The document summarizes the history and rise of Pixar Inc. It describes how Pixar started in 1979 as part of Lucasfilm Ltd. and was later purchased by Steve Jobs in 1986. Pixar's first major success was the 1995 film Toy Story. Subsequent hit films like Finding Nemo and Up led Disney to acquire Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006. Pixar has become hugely successful through perseverance and innovative animation techniques, winning numerous awards and expanding the animation industry.

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Caylee Geller
Ms. Tillery
British Literature
25 October 2011
The Rise of a Giant: Pixar Inc.
In the first animated movie produced by Pixar, a famous space ranger named Buzz
Lightyear said, “To infinity and beyond!” and that is exactly where Pixar has taken the animation
industry. The success of Pixar is duly noted worldwide and they remain a leader in the
animation industry. The company reeled in more than 100 awards and nominations for their
work on animated films, commercials, and technical contributions to the animation industry. The
trials and triumphs of this company have earned it its spot as one of the top leading animation
companies in the entertainment industry today (Seibold). With all this success it is hard to think
that it was almost over, before it ever began. Pixar's history of trials and triumphs starts with a
group of men, and their ideas that would revolutionize the entertainment industry (The Gale
Group, Inc.).
In 1979 George Lucas brought out Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith, both associates form
the New York Institute of Technology, to join Lucasfilm Ltd. (Seibold). Together they built up
the core of the animation department, but there was still something missing. During negotiations
with Disney Catmull and Smith were introduced to John Lasseter. Lasseter felt that he no longer
wanted to work under Disney and join the group of animators at Lucasfilm Ltd. There was still
one more problem to solve though. Funding was low and they needed an investor (Pixar). At this
point the company went up for sale, for the asking price of $30 million dollars. Steve Jobs, CEO

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of Apple, was interested in buying the company, but not for that price. Jobs offered Lucas $15
million dollars for the company and Lucas accepted, thus completing the star studded line up
(The Gale Group, Inc.).
Now under the wing of Steve Jobs the company was named Pixar and began work on
animated short films and commercials. The company began to develop a new "super computer"
and software for new and innovative ways to create these animations. To prove just how great
these new systems were at what they were designed for, the company began work on a short film
called Luxo Jr. about a desk lamp. This lamp can be seen hopping on the on the “I” in Pixar in
the opening short in Pixar's movies. This was Pixar's first full short film and it was one of Pixar's
first Oscar award winning pieces. In light of all this success Pixar was in trouble yet again
(Seibold).
With all the money Pixar was putting in to make the new computers and software, they
were not making any back. Pixar's financial future seemed to be fading fast and Steve Jobs was
going to have to pull the plug on the company’s operations. When it came down to cutting
expenses in the company, Steve chose the animation department. With little to no funds being
generated by this department it seemed like the best idea, but John Lasseter had a different idea.
In a last attempt to keep the animation department open Lasseter gave a compelling sales pitch
on a short film called Tin Toy. Jobs agreed to keep the department running on limited funds.
Pixar animation was in a rut, but that was all about to change.
Around this time Disney was considering making a fully animated film and Pixar jumped
at the chance. Disney offered 15 million dollars to do the movie and Jobs quickly agreed.
Though no one knew it this deal saved Pixar. Pixar's fist full length movie was named Toy Story
and the stars of this movie, a space ranger named Buzz and a cowboy named Woody, take on

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many obstacles as they fight to establish Andy's favor (“The Pixar Story”).. This feature film was
a huge hit at the box office and continued to bring in revenue through merchandise sales. Even
though the movie seemed to have endless success, Pixar saw a small amount of revenue from the
movie. Pixar had sign most of the revenue over to Disney, but that did not stop Steve Jobs.
In a decision to make Pixar public Steve Jobs dismissed the fact that investor like to
invest in profitable companies, ignoring the dim prospects of future revenue regarding the
company. In Job’s plan to use the big internet boom to his advantage, he planned to invest in
companies with potential for great futures on little more than speculation, instead of a firm
business plan, was starting to seem fashionable. Job’s still had a big problem though and the
problem was profit sharing, as part of him assuring Disney that Pixar would still fulfill their
original contract and produce the rest of the Toy Story movies with their original principles. He
had granted key employees of Pixar contracts and profit sharing. With these contracts the power
of Pixar was shifted and placed in the hands of these key employees. Ed Catmull was particularly
happy with this move. If he and the others did not agree to trade their profit sharing for stock, the
move to public would not go through. They had ahold of Steve Job’s wallet and were not afraid
to squeeze. Job’s minimized the number of people involved in the deal to maximize the amount
of shares he would own. With this the IPO went through and all the sudden Steve Job’s was
worth $1.5 billion dollars. At this point Pixar found Steve Jobs very valuable.
Disney and Pixar were ready to negotiate a new deal, in which Job’s wanted Disney and
Pixar to be equals. In this new deal Pixar would pay 50% of cost of production and Disney
would share 50% of the profit with them. In this new deal Pixar asked for equal billing rights to
Disney and all creative control. Disney accepted these demands and a new deal was reached.
This new power house team created a string of very successful films (Seibold).

