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Pixar (),
doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...
Pixar Animation Studios, is an American
animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animation, animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales ...
based in
Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley, California, Berkeley and Oakland, California, Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisc ...
, known for its critically and commercially successful
computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Modern c ...
feature films. Pixar is a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
of Walt Disney Studios, a division of
Disney Entertainment Disney Entertainment is one of the three major divisions of the Walt Disney Company created on February 8, 2023. It consists of the company's entertainment media and content businesses, including its motion picture film studios, television divi ...
, a segment of
the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
. Pixar started in 1979 as part of the
Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...
computer division. It was known as the Graphics Group before its spin-off as a corporation in 1986, with funding from
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
co-founder
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
, who became its
majority shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the le ...
. Disney announced its acquisition of Pixar in January 2006, and completed it in May 2006. Pixar is best known for its
feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
s, technologically powered by
RenderMan The name RenderMan can cause confusion because it has been used to refer to different things developed by Pixar Animation Studios: * RenderMan Interface Specification (RISpec), an open API An application programming interface (API) is a connec ...
, the company's own implementation of the industry-standard
RenderMan Interface Specification The RenderMan Interface Specification, or RISpec in short, is an open API developed by Pixar Animation Studios to describe three-dimensional scenes and turn them into digital photorealistic images. It includes the RenderMan Shading Language. A ...
image-rendering
API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...
. The studio's
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
is Luxo Jr., a desk lamp from the studio's 1986 short film of the same name. Pixar has produced 28 feature films, with its first film being ''
Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...
'' (1995), which is also the first fully computer-animated feature film, and its most recent film was ''
Inside Out 2 ''Inside Out 2'' is a 2024 American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to '' Inside Out'' (2015), it was directed by Kelsey Mann and was produced by Mark Nielsen, from a screen ...
'' (2024). The studio also produced many short films. , its feature films have earned over $15 billion at the worldwide
box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
with an average gross of $589 million per film. ''
Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The third installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, it was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor ...
'' (2010), ''
Finding Dory ''Finding Dory'' is a 2016 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Angus MacLane, produced by Lindsey Collins, and written b ...
'' (2016), ''
Incredibles 2 ''Incredibles 2'' is a 2018 American animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it is the sequel to '' The Incredibles'' (2004) and the second full-length instal ...
'' (2018), ''
Toy Story 4 ''Toy Story 4'' is a 2019 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the fourth installment in Pixar's ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to ''Toy Story 3'' (2010). It was dire ...
'' (2019) and ''Inside Out 2'' all grossed over $1 billion and are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time. Moreover, 15 of Pixar's films are in the 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time. ''Inside Out 2'' is currently the second highest-grossing animated film of all time. Pixar has earned 23
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
, 10
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
s, and 11
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
s, along with numerous other awards and acknowledgments. Since its inauguration in 2001, eleven Pixar films have won the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...
, including ''
Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Lee Unkrich, and produced by Graham Walters, from ...
'' (2003), ''
The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...
'' (2004), ''
Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ; ) is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables that originated in Nice and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include tomato, garlic ...
'' (2007), ''
WALL-E ''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American animated Romance film, romantic science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, produced b ...
'' (2008), '' Up'' (2009), the aforementioned ''Toy Story 3'' and ''Toy Story 4'', '' Brave'' (2012), '' Inside Out'' (2015), ''
Coco Coco or variants may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Coco'' (2009 film), a French comedy film * ''Coco'' (2017 film), an American animated fantasy film * '' Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle'' (), a 2020 Japanese anime film ...
'' (2017), and ''
Soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
'' (2020). ''Toy Story 3'' and ''Up'' were also nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...
. In February 2009, Pixar executives
John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter ( ; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, a ...
,
Brad Bird Philip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both animation and Live action, live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in Oregon. He ...
,
Pete Docter Peter Hans Docter (born October 9, 1968) is an American filmmaker and animator, who has served as chief creative officer (CCO) of Pixar since 2018. He has directed the company's animated films ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001), ''Up (2009 film), Up'' ( ...
,
Andrew Stanton Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is best known as the director and co-writer of the Pixar animated films ''Finding Nemo'' (2003), ''WALL-E'' (2008), ''Finding Dory'' (2016), and the upcoming ''Toy Story 5 ...
, and
Lee Unkrich Lee Edward Unkrich (born August 8, 1967) is an American film director, editor and writer. He is best known for his work with animation studio Pixar, which he joined in 1994 as an editor before being credited as a co-director on ''Toy Story 2'' ...
were presented with the
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement () is an award given at the Venice Film Festival. It is awarded to directors, actors and other personalities from the world of cinema who have distinguished themselves in the art. Among the winners are Ch ...
by the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
. The physical award was ceremoniously handed to Lucasfilm's founder,
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
.


