Pixar

“We make the kind of movies we like to watch. There's lots of heart in our films.” (John Lasseter) Pixar is one of the most famous animation studios known. It was founded 1986 with the hope of making animations with computer graphics. Supporting each other, animator John Lasseter, computer graphics investigator Ed Catmull and main stockholder Steve Jobs make a perfect team for producing animated movies. Since their first movie Toy Story to Cars, all of the Pixar movies have got a great impact on cinemas. But the main question is what is the secret for Pixar success? The key for Pixar success is achieved thanks to the communication, environment and talent that exist on the company.

   

The first main key is the combination of talent of technology and arts. As it can be seen in Pixar Story movie, the people that work in the projects are from different disciplines and are experts in their work. The main example is the 3 main people of Pixar, as I mentioned before, Lasseter, Catmull and Steve Jobs worked together so they can combine their knowledge in their areas in order to achieve their goal, in this case make animated movies with the computer. They are experts in their areas, John Lasseter is one of the best animators and he has worked through all his life in animation, and Ed Catmull was one of the pioneers of computer graphics applied for animations. Also the blend of technology with art helps to achieve a perfect combination. John Lasster says: “The art challenges the technology, and the technology inspires the art”. In the story of Pixar, the technology was seen as a limiting for art, but later on the challenge was great and the technology became a useful tool to create espectacular movies. An example for this is A Bug`s Life, when they had troubles creating millions of ants, in the end the result was great and they could achieve to be seen many ants on screen. Another important thing of this combination is that because of the challenges that exist both areas (technology and art) have to look for innovation. As it was mentioned, new ideas for production challenged what technology could achieved in the moment, so a constant innovation of techniques and technology tools are needed.    

The second aspect is communication. The freedom to communicate with anyone is something important for knowing all areas and the opinions of everyone over a certain topic. On Pixar anyone can give feedback, no matter in which position the person is, the ideas are always welcome no matter from who. Also working the ideas as a team, makes the process for creating a better product, in this case everyone has to participate to make a good idea become a great one. Feedback is an important media to make better ideas, as said before to achieve a good idea, the communication between peers and just expressing your thoughts about something would make the process easier and more enriching 

The third reason for Pixar having succes is that it has a great environment of work. One of the most important things that Pixar directors are always talking about is the trust that they have with each other. They feel like everyone in Pixar are friends, everyone trust in the work that the other is doing, also they know they can relay if they need something. As seen in the movie of Pixar Story, the mood in the company is great, like a "playground" everyone feels free to make what they want to in order to create better ideas. Also to be able to say what you think and want to, makes it feel like home.The animators got what they want, they got a personal office with the stuff they like and whit things they are comfortable with.  

So the combination of different disciplines, blending technology and arts and the constant innovation of this areas. Also having a great communication with everyone, and being able to express anything you think about and idea and having a nice environment of work makes Pixar a great company, that can have success in any of their movies.