catmull, but I can't recommend it enough. It's really, really awesome.
Success hides problems (Ed Catmull)
Want to know why Pixar was awesome for soooo long? It wasn't luck, and it wasn't because they had great animators. It wasn't even (entirely) because they told terrific stories. It was because they constantly learned from their "successes"... Watch (or listen) to Catmull's talk. I guarantee that you won't regret the 55 minutes you spend on it...
[1]: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1059955/
[2]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h2lvhzMDc
You need to get excited. The creative folk at Pixar and Disney have been killing it in comparison to what's come out of Lucasfilm lately.
Watch The Pixar Story (streaming on Netflix: http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Pixar_Story/70083532?locale=en-US), and tell me you're not more comfortable with Star Wars in their hands then in Lucas'.
"Pixar Touch"[1] is fantastic. Highly recommended.
Also, the 2007 documentary about Pixar ("The Pixar Story"[2]) is well worth a watch - Extremely well done. There's a shorter, 23 minute mini-documantary about Pixar Shorts ("The Pixar Shorts, A Short History"[3]) that I also enjoyed.
[1]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Pixar-Touch-Making-Company/dp/1400137659 and http://www.pixartouchbook.com/
[2]: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1059955/
[3]: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1164983/
One of my favorite quotes, from Lee Unkrich of Pixar: "We don’t ever finish a film, I could keep on making it better. We’re just forced to release it." http://m.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/process_pixar/all/1
Pixar is such an inspiring company when it comes to creativity, innovation, and values. If you've never seen the excellent documentary "The Pixar Story", I highly recommend it.
For the curious, "The Pixar Story" is available on Netflix Instant
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Pixar_Story/70083532?trkid=2361637
If anyone hasn't seen it, the documentary The Pixar Story is on Netflix Instant. It's a great documentary that features a few interviews with Steve Jobs and tells of the rise of Pixar.
+1. I watched this on a whim on Friday and absolutely loved it. The film is worth watching just for the interviews with Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior VP of industrial design.
Also, The Pixar Story is terrific. Plus, both documentaries are on Netflix Instant.
I watched "ILM - Creating the Impossible" on Encore on Demand the other night, and it was well worth the watch. There is quite a bit devoted to the relationship between ILM and Pixar, and a number of historical anecdotes like this article that are very interesting.
If you haven't seen it, check it out before they drop it. Of course, The Pixar Story is worth watching as well (same people, I think).
I recommend watching "The Pixar Story" when it comes on STARZ. A great documentary.