History


Early history

Pixar got its start in 1974, when
New York Institute of Technology The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a Private university, private research university, research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York (state), New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long I ...
's (NYIT) founder,
Alexander Schure Alexander Schure (August 3, 1920 – October 29, 2009) was an American academic and entrepreneur. Schure founded the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) in 1955. He also served as the Chancellor of Nova Southeastern University (NSU) from 1970 ...
, who was also the owner of a traditional animation studio, established the
Computer Graphics Lab The Computer Graphics Lab is a computer lab located at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), founded by Alexander Schure. It was originally located at the "pink building" on the NYIT campus. It has played an important role in the history ...
(CGL) and recruited
computer scientists Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to applied disciplines (including the design an ...
who shared his ambitions about creating the world's first computer-animated film.
Edwin Catmull Edwin Earl Catmull (born March 31, 1945) is an American computer scientist and animator who served as the co-founder of Pixar and the President of Walt Disney Animation Studios. He has been honored for his contributions to 3D computer graphics, ...
and Malcolm Blanchard were the first to be hired and were soon joined by
Alvy Ray Smith Alvy Ray Smith III (born September 8, 1943) is an American computer scientist who co-founded Lucasfilm's Computer Division and Pixar, participating in the 1980s and 1990s expansion of computer animation into feature film. He is one of the 50 F ...
and David DiFrancesco some months later, who were the four original members of the Computer Graphics Lab, located in a converted two-story garage acquired from the former Vanderbilt- Whitney estate. Schure invested significant funds into the computer graphics lab, approximately $15 million, providing the resources the group needed but contributing to NYIT's financial difficulties. Eventually, the group realized they needed to work in a real
film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...
to reach their goal.
Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
then invited Smith to his house for a three-day media conference, where Coppola and
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
shared their visions for the future of digital moviemaking. When Lucas approached the group and offered them a job at his studio, six employees moved to
Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...
. During the following months, they gradually resigned from CGL, found temporary jobs for about a year to avoid making Schure suspicious, and joined the Graphics Group at Lucasfilm. The Graphics Group, which was one-third of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm, was launched in 1979 with the hiring of Catmull from NYIT, where he was in charge of the Computer Graphics Lab. He was then reunited with Smith, who also made the journey from NYIT to Lucasfilm, and was made the director of the Graphics Group. At NYIT, the researchers pioneered many of the CG foundation techniques — in particular, the invention of the
alpha channel In computer graphics, alpha compositing or alpha blending is the process of combining one image with a background to create the appearance of partial or full transparency. It is often useful to render picture elements (pixels) in separate pass ...
by Catmull and Smith. Over the next several years, the CGL would produce a few frames of an experimental film called '' The Works''. After moving to Lucasfilm, the team worked on creating the precursor to
RenderMan The name RenderMan can cause confusion because it has been used to refer to different things developed by Pixar Animation Studios: * RenderMan Interface Specification (RISpec), an open API An application programming interface (API) is a connec ...
, called REYES (for "renders everything you ever saw"), and developed several critical technologies for CG — including particle effects and various animation tools.
John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter ( ; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, a ...
was hired to the Lucasfilm team for a week in late 1983 with the title "interface designer"; he animated the short film '' The Adventures of André & Wally B.'' In the next few years, a designer suggested naming a new digital compositing computer the "Picture Maker". Smith suggested that the laser-based device have a catchier name, and came up with "Pixer", which after a meeting was changed to "Pixar". According to Michael Rubin, the author of ''Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution'', Smith and three other employees came up with the name during a restaurant visit in 1981, but when interviewing them he got four different versions about the origin of the name. In 1982, the Pixar team began working on special-effects film sequences with
Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...
. After years of research, and key milestones such as the Genesis Effect in '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' and the Stained Glass Knight in ''
Young Sherlock Holmes ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (also known with the title card name of ''Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear'') is a 1985 American mystery adventure film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, based on the characters ...
'', the group, which then numbered 40 individuals, was spun out as a corporation in February 1986 by Catmull and Smith. Among the 38 remaining employees were Malcolm Blanchard, David DiFrancesco,
Ralph Guggenheim Ralph Guggenheim (born June 6, 1951) is an American video graphics designer and film producer. He won a Producers Guild of America Award in 1995 for his contributions to the film ''Toy Story''. Biography He was born in New Rochelle, New York to ...
, and Bill Reeves, who had been part of the team since the days of NYIT. Tom Duff, also an NYIT member, would later join Pixar after its formation. With Lucas's 1983 divorce, which coincided with the sudden dropoff in revenues from ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' licenses following the release of ''
Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...
'', they knew he would most likely sell the whole Graphics Group. Worried that the employees would be lost to them if that happened, which would prevent the creation of the first computer-animated movie, they concluded that the best way to keep the team together was to turn the group into an independent company. But
Moore's Law Moore's law is the observation that the Transistor count, number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore's law is an observation and Forecasting, projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of ...
also suggested that sufficient computing power for the first film was still some years away, and they needed to focus on a proper product until then. Eventually, they decided they should be a hardware company in the meantime, with their
Pixar Image Computer The Pixar Image Computer is a graphics computer originally developed by the Graphics Group, the computer division of Lucasfilm, which was later renamed Pixar. Aimed at commercial and scientific high-end visualization markets, such as medicine, ge ...
as the core product, a system primarily sold to governmental, scientific, and medical markets. They also used SGI computers. In 1983,
Nolan Bushnell Nolan Kay Bushnell (born February 5, 1943) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consu ...
founded a new computer-guided animation studio called Kadabrascope as a subsidiary of his Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatres company (PTT), which was founded in 1977. Only one major project was made out of the new studio, an animated Christmas special for
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
starring Chuck E. Cheese and other PTT mascots; known as "Chuck E. Cheese: The Christmas That Almost Wasn't". The animation movement would be made using
tweening Inbetweening, also known as tweening, is a process in animation that involves creating intermediate frames, called inbetweens, between two keyframes. The intended result is to create the illusion of movement by smoothly transitioning one image in ...
instead of traditional cel animation. After the
video game crash of 1983 The video game crash of 1983 (known in Japan as the Atari shock) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985 in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including market saturatio ...
, Bushnell started selling some subsidiaries of PTT to keep the business afloat. Sente Technologies (another division, was founded to have games distributed in PTT stores) was sold to Bally Games and Kadabrascope was sold to Lucasfilm. The Kadabrascope assets were combined with the Computer Division of Lucasfilm. Coincidentally, one of
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
's first jobs was under Bushnell in 1973 as a technician at his other company
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...
, which Bushnell sold to
Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC (doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warner ...
in 1976 to focus on PTT. PTT would later go bankrupt in 1984 and be acquired by ShowBiz Pizza Place.


