1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio, and how the tech 4 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: are you? Well, it's Friday, so it's time for a 5 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: tech Stuff classic. Today we're going to do part one 6 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: of a three part series about Pixar, the animation company 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: that is now part of Disney. But it wasn't always 8 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: that way. And this first episode originally published on July 9 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: twenty seventh, twenty sixteen. Obviously, Pixar's done a lot since 10 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, and I could very likely do a Part 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: four follow up, but for now, let's sit back, relax, 12 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: listen to this classic episode from twenty sixteen, The Pixar Story, 13 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: Part one. Now, to talk about the history of Pixar, 14 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: we first have to chat about some of its founders. 15 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,559 Speaker 1: But I'm not talking about John Lassner, I'm not talking 16 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: about George Lucas, I'm not talking about Steve Jobs. They 17 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: will all factor into this discussion, but those are not 18 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: Those aren't the people who are there at the very beginning. 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: At the very beginning was doctor Edwin E. Catmole and 20 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: now doctor cat Moole was born in nineteen forty five 21 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: in West Virginia, and as a child, he dreamed of 22 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: working for the Walt Disney Company, but eventually he kind 23 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: of gave up on that dream. He felt that he 24 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: lacked artistic talent and felt that, you know, there's just 25 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: no room for me at Disney, which is kind of funny. 26 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: So he decided to study computer science and physics instead. 27 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: You know, you can't be an animator for Disney. Go 28 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: into computer science and physics. He attended the University of 29 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: Utah and that's where he earned a bachelor's degree in 30 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: computer science. He earned another one in physics, and he 31 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: got a PhD in computer science. So he's a smart dude, 32 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: and he was granted his PhD in nineteen seventy four. Now, 33 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy two, while he was still in school, 34 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: Doctor Catmill created a computer animated version of his own 35 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: left hand that was incorporated into the film Future World, 36 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: and that marked the first full length feature film to 37 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: have computer animation in it. Now, this was just a 38 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: tiny little segment that was featured in part of the movie. 39 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: It wasn't like it wasn't like they made a feature 40 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: length movie about a guy's left hand. They've since done 41 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: movies like that, but that was not what this one 42 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: was about. And you can actually view the animation and 43 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: how it was made on YouTube. There's the clip available 44 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: right there. The title is called A Computer Animated Hand 45 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two, and in the video you see that 46 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: they started with a physical model of Katmill's hand. I'm 47 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: guessing they cast in his hand, so, in other words, 48 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 1: they made a mo and then filled that mold with 49 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: some sort of resin or something along those lines, and 50 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: the finished product was a copy of Catmill's left hand. 51 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: Then they drew polygons on the surface of the model hand, 52 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: so they physically drew these polygon shapes so that it 53 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: could be translated into a digital form. They digitized the 54 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: model by scanning it with a tiny little scanner that 55 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: was kind of a attached to an arm, so they 56 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: could like a like a mechanical arm, not a human arm, 57 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: but almost like one you would see on a lampstand, 58 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: and they traced out the hand. This created the digital model, 59 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: so they ended up with a wire model inside the computer. 60 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: They then did a half tone sequence on top of 61 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: this wire model, and then a smooth shading sequence, and 62 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: that ended up creating a three D model of the 63 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: hand which they then could animate and make it do 64 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: different gestures and rotated and that kind of stuff and 65 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: give it that sort of three dimensional appearance. Now, that 66 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: and other projects that he was working on that Katmull 67 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: was working on got the attention of a somewhat eccentric, 68 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: wealthy entrepreneur named Alexander Shure. And Shure had founded a 69 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: technical college, the New York Institute of Technology, one of 70 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: the first dedicated higher learning institutions that specifically looked at technology, 71 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: and he ended up hiring doctor Catmull to come over 72 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,479 Speaker 1: and become the director of a brand new division called 73 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: the Computer Graphics Lab. This was in nineteen seventy five, 74 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: so right after he got his PhD, doctor Campbill came 75 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: over to New York and began to work at the 76 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: New York Institute of Technology. At the Computer Graphics Lab, 77 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 1: Kemmel met with other pioneers in computer graphics, and one 78 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: of those was Alvi Ray Smith. Now Smith is also 79 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: a name we have to mention when you talk about 80 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,720 Speaker 1: the beginnings of Pixar. Smith is as important to those 81 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: early days as Cat and Moll. He's a co founder 82 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: of the company, and he earned a bachelor's degree in 83 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five and electrical engineering from New York it's 84 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: from New Mexico State University rather, and in nineteen sixty 85 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: five he also earned his PhD in computer science from Stanford. 