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Saturday, May 24, 2003

BEHIND THE SCENES AT PIXAR

By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®

HOLLYWOOD, CA  (ANS) -- Pixar is the first motion picture company to hit a home run with every one of its movies. TOY STORY 1 and 2, A BUG’S LIFE, and MONSTERS, INC. have all done more than $150 million at the domestic box office. A new book being written compares Pixar with Disney. There are an incredible number of similarities, but while Disney has had its ups and downs, Pixar keeps going up.

Years ago, in the late 1970s, my wife and I knew two of the people who were to found Pixar. There were others, but they dropped away. One we knew very well, David DiFrancesco, who still plays an important role on the technical side of the company, and the other is actually the head of Pixar, Ed Catmull, president.

Recently, I visited Pixar for the press junket of the incredibly well-made movie, FINDING NEMO. It’s hard to believe that a movie could be so well written, or that a movie so well written and so enjoyable could do well at the box office when it’s up against the powers of darkness, such as the latest round of R-rated movies.

Ed Catmull explained the Pixar phenomenon. He said that his job was to make other people look good. He works closely with the owner, Steve Jobs, with whom I chatted with in their beautiful building. The building is designed with common areas right in the middle, where all those on staff would run into each other as they went about their tasks.

Creativity is the byword at Pixar. People take their spacious offices and turn them into tiki huts, cottages and Old English castles. Paintings, drawings and art are on every wall. Furthermore, the talent at Pixar is encouraged and even paid to take educational classes throughout the week at company expense.

More than 24 PhDs work for Pixar, by far the most number of PhDs in the movie industry. It has the second biggest computer array outside of a government facility. They have their own proprietary computer animation system and write their own codes.

The rule in Hollywood has been to make money on already famous stories such as SLEEPING BEAUTY or comic books such as SPIDER-MAN, but every one of Pixar’s movies has been an original story. Each one, moreover, has been written in part by Andrew Stanton.

I asked Andrew why each one of his movies had a strong redemptive element. FINDING NEMO even has a leap of faith in the belly of a whale reminiscent of the biblical story. Andrew said, “I’m a Christian, and so are most of us.”

I noticed that most of the staff had wedding rings and pictures of their children predominantly displayed in their offices. At the end of the credits for FINDING NEMO is a list of production babies (babies born during the film’s production) that goes on and on and on.

Now, all this seems like an ideal setting that would be ripe for the usual exploration of dark themes that seem to capture the imagination of many artists, but the themes at Pixar are not dark. The drawings are light and joyous. The stories are uplifting. In TOY STORY 2, they tried to make the bad guy repent and play ball with his son. In FINDING NEMO, there is no bad guy. This is a place that makes movies for people who still find hope, joy and redemption in the world.

John Lassiter, the creative head, is always asking the talent, “When are you going to direct a movie?” And, he has turned over the direction to those who have proved themselves just as capable as he was with TOY STORY 2.

(A hint for would-be moviemakers, John Lassiter says that for a great movie you need to define the world first, then the characters and then what happens.)
In a way, Pixar is a fairy tale. These friends had a vision back in 1978, which they are still fulfilling. And, they have kept that vision pure by being more concerned about the vision than about autocratic rule. One can only hope that they succeed in an industry that has never been known for being good to its own people. Even the famous Walt Disney, whom we all admire, was known for his authoritative ways. At Pixar, Steven Jobs seemed laid back, friendly, easy to get to know, and more concerned about the employees than about himself.

Bravo, Pixar! May you set an example that other people will want to follow.

© baehr, 2003
NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr: For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest MOVIEGUIDE® magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. MOVIEGUIDE® is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. MOVIEGUIDE® now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, at www.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers. MOVIEGUIDE® also regularly broadcasts several international TV and radio programs hosted by Dr. Baehr. Also, if you want to train your family to be media-wise, call 1-800-899-6684 in North America to order the book, video or audio version of THE MEDIA-WISE! FAMILY, Dr. Ted Baehr's latest book. © baehr, 2001
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