Independent company (1986–1999)

In 1986, the newly independent Pixar was headed by President
Edwin Catmull Edwin Earl Catmull (born March 31, 1945) is an American computer scientist and animator who served as the co-founder of Pixar and the President of Walt Disney Animation Studios. He has been honored for his contributions to 3D computer graphics, ...
and Executive Vice President
Alvy Ray Smith Alvy Ray Smith III (born September 8, 1943) is an American computer scientist who co-founded Lucasfilm's Computer Division and Pixar, participating in the 1980s and 1990s expansion of computer animation into feature film. He is one of the 50 F ...
. Lucas's search for investors led to an offer from
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
, which Lucas initially found too low. He eventually accepted after determining it impossible to find other investors. At that point, Smith and Catmull had been declined by 35 venture capitalists and ten large corporations, including a deal with
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
which fell through three days before signing the contracts. Jobs, who had been edged out of
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
in 1985, was now founder and CEO of the new computer company
NeXT NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...
. On February 3, 1986, he paid $5 million of his own money to George Lucas for technology rights and invested $5 million cash as capital into the company, joining the board of directors as chairman. In 1985 while still at Lucasfilm, they had made a deal with the Japanese publisher
Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...
to make a computer-animated movie called ''Monkey'', based on the
Monkey King Sun Wukong (, Mandarin pronunciation: ), also known as the Monkey King, is a literary and religious figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. In the novel, Sun Wukong is a monk ...
. The project continued sometime after they became a separate company in 1986, but it became clear that the technology was not sufficiently advanced. The computers were not powerful enough and the budget would be too high. As a result, they focused on the computer hardware business for years until a computer-animated feature became feasible according to
Moore's law Moore's law is the observation that the Transistor count, number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore's law is an observation and Forecasting, projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of ...
. At the time, Walt Disney Studios made the decision to develop more efficient ways of producing animation. They reached out to Graphics Group at Lucasfilm and to Digital Productions. Because of the Graphics Group's deeper understanding of animation, and Smith's experience with paint programs at NYIT, it convinced Disney they were the right choice. In May 1986 Pixar signed a contract with Disney, who eventually bought and used the Pixar Image Computer and custom software written by Pixar as part of its
Computer Animation Production System The Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) was a proprietary collection of software, scanning camera systems, servers, networked computer workstations, and custom desks developed by Disney and Pixar in the late 1980s. Although outmoded by the ...
(CAPS) project, to migrate the laborious ink and paint part of the 2D animation process to a more automated method. The company's first feature film to be released using this new animation method was ''
The Rescuers Down Under ''The Rescuers Down Under'' is a 1990 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to ''The Rescuers'' (1977). In ''The Rescuers Down Under'', Bernard and Bianc ...
'' (1990). In a bid to drive sales of the system and increase the company's capital, Jobs suggested releasing the product to the mainstream market. Pixar employee John Lasseter, who had long been working on not-for-profit short demonstration animations, such as '' Luxo Jr.'' (1986) to show off the device's capabilities, premiered his creations to great fanfare at
SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference centered around computer graphics organized by ACM, starting in 1974 in Boulder, CO. The main conference has always been held in North ...
, the computer graphics industry's largest convention. However, the Image Computer had inadequate sales which threatened to end the company as financial losses grew. Jobs increased investment in exchange for an increased stake, reducing the proportion of management and employee ownership until eventually, his total investment of $50 million gave him control of the entire company. In 1989, Lasseter's growing animation department which was originally composed of just four people (Lasseter, Bill Reeves, Eben Ostby, and Sam Leffler), was turned into a division that produced computer-animated commercials for outside companies. 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. In the same year Pixar moved from San Rafael to
Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.
. Pixar released some of its software tools on the open market for Macintosh and Windows systems.
RenderMan The name RenderMan can cause confusion because it has been used to refer to different things developed by Pixar Animation Studios: * RenderMan Interface Specification (RISpec), an open API An application programming interface (API) is a connec ...
is one of the leading 3D packages of the early 1990s, and Typestry is a special-purpose 3D text renderer that competed with RayDream. During this period of time, Pixar continued its successful relationship with
Walt Disney Feature Animation Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
, a studio whose corporate parent would ultimately become its most important partner. As 1991 began, however, the layoff of 30 employees in the company's computer hardware department—including the company's president, Chuck Kolstad, reduced the total number of employees to just 42, approximately its original number. On March 6, 1991, Steve Jobs bought the company from its employees and became the full owner. He contemplated folding it into NeXT, but the NeXT's co-founders refused. A few months later Pixar made a historic $26 million deal with Disney to produce three computer-animated feature films, the first of which was ''
Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...
'' (1995), the product of the technological limitations that challenged CGI. By then the software programmers working on RenderMan and IceMan, and Lasseter's animation department, which made television commercials (and four Luxo Jr. shorts for ''Sesame Street'' the same year), were all that remained of Pixar. Despite the income from these projects, the company still continued to lose money and Steve Jobs, as chairman of the board and now owner, often considered selling it. As late as 1994, Jobs contemplated selling Pixar to other companies such as Hallmark Cards, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and Oracle Corporation, Oracle CEO and co-founder Larry Ellison. After learning from New York critics that ''Toy Story'' would probably be a hit, and confirming that Disney would distribute it for the 1995 Christmas season, he decided to give Pixar another chance. Also for the first time, he took an active leadership role in the company and made himself CEO. ''Toy Story'' grossed more than $373 million worldwide and, when Pixar held its initial public offering on November 29, 1995, trading as "PIXR" on NASDAQ, it exceeded Netscape's as the biggest IPO of the year. In its first half-hour of trading, Pixar stock shot from $22 to $45, delaying trading because of unmatched buy orders. Shares climbed to and closed the day at $39. The company continued to make the television commercials during the production of ''Toy Story'', which came to an end on July 9, 1996, when Pixar announced they would shut down its television commercial unit, which counted 18 employees, to focus on longer projects and interactive entertainment. During the 1990s and 2000s, Pixar gradually developed the "Pixar Braintrust", the studio's primary creative development process, in which all of its directors, writers, and lead storyboard artists regularly examine each other's projects and give very candid "notes", the industry term for constructive criticism. The Braintrust operates under a philosophy of a "filmmaker-driven studio", in which creatives help each other move their films forward through a process somewhat like peer review, as opposed to the traditional Hollywood approach of an "executive-driven studio" in which directors are Micromanagement, micromanaged through "mandatory notes" from development executives outranking the producers. According to Catmull, it evolved out of the working relationship between Lasseter,
Andrew Stanton Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is best known as the director and co-writer of the Pixar animated films ''Finding Nemo'' (2003), ''WALL-E'' (2008), ''Finding Dory'' (2016), and the upcoming ''Toy Story 5 ...
,
Pete Docter Peter Hans Docter (born October 9, 1968) is an American filmmaker and animator, who has served as chief creative officer (CCO) of Pixar since 2018. He has directed the company's animated films ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001), ''Up (2009 film), Up'' ( ...
,
Lee Unkrich Lee Edward Unkrich (born August 8, 1967) is an American film director, editor and writer. He is best known for his work with animation studio Pixar, which he joined in 1994 as an editor before being credited as a co-director on ''Toy Story 2'' ...
, and Joe Ranft on ''Toy Story''. As a result of the success of ''Toy Story'', Pixar built a new studio at the Emeryville campus which was designed by PWP Landscape Architecture and opened in November 2000.