86 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: He taught electrical engineering and computer science at New York 87 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: University and the University of California at Berkeley before joining 88 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: Xerox Park. Xerox Park, by the way fascinating place. We 89 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: mentioned it on a few previous episodes of tech Stuff 90 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 1: from way back. It's one of those R and D 91 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:58,160 Speaker 1: divisions that really shaped computers. Things like the graphical user 92 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:03,119 Speaker 1: interface and the mouse all came out of Xerox Park. 93 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: They were not invented by Apple. It was actually a 94 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 1: Xerox invention first and then eventually made its way into 95 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: other devices and personal computers. Now, when he was at Park, 96 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: Smith actually helped develop a computer graphics paint program, which 97 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:26,480 Speaker 1: he would continue to work in that field after moving 98 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: over in the computer graphics lab at the NY. Now, 99 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: also at that lab was another guy named David Di 100 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: Francesco who graduated from the University of Wisconsin. He would 101 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: become a founding member of Pixar as well, and in 102 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven some other folks joined. Ralph Guggenheim, who 103 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: had freshly graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree 104 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: in communications, joined the lab and he also would become 105 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: part of Pixar later on. So they start working in 106 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: this graphics lab. They're working to push the boundaries of 107 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: computer graphics, which was a very very young discipline at 108 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: that point. They were actually kind of defining the rules 109 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: as they were going along. And this went for a 110 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: couple of years until nineteen seventy nine, and that's when 111 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: George Lucas was putting together Industrial Light and Magic. Lucas 112 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: really wanted to push film editing and production technology forward. 113 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: He felt that Hollywood had been relying upon the same 114 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: tools for decades, and he felt that because of the 115 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: rise of computers and other technologies, the industry was ripe 116 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: for change. He just had to find the right people 117 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:47,679 Speaker 1: to do it. So he created Lucasfilm Computer Division in 118 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: Industrial Light and Magic, and he recruited doctor ed Catmull 119 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: from the New York Institute of Technology to head the 120 00:07:54,720 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: new department. So here's katmull. He's been working at NYA 121 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: IT for a few years. He was named the director 122 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: immediately upon being hired, Like, imagine this. Imagine going to 123 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: college and then immediately after you get your bachelor's degree, 124 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: imagine pursuing your post graduate work and getting your PhD. 125 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: Then imagine you're immediately hired to be the head of 126 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: a brand new department in the first technical Institute of 127 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: the United States of America. Then imagine that George Lucas 128 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: wants you to go and work for him. Now, it's 129 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: pretty charmed life if you ask me. At any rate, 130 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: he recruited doctor capmmell and Campmeill came along, and then 131 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: he brought along Alvi Ray Smith, David D. Francesco, and 132 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: Ralph Guggenheim from the Graphics Computer Lab to join the 133 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: new department. So, in a way, I'm not saying that 134 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: he necessarily intended to do this, but Lucas raided the 135 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: graphics computer Lab at ny to create his own computer division, 136 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,199 Speaker 1: Austrial Light and Magic. So cam Will became vice president 137 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: of the division and managed development and not just film editing, 138 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: but also computer graphics, digital audio, and video games. One 139 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,440 Speaker 1: of his earliest projects was actually coming up with a 140 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: method to imitate motion blur with computer graphics so that 141 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: it looks more like a fast moving action that's usually 142 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,199 Speaker 1: cut on film, because if you're using film and things 143 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 1: are moving quickly, you get this blur effect, and without 144 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: that blur, the graphics would remain too sharp and then 145 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:35,959 Speaker 1: seem fake or unrealistic. If you've ever watched a television 146 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: set that has a really high refresh rate and you 147 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: just feel like things don't look right, even though everything's 148 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: very clear and very sharp, it doesn't look right, that 149 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: might be part of it. It's the removal of that blur. Well, 150 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: doctor Camill was actually learning how to insert a blur 151 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: so that things would look more natural when they were 152 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: on screen. Over the next few years, Catpmell's team pioneers 153 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: computer graphics for film, and they published more than one 154 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: hundred papers on the subject in various publications. So they 155 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: continue doing this work, developing the technology necessary to do 156 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: computer graphics, but they realize there's a big, big problem. 