To Pixar and Beyond

To Pixar and Beyond
Author: Lawrence Levy
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2016-11-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 054473419X

“A delightful book about the creation of Pixar from the inside . . . and like a good Pixar film, it’ll put a smile on your face.” —Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times Winner, Axiom Business Book Award * Fortune Favorite Books of the Year Top Pick * Amazon Best Book of the Year in Business & Leadership After he was dismissed from Apple in the early 1990s, Steve Jobs turned his attention to a little-known graphics company he owned called Pixar. One day, out of the blue, Jobs called Lawrence Levy, a Harvard-trained lawyer and executive with whom he’d never spoken before. He hoped to persuade Levy to help him pull Pixar back from the brink of failure. This is the extraordinary story of what happened next: how Jobs and Levy concocted and pulled off a highly improbable plan that transformed Pixar into the Hollywood powerhouse it is today. Levy offers a masterful firsthand account of how Pixar rose from humble beginnings, what it was like to work so closely with Jobs, and how Pixar’s story offers profound lessons that can apply to our professional and personal lives. To Pixar and Beyond reveals how a struggling computer animation company became one of the greatest entertainment studios of all time. “[A] delightful book about finance, creative genius, workplace harmony, and luck.” —Fortune “Part business book and part thriller—a tale that’s every bit as compelling as the ones Pixar tells in its blockbuster movies.” —Dan Lyons, bestselling author of Disrupted “A natural storyteller . . . an inside look at the business and a fresh, sympathetic view of Jobs.” —Success Magazine

To Infinity and Beyond!

To Infinity and Beyond!
Author: Karen Paik
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2015-11-03
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1452147655

In 1986, gifted animator John Lasseter, technology guru Ed Catmull, and visionary Steve Jobs founded Pixar Animation Studios. Their goal: create a computer animated feature, despite predictions that it could never be done. An unprecedented catalog of blockbuster films later, the studio is honoring its history in this deluxe volume. From its fledgling days under George Lucas to ten demanding years creating Toy Story to the merger with Disney, each milestone is vibrantly detailed. Interviews with Pixar directors, producers, animators, voice talent, and industry insiders, as well as concept art, storyboards, and snapshots illuminate a history that is both definitive and enthralling.

Creativity, Inc. (The Expanded Edition)

Creativity, Inc. (The Expanded Edition)
Author: Ed Catmull
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2014-04-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0679644504

The co-founder and longtime president of Pixar updates and expands his 2014 New York Times bestseller on creative leadership, reflecting on the management principles that built Pixar’s singularly successful culture, and on all he learned during the past nine years that allowed Pixar to retain its creative culture while continuing to evolve. “Might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”—Fast Company For nearly thirty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner eighteen Academy Awards. The joyous storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable. As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the twenty-five movies that followed—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as: • Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team and they will either fix it or come up with something better. • It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them. • The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them. • A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody. Creativity, Inc. has been significantly expanded to illuminate the continuing development of the unique culture at Pixar. It features a new introduction, two entirely new chapters, four new chapter postscripts, and changes and updates throughout. Pursuing excellence isn’t a one-off assignment but an ongoing, day-in, day-out, full-time job. And Creativity, Inc. explores how it is done.

The Pixar Touch

The Pixar Touch
Author: David A. Price
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2009-05-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0307278298

A Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year The Pixar Touch is a lively chronicle of Pixar Animation Studios' history and evolution, and the “fraternity of geeks” who shaped it. With the help of animating genius John Lasseter and visionary businessman Steve Jobs, Pixar has become the gold standard of animated filmmaking, beginning with a short special effects shot made at Lucasfilm in 1982 all the way up through the landmark films Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, and others. David A. Price goes behind the scenes of the corporate feuds between Lasseter and his former champion, Jeffrey Katzenberg, as well as between Jobs and Michael Eisner. And finally he explores Pixar's complex relationship with the Walt Disney Company as it transformed itself into the $7.4 billion jewel in the Disney crown. With an Updated Epilogue

Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films

Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films
Author: M. Keith Booker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2009-11-25
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0313376735

This work is a wide-ranging survey of American children's film that provides detailed analysis of the political implications of these films, as well as a discussion of how movies intended for children have come to be so persistently charged with meaning. Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films provides wide-ranging scrutiny of one of the most lucrative American entertainment genres. Beyond entertaining children—and parents—and ringing up merchandise sales, are these films attempting to shape the political views of young viewers? M. Keith Booker examines this question with a close reading of dozens of films from Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, and other studios, debunking some out-there claims—The Ant Bully communist propaganda?—while seriously considering the political content of each film. Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films recaps the entire history of movies for young viewers—from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to this year's Up—then focuses on the extraordinary output of children's films in the last two decades. What Booker finds is that by and large, their lessons are decidedly, comfortably mainstream and any political subtext more often than not is inadvertent. Booker also offers some advice to parents for helping children read films in a more sophisticated way.