Collaboration with Disney (1999–2006)

Pixar and Disney had disagreements over the production of ''Toy Story 2''. Originally intended as a direct-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. Though profitable for both, Pixar later complained that the arrangement was not equitable. Pixar was responsible for creation and production, while Disney handled Film marketing, marketing and distribution. Profits and production costs were split equally, but Disney exclusively owned all story, character, and sequel rights and also collected a 10%-15% distribution fee. The two companies attempted to reach a new agreement for ten months and failed on January 26, 2001, July 26, 2002, April 22, 2003, January 16, 2004, July 22, 2004, and January 14, 2005. The proposed distribution deal meant Pixar would control production and own the resulting story, character, and sequel rights, while Disney would own the right of first refusal to distribute any sequels. Pixar also wanted to finance its own films and collect 100% profit, paying Disney the 10%-15% distribution fee. In addition, as part of any distribution agreement with Disney, Pixar demanded control over films already in production under the old agreement, including ''
The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...
'' (2004) and ''Cars (film), Cars'' (2006). Disney considered these conditions unacceptable, but Pixar would not concede. Disagreements between Steve Jobs and Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner caused the negotiations to cease in 2004, with Disney forming Circle Seven Animation and Jobs declaring that Pixar was actively seeking partners other than Disney. Despite this announcement and several talks with Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, and 20th Century Fox, Pixar did not enter negotiations with other distributors, although a Warner Bros. spokesperson told CNN, "We would love to be in business with Pixar. They are a great company." 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 its major releases during the Christmas shopping season. An added benefit of delaying ''Cars'' from November 4, 2005, to June 9, 2006, was to extend the time frame remaining on the Pixar-Disney contract, to see how things would play out between the two companies. Pending the Disney acquisition of Pixar, the two companies created a distribution deal for the intended 2007 release of ''
Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ; ) is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables that originated in Nice and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include tomato, garlic ...
'', to ensure that if the acquisition failed, this one film would be released through Disney's distribution channels. In contrast to the earlier Pixar deal, ''Ratatouille'' was meant to remain a Pixar property and Disney would have received a distribution fee. The completion of Disney's Pixar acquisition, however, nullified this distribution arrangement.


Walt Disney Studios subsidiary (2006–present)