157 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: Computer graphics requires a decent amount of processing and the 158 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: technology just wasn't up to speed to do this in 159 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,680 Speaker 1: an efficient way. It was really expensive to produce computer 160 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: animation and really difficult as well very time consuming because 161 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: processors just weren't fast enough to handle data at the 162 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: speeds necessary to turn this stuff out quickly. And so 163 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: there was actually real discussion about how Moore's Law would 164 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: eventually solve this problem, but it would require them to 165 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: wait around a bit in order to get to it. 166 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:57,199 Speaker 1: So they kept on pushing against those barriers, but they 167 00:10:57,280 --> 00:10:59,839 Speaker 1: acknowledged that there was only so much you could do 168 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: without spending ridiculous amounts of money. And in fact, this 169 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:11,199 Speaker 1: entire department within Lucas's Empire was a money losing proposition. 170 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: It costs more money to develop and produce the computer 171 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: animation than the division was generating, or at least you 172 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:25,360 Speaker 1: could argue that. In nineteen eighty three, John Lassener joined 173 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: Catmull's team as a contract employee. Here's the thing about 174 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: John Lassener. He had worked for Disney two times already, 175 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: although that's kind of misleading. The first time John Lassener 176 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: worked for Disney he was a skipper for the Jungle 177 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: Cruise ride at Disneyland. So if you've ever ridden the 178 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: Jungle Cruise ride, you know who these people are. They're 179 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: the folks who are your host as you get on 180 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: the boat, and they mostly pepper you with puns and 181 00:11:55,120 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 1: really wacky jokes as you go through the ride. So 182 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: they might say things like, you know, that's an African elephant, 183 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: how can you tell? And the answer is because we're 184 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: in Africa, instead of you know, the ears or anything 185 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:17,559 Speaker 1: like that. Or you go behind the waterfall and says, everyone, 186 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: look here, it's the backside of water. A joke so 187 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: old and repeated so frequently that weird Al Yankovic worked 188 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: it into his song Skipper Dan. So John Laster was 189 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: a skipper on the Jungle Cruise ride and he you know, 190 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:36,079 Speaker 1: that was a job he had when he was a 191 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: young man, like a teenager. And then later on John 192 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: Lasterer would join Disney as an animator. So he worked 193 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: there for a while but was eventually let go or 194 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: fired if you prefer. And there are different reasons that 195 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: have been given for this, but the one that I 196 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: see that seems to be repeated the most frequently is 197 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: that he was so interested in computer anime. He was 198 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: really pushing for Disney to start looking into computer animation 199 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 1: as a means of telling stories, but the company wasn't interested, 200 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 1: and eventually they just didn't have anything for him, so 201 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:15,199 Speaker 1: they let him go. But Katmull and Smith were frequent 202 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,320 Speaker 1: visitors to Disney. They would go to Disney to check 203 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,439 Speaker 1: things out, and they met John Lassiter when they went 204 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 1: to Disney Animation. So as soon as Laster was fired, 205 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 1: kat Moll said, Hey, you should come over here and 206 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: work for us. So he joined the graphics group and 207 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,319 Speaker 1: worked on a short film titled The Adventures of Andre 208 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: and Wally b. Now, at that time he was a 209 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:40,199 Speaker 1: contract employee. He was not a full time employee because 210 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: kat Will only had certain amount of authority to do 211 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 1: things like higher on new people. He would join as 212 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: a full time employee in the computer division in nineteen 213 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,079 Speaker 1: eighty five and his title at that time became Interface designer. 214 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: And the reason he was an interface design is because 215 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: Catmill didn't have the authority to hire on an animator, 216 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: so they made up the title or they gave him 217 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: a title that wasn't really what he did in order 218 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,679 Speaker 1: to be able to hire him. We'll be back with 219 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: more about the Pixar story in just a moment. At 220 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighty four conference of the ACM's Special Interest 221 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: Group on Computer Graphics, better known as Siggraph Siggraph. Seven 222 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: of the thirty papers that were accepted for publication for 223 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: that conference came from this Lucasfilm team headed by Catmill. So, 224 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: in other words, they were dominating the space. They were 225 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: providing a lot of the most forward thinking ideas in 226 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: computer graphics, and they were defining the process more than 227 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,720 Speaker 1: anyone else was at that time. So they were instrumental 228 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: in getting computer animation and computer graphics integrated into entertainment. 