The Pixar Story

Wow...what a great and thorough film. This is the story of Pixar Studio--from its earliest days to the present (which was 2007 at the time). It offers so much more than you might expect from such a film--wonderful access to the folks who built the studio who you might think were too busy or too important to participate--but they did. So, in addition to seeing lots of great films being made, you get to meet folks like John Lasseter and Steve Jobs and see them as people--very excited and creative people, but still people. Amazing access, however, isn't all. You also get a great sense of excitement and fun--and it's practically impossible to watch this film without feeling this and feeling inspired--and the music sure helps with this as well. For fans of CGI...heck, for ANYONE, this is a must-see film and you learn a lot and have a great time learning. See this film.

I'd heard this was remarkable, but it seems like a lot of that was hype. Pixar seems like an unbelievably cool place to work, and I loved the message of "quirky small company refuses to give up their personality for financial stability" but there were only a small handful of moments that really felt like big deals. It's amazing how many huge names they wrangled up for the interviews, though, (seriously, you got Steve Jobs and Bob Iger to sit down for a good length of time? That's pretty impressive) and those little chats are the most revealing, interesting moments of the entire documentary. Once the subject of Toy Story comes up, it becomes a tale of "and here's how we made our next big, huge, runaway success." It's also overproduced to the point of distraction. Good but not great.

Jasper102011 here to review The pixar story.

Pixar is the company with a luxo lamp as a mascot and a cabinet full of academy rewards.

This film shows that great movies and great story's can go through pain and hard work and even one of the best film company's can go through that.

The man himself john lasseter has the idea for computer-animation or CGI but Disney dumps it with john stuck at lucasfilms and make very famous short films.

A hard-core pixarfan would stare at the screen watching every step of the way because I am one and one word would move the story onwards.

The pixar story is a overall brilliant documentary, the movie tells that its not the technology that makes the movies great, but its the people who make it.

I really like the film with its interviews with famous Disney animators and tells you when pixar had a problem, it tells you how they solved it.

i wish pixar make a sequel for the more modern movies.

If your a really big fan or you just heard of pixar i highly recommend it so grab some popcorn and enjoy!

The documentary of the history of Pixar Animation Studios. Pixar is absolutely a fabulous success story. It has been often spoken of as an overnight success, but as Steve Jobs says in the film, most overnight successes takes years of hard work.

It was interesting to see the evolution of animation and the kind of dedication and vision that goes behind something that is - in hindsight - a no-brainer decision.

For me, I was surprised to see the fat Steve Jobs in here. The images of slim Steve Jobs with his penetrating eyes was so strongly embedded in my mind that every time Steve spoke, I hardly heard what he was saying over the sound of how chubby he looked. :D

Also, I found out Pixar's original foundation, Lucasfilm, had to regretfully let go due to lack of funds. It was once again a surprise for me that George Lucas, the creator of the 'Holy Trilogy', had a cash problem.

It was also surprising that even after an unsurpassed, unimaginable success with it's first feature release, creating a whole new genre, raking in cash, accolades and awards, Pixar still had bureaucratic challenges for almost all of its releases. I guess I don't understand Hollywood executives or production houses. But that's OK - I understand the movies, and Pixar is pure magic.

Like almost every child of my generation, I grew up on Pixar and in particular Toy Story. Some of my fondest and most memorable cinematic memories were going to see Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles (where afterwards I thought "I can't wait for the sequel"). I remember that one of my first dream jobs in film was to write stories for Pixar and explore all the imaginative possibilities. Now that I've gotten more into film, I've gained a deeper respect for their storytelling and their technology and how hard it is. The Pixar Story tracks the origin of Pixar from when John Lasseter was first inspired to pursue animation to around 2007, before Ratatouille hit the screens. It's an informative look into how the company came to be and of all the struggles. It's very interesting as I would like to get into the industry as well. The biggest chunk is the struggle to create Toy Story - not just to get it commissioned but also to find the story. This is also a trouble with Monsters Inc. where they had the concept but almost too many possibilities to explore. Narrowing down those possibilities is a incredibly difficult job and is something I'm aspiring to achieve at this very moment so it was especially fascinating to watch.

It's always great fun to have a look into their offices with their scooters and arcades. However, perhaps this documentary has come too soon, they talk about fears of being too factory-line, setting a standard they can no longer top and as this comes before one of their most successful strands of films with Wall-E, Up (a film that I didn't like at first but it's grown on me) and Toy Story 3 and then perhaps the beginning of a very boring strand with Cars 2, Brave and Monsters University, I want to know whether they think they're topping themselves or have sunken into a comfort zone. A short reflection on their fears would be very interesting. The doc focuses on the followup chaos after the Toy Story section, with second project syndrome lingering over the Pixar team. A Bug's Life was considered a success at the time and although in hindsight, many disagree, the documentary put me in the mood to rewatch and while the first act is perhaps a bit too childish, it grows and grows and is exceptional storytelling in the end. I hope Pixar haven't peaked with the closure of Toy Story 3 and they can continue making films that get to me. The documentary also makes great use of graphics and animation which is pretty appropriate for this topic. Very entertaining and informative.

8/10