After extended negotiations, Disney ultimately agreed on January 24, 2006, to buy Pixar for approximately $7.4 billion in an Stock swap, all-stock deal. Following Pixar shareholder approval, the acquisition was completed on May 5, 2006. The transaction catapulted Jobs, who owned 49.65% of total share interest in Pixar, to Disney's largest individual shareholder with 7%, valued at $3.9 billion, and a new seat on its board of directors. Jobs' new Disney holdings exceeded holdings belonging to 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 Creative director, Chief Creative Officer (reporting directly to president and CEO Bob Iger and consulting with Disney Director Roy E. Disney) of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios (including its division Disneytoon Studios), as well as the Principal Creative Adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs and builds the company's Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, theme parks. Catmull retained his position as President of Pixar, while also becoming President of Walt Disney Animation Studios, reporting to Iger and Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios. Jobs's position as Pixar's chairman and chief executive officer was abolished, and instead, he took a place on the Disney board of directors. After the deal closed in May 2006, Lasseter revealed that Iger had felt that Disney needed to buy Pixar while watching a parade at the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland in September 2005. Iger noticed that of all the Disney characters in the parade, none were characters that Disney had created within the last ten years since all the newer ones had been created by Pixar. Upon returning to Burbank, Iger commissioned a financial analysis that confirmed that Disney had actually lost money on animation for the past decade, then presented that information to the board of directors at his first board meeting after being promoted from COO to CEO, and the board, in turn, authorized him to explore the possibility of a deal with Pixar. Lasseter and Catmull were wary when the topic of Disney buying Pixar first came up, but Jobs asked them to give Iger a chance (based on his own experience negotiating with Iger in summer 2005 for the rights to American Broadcasting Company, ABC shows for the fifth-generation iPod Classic), and in turn, Iger convinced them of the sincerity of his feeling that Disney needed to re-focus on animation. Lasseter and Catmull's oversight of both the Disney Feature Animation 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 Legal entity, entity, a concern that analysts had expressed about the Disney deal. Some of those conditions were that Pixar Human resources, 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 Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley, California, Berkeley and Oakland, California, Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisc ...
, location with the "Pixar" sign. Finally, branding of films made post-merger would be "Disney•Pixar" (beginning with ''Cars''). Jim Morris (film producer), Jim Morris, producer of ''
WALL-E ''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American animated Romance film, romantic science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, produced b ...
'' (2008), became general manager of Pixar. In this new position, Morris took charge of the day-to-day running of the studio facilities and products. After a few years, Lasseter and Catmull were able to successfully transfer the basic principles of the Pixar Braintrust to Disney Animation, although meetings of the Disney Story Trust are reportedly "more polite" than those of the Pixar Braintrust. Catmull later explained that after the merger, to maintain the studios' separate identities and cultures (notwithstanding the fact of common ownership and common senior management), he and Lasseter "drew a hard line" that each studio was solely responsible for its own projects and would not be allowed to borrow personnel from or lend tasks out to the other. The rule ensures that each studio maintains "local ownership" of projects and can be proud of its own work. Thus for example, when Pixar had issues with ''Ratatouille'' and Disney Animation had issues with ''Bolt (2008 film), Bolt'' (2008), "nobody bailed them out" and each studio was required "to solve the problem on its own" despite knowing that there were personnel at the other studio who theoretically could have helped.


Expansion and John Lasseter's exit (2010–2018)

On April 20, 2010, Pixar opened Pixar Canada in the downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The roughly 2,000 square meters studio produced seven short films based on ''Toy Story (franchise), Toy Story'' and ''Cars (franchise), Cars'' characters. In October 2013, the studio was closed down to refocus Pixar's efforts at its main headquarters. In November 2014, Morris was promoted to president of Pixar, while his counterpart at Disney Animation, general manager Andrew Millstein, was also promoted to president of that studio. Both continued to report to Catmull, who retained the title of president of both Disney Animation and Pixar. On November 21, 2017, Lasseter announced that he was taking a six-month leave of absence after acknowledging what he called "missteps" in his behavior with employees in a memo to staff. According to ''The Hollywood Reporter'' and ''The Washington Post'', Lasseter had a history of alleged sexual misconduct towards employees. On June 8, 2018, it was announced that Lasseter would leave Disney Animation and Pixar at the end of the year, but would take on a consulting role until then. Pete Docter was announced as Lasseter's replacement as chief creative officer of Pixar on June 19, 2018.


Sequels and financial success (2018–2019)

On June 15, 2018, ''
Incredibles 2 ''Incredibles 2'' is a 2018 American animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it is the sequel to '' The Incredibles'' (2004) and the second full-length instal ...
'' was released, setting a record for widest opening weekend worldwide and domestic for an animated film. The film would eventually gross $1.2 billion worldwide. On October 23, 2018, it was announced that Catmull would be retiring. He stayed in an adviser role until July 2019. On January 18, 2019, it was announced that Lee Unkrich would be leaving Pixar after 25 years although he would return to the studio a few years later. On June 21, 2019, ''
Toy Story 4 ''Toy Story 4'' is a 2019 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the fourth installment in Pixar's ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to ''Toy Story 3'' (2010). It was dire ...
'' was released, surpassing the widest opening worldwide weekend record that ''Incredibles 2'' set. The film would make over $1 billion and win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. During the D23 (Disney), 2019 D23 Expo, Pixar announced that their next film, ''
Soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
'', would release in 2020. Ahead of the launch of Disney+, Pixar debuted ''SparkShorts'', experimental shorts done by Pixar staff.


COVID-19, Disney+ releases, and some financial struggles (2020–present)