Pixarpedia

Pixarpedia
Author: Barbara Bazaldua
Publisher: DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2010
Genre: Animated films
ISBN: 9781405358071

A new edition of the best of Pixar...and beyond Pixar are the animation giants behind incredible movies including Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Wall.E, Up and now Toy Story 3. Go behind-the-scenes and find out all there is to know about this extraordinary company.Learn about the fascinating rise of Pixar, from their history and creative talent to the secrets behind their unique movie-making process. From Woody to Lightening McQueen, discover little-known facts and trivia about the characters from all their major and short films.Plus, pick up inside knowledge from 'which fishy character pops up in Monsters Inc' to 'why the number A113 appears in all Pixar films'. Packed with timelines, fantastic pictures and movie-stills, this is an essential guide to the ultimate movie-making machine.

Toy to Toy (Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3)

Toy to Toy (Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3)
Author: Tennant Redbank
Publisher: RH/Disney
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2013-12-18
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0385389515

The creators of the Toy Story films reopen the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of our favorite gang of toy characters in Toy Story 3. Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the rest of Andy’s toys are as fun and adventurous as always, but none of them can deny that things in Andy’s room have changed. Andy is seventeen now and just three days away from heading off to college. Find out what happens to the beloved toys when they’re compelled to leave Andy’s room behind and embark on an all-new comedic adventure in Toy Story 3. This step 1 leveled reader features all the beloved characters from the new Disney/Pixar film.

Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Corporate Playground

Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Corporate Playground
Author: Bill Capodagli
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2009-12-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0071664378

“Details how this playful organization provides a working environment that encourages imagination, inventiveness, and joyful collaboration. If you dream of creating a more positive climate in your company, this book might just make your dreams come true.” Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and Helping People Win at Work Unleash Pixar-style creativity in any organization! Authors of the business classic The Disney Way, Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson take a behind-the-scenes look at the company built upon the “magic” of Disney. Readers of this concise and accessible book will learn how to apply Pixar’s secrets of success, which include the company’s ability to turn visions into clear directives and its remarkable focus on detail, which translates into products of the utmost quality. Other lessons include how to hire creative people and always challenging the status quo.

The Best Story Wins

The Best Story Wins
Author: Matthew Luhn
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Total Pages: 135
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1642790214

How to use the principles of Pixar-style storytelling to meet the needs of entrepreneurs, marketers, and business-minded storytellers of all stripes. Pixar movies have transfixed viewers around the world and stirred a hunger in creative and corporate realms to adopt new and more impactful ways of telling stories. Former Pixar and The Simpsons animator and story artist Matthew Luhn translates his two and half decades of storytelling techniques and concepts to the CEOs, advertisers, marketers, and creatives in the business world and beyond. A combination of Luhn’s personal stories and storytelling insights, The Best Story Wins retells the “Hero’s Journey” story building methods through the lens of the Pixar films to help business minds embrace the power of storytelling for themselves! “Award-winning Pixar storyteller, artist, and writer Matthew Luhn has a message for CEOs, marketers, and business professionals: to capture your audience’s attention, you need to hook them with a great story.” —Seattlepi.com

The Pixar Treasures

The Pixar Treasures
Author: Tim Hauser
Publisher: Disney Editions
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010-09-28
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781423116530

The Pixar Treasures is a scrapbook of instinct and inspiration, experiences readers can touch, and visions that exist only in the imagination. It begins with a group of animators who were inspired by Walt Disney films. In the late 1970s and early '80s, John Lasseter, Brad Bird, and Joe Ranft were hired into an apprenticeship program at Walt Disney Productions. The last of Disney’s golden age artists, including animators Eric Larson, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, and Ollie Johnston mentored the young dreamers, and as Pixar later developed, their work would draw heavily from this direct connection with Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men.” The tale continues with Pixar's foray into computer animation, and the resulting success of Toy Story. With chapters on A Bug's Life; Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; The Incredibles; Cars; Ratatouille; and WALL*E, Hauser's narrative covers the struggles, growth, and successes of an incredible animation studio. And it gives readers a sneak peak at the newest Disney*Pixar film, Up. Filled with unique removable keepsakes, The Pixar Treasures is an essential collector’s item for every Pixar fan.