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With this success Pixar decided to upgrade. In 2000 Pixar was preparing for a move to
their new 225,000-square-foot headquarters in Emeryville, California. The new building was due
to be complete in late 2000. Meanwhile Pixar was hard at work on, Pixar’s fifth animated motion
picture, Monsters Inc. A film about a world of monsters dependent on children’s screams to
power their world. The film was slated to premiere in 2002 and brought in a total of million at
the box office and was a major success for the company (The Gale Group, Inc).
On January 24, 2006 Disney agreed to purchase Pixar in an all-stock deal for around $7.4
billion. The shareholders at Pixar agreed and the acquisition went through on May 5, 2006. Steve
Jobs, who held 50.1% of Pixar’s shares, became Disney’s single largest shareholder with only
7% of Disney’s shares exceeding ex-CEO Michael Enisner and even more than Roy Disney who
held 1% of the company’s shares (“The Pixar Story”). With this new deal John Lasseter was
made Chief Creative Officer and Ed Catmull retained the tile of President of Pixar while also
picking up the title of President of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Although Disney and Pixar
were now under the same rule they remained separate entities while still working together to
create award winning works.
Pixar’s successes came one right after the other. Huge feature films such as The
Incredibles, A Bugs Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars, Up, and WALL-E. It’s safe to say
Pixar no longer had a funding issue and with all these successful movies came awards
(McDaniel). Pixar’s short film Tin Toy received their first Academy Award. In the years to
follow Pixar earned its second and third Academy Awards for its software innovations CAPS
and RenderMan (The Gale Group, Inc). The company was also awarded two Golden Clios for
the work in animated advertising. In the years to follow Toy Story, A Bugs Life, and the short
film Geri’s Game would each received one. Further down the road Pixar would release Toy

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Story 2 reeling in their ninth Academy Award. Pixar would go on to be nominated and win over
100 other awards (Giles).
Pixar latest expansion was 2010 with the opening of a new Pixar animation studio in
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This studio was named “Glenn McQueen Pixar
Animation Center” in honor of the Canadian born animator Glenn McQueen who died in 2002
during the making of Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo was later dedicated to him. This new facility
is mainly dedicated to work in producing TV specials and shorts based on Pixar’s animated
characters (“The Pixar Story”).
Pixar’s journey to the top is inspiring. The leap from a dwindling financial future to
billions of dollars in profit is a true testament to what can come from perseverance and hard
work. This world renowned company has become a house hold name and a major player in the
entertainment and business world. Pixar still continues to create new and innovative techniques
and works, winning award, and inspiring the world through their work.

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Works Cited
The Gale Group, Inc., comp. “Pixar Animation Studios.” Funding Universe. The Gale Group,
Inc., 2006. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <http://www.fundinguniverse.com/histories/Pixar-
Animation-Studios-Company-History.html>.
Giles, Jeff. “Total Recall: Pixar’s Winning Streak.” Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster, Inc., 28 May
2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.
McDaniel, Matt. “A Brief History of Pixar Studios.” Yahoo! Movies. Yahoo! Inc., 6 Mar. 2009.
Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <http://movies.yahoo.com//need-to-know-pixar-history.html>.
Pixar. “Awards.” Pixar. Pixar, 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <http://www.pixar.com//
press_box/.htm>.
- - -. “Meet the Execs.” Pixar. Pixar, 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.pixar.com//_us/.htm>.
- - -. “Pixar History - Introduction.” Pixar Animation Studios. Pixar, 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.pixar.com///.html>.
“The Pixar Story.” Pixar Blog. Pixarblog.com, 2010. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.
<http://pixarblog.com//.html>.
Seibold, Chris. “How To Turn 10 Million Into 7 Billion: A Brief History Of Pixar.” Apple
Matters. Sterndesign, LLC, 23 Jan. 2006. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.applematters.com/
article/_to_turn_10_million_into_7_billion_a_brief_history_of_pixar/>.

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