Pixar released ''Onward (film), Onward'' on March 6, 2020. However, due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the film underperformed at the box office and was released onto rental digital services on March 20, and later on Disney+ on April 3. Due to the pandemic, ''Soul'' was moved to November 2020, and ultimately released on December 25, 2020, on Disney+ at no additional cost to subscribers, and later became the first animated streaming film to win the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...
. Pixar's next two features, Luca (2021 film), ''Luca'' and ''Turning Red'', were also released free on Disney+ in June 2021 and March 2022, respectively. In 2021, several Pixar employees anonymously criticized Disney's decision to release their films direct to Disney+. ''Lightyear (film), Lightyear'', Pixar's first movie to return to theaters was released in June 2022. The film became a Box-office bomb, box-office failure with ''Deadline Hollywood'' calculating the film lost the studio $106 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues. In September 2022, Jonas Rivera was promoted to Executive VP of Film Production at Pixar overseeing all film and streaming production. In December 2022, Disney CEO Bob Iger noted that they would rely more on the Pixar brand. In June 2023, Disney laid off 75 employees including the director of ''Lightyear'' Angus MacLane, and the film's producer Galyn Susman. During that same month, Elemental (2023 film), ''Elemental'' was released. During the film's opening weekend, Docter stated that Pixar "trained audiences that these films will be available for you on Disney+". Despite opening below projections, ''Elemental'' ultimately made a box office comeback by early August 2023, crossing $400 million at the worldwide box office. Disney's Vice president#In business, EVP of Theatrical Distribution Tony Chambers stated "After a disappointing opening weekend, we're really pleased that audiences have discovered what a great movie it is." That same month, Morris said "at the box office we're looking at now, [the film] should do better than break even theatrically. And then we have revenue from Disney Streaming, streaming, Disney Experiences, theme parks and Disney Consumer Products, consumer products. This will certainly be a profitable film for the Disney company." In December 2023, it was announced that ''Soul'', ''Turning Red'' and ''Luca'' would be released in theaters in the United States in the first quarter of 2024. In January 2024, it was reported that Pixar's staff would face imminent layoffs by 20 percent, reducing the studio's workforce to less than 1,000 employees. However, the layoffs were then delayed and did not occur, reportedly because of production schedules. In May 2024, the studio proceeded with slightly smaller layoffs: 175 employees or approximately 14 percent of the studio's workforce of over 1,300 employees. The layoffs occurred as the studio began to rely less on direct-to-streaming series and more on feature films intended primarily for theatrical exhibition. On June 14 of the same year, ''
Inside Out 2 ''Inside Out 2'' is a 2024 American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to '' Inside Out'' (2015), it was directed by Kelsey Mann and was produced by Mark Nielsen, from a screen ...
'' was released and became financially successful. The film had a domestic opening of $154 million, the third highest for an animated film, and the biggest global opening for an animated movie with $294 million. Since then the film broke multiple box office records. It had the highest second weekend gross for an animated film with $100 million, being the first to reach the 6 digit second opening weekend. It became the fastest animated movie to reach $1 billion at the global box office, reaching the milestone in 17 days. It also out-grossed ''Incredibles 2'' to become the highest grossing Pixar film globally.


Campus

When
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
, chief executive officer of Apple Inc. and Pixar, and
John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter ( ; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, a ...
, then-executive vice president of Pixar, decided to move their studios from a leased space in Point Richmond, California, to larger quarters of their own, they chose a 20-acre site in
Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley, California, Berkeley and Oakland, California, Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisc ...
, formerly occupied by Del Monte Foods, Inc. The first of several buildings, the high-tech structure designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson has special Building foundation, foundations and electricity generation, electricity generators to ensure continued film production, even through major earthquakes. The character of the building is intended to abstractly recall Emeryville's industrial past. The two-story steel-and-masonry building is a collaborative space with many pathways. The digital revolution in filmmaking was driven by applied mathematics, including computational physics and geometry. In 2008, this led Pixar senior scientist Tony DeRose to offer to host the second Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival at the Emeryville campus.Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival 2008
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute


Filmography


Traditions

Some of Pixar's first animators were former Traditional animation, cel animators including John Lasseter, and others came from computer animation or were fresh college graduates. A large number of animators that make up its animation department had been hired around the releases of ''A Bug's Life'' (1998), ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001), and ''
Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Lee Unkrich, and produced by Graham Walters, from ...
'' (2003). The success of ''
Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...
'' (1995) made Pixar the first major computer-animation studio to successfully produce theatrical feature films. The majority of the animation industry was (and still is) located in Los Angeles, and Pixar is located north in the San Francisco Bay Area. Traditional hand-drawn animation was still the dominant medium for feature animated films. With the scarcity of Los Angeles-based animators willing to move their families so far north to give up traditional animation and try computer animation, Pixar's new hires at this time either came directly from college or had worked outside feature animation. For those who had traditional animation skills, the Pixar animation software Marionette (software), Marionette was designed so that traditional animators would require a minimum amount of training before becoming productive. In a 2007 interview with PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley, Lasseter said that Pixar's films follow the same theme of self-improvement as the company itself has: with the help of friends or family, a character ventures out into the real world and learns to appreciate his friends and family. At the core, Lasseter said, "it's gotta be about the growth of the main character and how he changes." Actor John Ratzenberger, who had previously starred in the television series ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), has voiced a character in every Pixar feature film from ''Toy Story'' through ''Onward (film), Onward'' (2020). A non-speaking background character in ''
Soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
'' (2020) bears his likeness. Pixar paid tribute to Ratzenberger in the end credits of ''Cars (film), Cars'' (2006) by parodying scenes from three of its earlier films (''Toy Story'', ''Monsters, Inc.'', and ''A Bug's Life''), replacing all of the characters with motor vehicle versions of them and giving each film an automotive-based title. After the third scene, Mack (Cars), Mack (his character in ''Cars'') realizes that the same actor has been voicing characters in every film. Due to the traditions that have occurred within the films and shorts such as anthropomorphic creatures and objects, and Easter egg (media), easter egg crossovers between films and shorts that have been spotted by Pixar fans, a blog post titled ''The Pixar Theory'' was published in 2013 by Jon Negroni, and popularized by the YouTube channel Super Carlin Brothers, proposing that all of the characters within the Pixar universe were related, surrounding Boo from ''Monsters Inc.'' and the Witch from Brave (2012 film), ''Brave'' (2012). Additionally, Pixar is known for their films having expensive budgets, ranging from $150–200 million. Some of these films include ''
Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ; ) is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables that originated in Nice and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include tomato, garlic ...
'' (2007), ''
Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The third installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, it was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor ...
'' (2010), ''
Toy Story 4 ''Toy Story 4'' is a 2019 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the fourth installment in Pixar's ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to ''Toy Story 3'' (2010). It was dire ...
'' (2019), ''
Incredibles 2 ''Incredibles 2'' is a 2018 American animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it is the sequel to '' The Incredibles'' (2004) and the second full-length instal ...
'' (2018), ''Inside Out (2015), Inside Out'' (2015), ''
Inside Out 2 ''Inside Out 2'' is a 2024 American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to '' Inside Out'' (2015), it was directed by Kelsey Mann and was produced by Mark Nielsen, from a screen ...
'' (2024), ''The Good Dinosaur'' (2015), the aforementioned ''Onward'' and ''Soul'', ''Turning Red'', ''Lightyear (film), Lightyear'' (both 2022), and ''Elemental (2023 film), Elemental'' (2023). In a 2023 interview, Pixar's president Jim Morris (film producer), Jim Morris stated that one of the reasons why their films have expensive budgets is because they are produced entirely in the U.S. with all of the artists under one roof, while almost all of their competitors keep costs down by doing work offshore.


Sequels and prequels

As of March 2025, seven Pixar films have received or will receive sequels or prequels. These films are ''
Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...
'', ''Cars (film), Cars'', ''Monsters, Inc.'', ''
Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Lee Unkrich, and produced by Graham Walters, from ...
'', ''
The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...
'', '' Inside Out'', and ''
Coco Coco or variants may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Coco'' (2009 film), a French comedy film * ''Coco'' (2017 film), an American animated fantasy film * '' Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle'' (), a 2020 Japanese anime film ...
''. ''Toy Story 2'' was originally commissioned by Disney as a 60-minute direct-to-video film. Expressing doubts about the strength of the material, John Lasseter convinced the Pixar team to start from scratch and make the sequel their third full-length feature film. Following the release of ''Toy Story 2'' in 1999, Pixar and Disney had a gentlemen's agreement that Disney would not make any sequels without Pixar's involvement though retaining a right to do so. After the two companies were unable to agree on a new deal, Disney announced in 2004 they would plan to move forward on sequels with or without Pixar and put ''
Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The third installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, it was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor ...
'' into pre-production at Disney's then-new CGI division Circle Seven Animation. However, when Lasseter was placed in charge of all Disney and Pixar animation following Disney's acquisition of Pixar in 2006, he put all sequels on hold and ''Toy Story 3'' was canceled. In May 2006, it was announced that ''Toy Story 3'' was back in pre-production with a new plot and under Pixar's control. The film was released on June 18, 2010, as Pixar's eleventh feature film. Shortly after announcing the resurrection of ''Toy Story 3'', Lasseter stated, "If we have a great story, we'll do a sequel." ''Cars 2'', Pixar's first non-''Toy Story'' sequel, was officially announced in April 2008 and released on June 24, 2011, as their twelfth. ''Monsters University'', a prequel to ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001), was announced in April 2010 and initially set for release in November 2012; the release date was pushed to June 21, 2013, due to Pixar's past success with summer releases, according to a Disney executive. In June 2011, Tom Hanks, who voiced Sheriff Woody, Woody in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, implied that ''
Toy Story 4 ''Toy Story 4'' is a 2019 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the fourth installment in Pixar's ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to ''Toy Story 3'' (2010). It was dire ...
'' was "in the works", although it had not yet been confirmed by the studio. In April 2013, ''
Finding Dory ''Finding Dory'' is a 2016 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Angus MacLane, produced by Lindsey Collins, and written b ...
'', a sequel to ''
Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Lee Unkrich, and produced by Graham Walters, from ...
'', was announced for a June 17, 2016, release. In March 2014, ''
Incredibles 2 ''Incredibles 2'' is a 2018 American animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it is the sequel to '' The Incredibles'' (2004) and the second full-length instal ...
'' and ''Cars 3'' were announced as films in development. In November 2014, ''Toy Story 4'' was confirmed to be in development with Lasseter serving as director. However, in July 2017, Lasseter announced that he had stepped down, leaving Josh Cooley as sole director. Released in June 2019, ''Toy Story 4'' ranks among the 40 top-grossing films in American cinema. On July 3, 2016, Pixar president Jim Morris (film producer), Jim Morris announced that the studio might be moving away from sequels after ''Toy Story 4''. This was affirmed by producer Mark Nielsen in May 2019. Shortly after its release, Pixar's chief creative officer
Pete Docter Peter Hans Docter (born October 9, 1968) is an American filmmaker and animator, who has served as chief creative officer (CCO) of Pixar since 2018. He has directed the company's animated films ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001), ''Up (2009 film), Up'' ( ...
confirmed that the studio would take a break from sequels and focus on original projects. However, in a later interview, Docter said the studio would have to return to making sequels at some point for its "financial safety". In September 2022, during the D23 Expo, Docter and Amy Poehler (voice of Joy (Inside Out), Joy in ''Inside Out'') confirmed that ''
Inside Out 2 ''Inside Out 2'' is a 2024 American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to '' Inside Out'' (2015), it was directed by Kelsey Mann and was produced by Mark Nielsen, from a screen ...
'' was in development, with the film being released on June 14, 2024. In February 2023, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that ''Toy Story 5'' was in development, aiming for a 2026 release. In August 2024, during the D23 Expo, Docter announced that ''Incredibles 3'' is in development, with
Brad Bird Philip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both animation and Live action, live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in Oregon. He ...
returning to develop. That same month, on the subject of making a sequel, Docter stated "I want to make it because we have something new to say with these characters. And there's been a number of films that we would love to have a sequel to, that we couldn't find something." In March 2025, Iger announced that ''Coco (2017 film)#Sequel, Coco 2'' is in development, scheduled for release in 2029.
Lee Unkrich Lee Edward Unkrich (born August 8, 1967) is an American film director, editor and writer. He is best known for his work with animation studio Pixar, which he joined in 1994 as an editor before being credited as a co-director on ''Toy Story 2'' ...
and Adrian Molina are returning as directors.


Adaptation to television

''Toy Story'' is the first Pixar film to be adapted for television as a Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, ''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' film and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, TV series on the UPN television network, now The CW. ''Cars'' became the second with the help of ''Cars Toons'', a series of 3-to-5-minute short films running between regular Disney Channel show intervals and featuring Mater (Cars), Mater from Cars (franchise), ''Cars''. Between 2013 and 2014, Pixar released its first two television specials, ''Toy Story of Terror!'' and ''Toy Story That Time Forgot''. ''Monsters at Work'', a television series spin-off of ''Monsters, Inc.'' produced by Disney Television Animation, premiered in July 2021 on Disney+. On December 10, 2020, it was announced that three series would be released on Disney+. The first is ''Dug Days'' (featuring Dug from '' Up'' (2009)), which premiered on September 1, 2021. The second is a ''Cars'' show, titled ''Cars on the Road'', which follows Mater and Lightning McQueen as they go on a road trip. It premiered on Disney+ on September 8, 2022. An original show entitled ''Win or Lose (TV series), Win or Lose'', which follows a middle school softball team the week leading up to the big championship game where each episode will be from a different perspective, premiered on Disney+ on February 19, 2025. A TV series based on ''Inside Out'' was announced to be in development for Disney+ in June 2023, with ''Soul'' co-writer Mike Jones (screenwriter), Mike Jones hired as developer. The series, titled ''Dream Productions'', premiered on Disney+ on December 11, 2024.


2D animation and live-action

The Pixar filmography to date has been computer-animated features. So far, ''
WALL-E ''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American animated Romance film, romantic science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, produced b ...
'' (2008) has been the only Pixar film not to be completely animated as it features a small amount of live-action, including footage from the 1969 film ''Hello, Dolly! (film), Hello, Dolly!'' while the short films ''Your Friend the Rat'' (2007), ''Day & Night (2010 film), Day & Night'' (2010), ''Kitbull'' (2019), ''Burrow (film), Burrow'' (2020), and ''Twenty Something (2021 film), Twenty Something'' (2021) feature Traditional animation, 2D animation. ''1906 (novel)#Potential film adaptation, 1906'', the live-action film by
Brad Bird Philip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both animation and Live action, live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in Oregon. He ...
based on a screenplay and novel by James Dalessandro about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, 1906 earthquake, was in development but has since been abandoned by Bird and Pixar. Bird has stated that he was "interested in moving into the live-action realm with some projects" while "staying at Pixar [because] it's a very comfortable environment for me to work in". In June 2018, Bird mentioned the possibility of adapting the novel as a TV series, and the earthquake sequence as a live-action feature film. The ''Toy Story Toons'' short ''Hawaiian Vacation'' (2011) also includes the fish and shark as live-action. Jim Morris, president of Pixar, produced Walt Disney Pictures, Disney's ''John Carter (film), John Carter'' (2012) which
Andrew Stanton Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is best known as the director and co-writer of the Pixar animated films ''Finding Nemo'' (2003), ''WALL-E'' (2008), ''Finding Dory'' (2016), and the upcoming ''Toy Story 5 ...
co-wrote and directed. Pixar's creative heads were consulted to fine tune the script for the 2011 live-action film ''The Muppets (2011 film), The Muppets''. Similarly, Pixar assisted in the story development of Disney's ''The Jungle Book (2016 film), The Jungle Book'' (2016) as well as providing suggestions for the film's end credits sequence. Both Pixar and Mark Andrews (filmmaker), Mark Andrews were given a "Special Thanks" credit in the film's credits. Additionally, many Pixar animators, both former and current, were recruited for a traditional hand-drawn animated sequence for the 2018 film ''Mary Poppins Returns''. Pixar representatives have also assisted in the English localization of several Studio Ghibli films, mainly those from Hayao Miyazaki. In 2019, Pixar developed a live-action Hidden camera#In reality television, hidden camera reality show, titled ''Pixar in Real Life'', for Disney+.


Upcoming films

Six upcoming films have been announced: original film ''Elio (film), Elio'', directed by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi with initial direction by Adrian Molina and to be released on , original film ''Hoppers (film), Hoppers'', directed by Daniel Chong and to be released on , sequel ''Toy Story 5'', directed by Andrew Stanton and to be released on , original film ''Gatto'', directed by Enrico Casarosa and scheduled to be released on , sequel ''Coco (2017 film)#Sequel, Coco 2'', with
Lee Unkrich Lee Edward Unkrich (born August 8, 1967) is an American film director, editor and writer. He is best known for his work with animation studio Pixar, which he joined in 1994 as an editor before being credited as a co-director on ''Toy Story 2'' ...
and Molina returning as directors, scheduled for release in 2029, and sequel ''Incredibles 2#Sequel, Incredibles 3'', currently without a release date.


Franchises

This does not include the ''Cars'' Planes (film), spinoffs produced by Disneytoon Studios.


Highest-grossing films

: ' —Includes theatrical reissue(s).


Co-op Program

The Pixar Co-op Program, a part of the Pixar University professional development program, allows their animators to use Pixar resources to produce independent films. The first 3D project accepted to the program was ''Borrowed Time (film), Borrowed Time'' (2016); all previously accepted films were live-action.


See also

* The Walt Disney Company * Disney's Nine Old Men * 12 basic principles of animation * ''Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life'' * Modern animation in the United States#Disney, Modern animation in the United States: Disney * List of animation studios owned by the Walt Disney Company, Animation studios owned by the Walt Disney Company * Walt Disney Animation Studios * Disneytoon Studios * Circle Seven Animation * Blue Sky Studios * 20th Century Animation * List of animation studios * List of Disney theatrical animated feature films


Notes


References


External links

* * *
List of the 40 founding employees of Pixar
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