229 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: It was pretty impressive. Some of the movies that the 230 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: team worked on during their time there included Star Trek 231 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: two The Wrath of khn. If you're familiar with the movie, 232 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: you know there's a sequence in which the Genesis program, 233 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: the Genesis device, transforms a dead planet into one that's 234 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: just teeming with life, and you get this interesting effect 235 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: as you watch the plant kind of sprout life everywhere. 236 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 1: That was one of the sequences that this group worked on. 237 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: In fact, Alvi ray Smith himself directed that sequence. He 238 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: was the one in charge of it. It was also 239 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: used in some stuff in Return of the Jedi, and 240 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: they provided a sequence in Young Sherlock Holmes that ended 241 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: up being a first so Young Sherlock Holmes is the 242 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: story of Shelick Holmes when he's a young man. He's 243 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: attending a school and John Watson ends up being put 244 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: into the same school and the two of them have 245 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: to try and solve a mystery, and at one point 246 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: a character is hit with a dart that has a 247 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: hallucinogenic on it, and the hallucinogenic makes these terrible things 248 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: seem to happen to people, and it mostly drives them 249 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: to do terrible things like jump in the way of 250 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: a carriage that's racing down the street, and thus they 251 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: end up dying. But it looks like they're committing suicide, 252 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: but in reality they are trying to escape this freaky 253 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: vision they have. In this case, the freaky vision was 254 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: a figure in a stained glass window appears to come 255 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: to life, jump free of the window, and attack a person. 256 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: This marked the first time computer graphics were incorporated into 257 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: a scene with live action actors and done in a 258 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: convincing way. Before, when you had computer graphics in movies, 259 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: it was essentially the entire frame you're looking at a 260 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: computer graphic. It's not something that's interacting with live action characters, 261 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: or it might be something that's on a screen within 262 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: a scene, but not something that's actually supposed to be 263 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 1: in the physical space along with the actors. This marked 264 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: the first time that happened. If you have not seen 265 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:36,200 Speaker 1: Young Sherlock Holmes, I recommend it. It's not the best film, 266 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: but it is interesting and it is entertaining. I think 267 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: it gets a little maybe a little self satisfied, but 268 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 1: it's worth watching. I actually saw it in the theater, 269 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: So this is one of those moments where I think 270 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: I witnessed history. I saw a movie in which the 271 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:00,639 Speaker 1: first computer generated character had an interaction with a live 272 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:03,959 Speaker 1: action actor. Didn't know that that at the time, but 273 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: now it's true. Now, the technology that the team needed 274 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: to produce these sorts of effects didn't really exist, at 275 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: least not in a way that was attainable for a 276 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: division within a production studio. So the group began to 277 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: develop a specialized computer called the Pixar Image Computer. So 278 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 1: that this is where they get their name of the company. 279 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: Spoiler alert, but Pixar Image Computer. The name came from 280 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: Alvi ray Smith and Lauren Carpenter, who were trying to 281 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 1: brainstorm a name for this device. Alvi ray Smith wanted 282 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,480 Speaker 1: to come up with a name that had almost kind 283 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: of a Spanish verb sound to it, and he wanted 284 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: to be a little a little futuristic sounding too, and 285 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 1: they decided to go with Pixar as if it were 286 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: a verb to make a picture. But it was all unvented, 287 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: and ultimately they thought Pixar sounded kind of cool, and 288 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: that's what they called the computer, the Pixar Image Computer. 289 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: The computer allowed for both image processing and computer graphics 290 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,240 Speaker 1: development on the same device. So up to that point, 291 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: those processes had to be done separately on different machines, 292 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 1: which limited the sort of stuff you could actually produce. 293 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: But the Pixar Image Computer changed that and created a 294 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: new discipline called image computing. So it's sort of a 295 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: combination of the two previously existing disciplines and it allowed 296 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 1: you to do a lot more interesting stuff. The Pixar 297 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: Image Computer had a chap channel processor, which was a 298 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: four parallel processor chip capable of performing forty million instructions 299 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:51,959 Speaker 1: per second, which was not bad for the mid nineteen eighties. 300 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:58,399 Speaker 1: And it had a twenty four megabyte picture memory and 301 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: that memory could be expanded to forty eight megabytes. The 302 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,719 Speaker 1: memory bus could access that memory at a blistering two 303 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,639 Speaker 1: hundred and forty megabytes per second, and the system was 304 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: also expandable. Two additional chaps could be added to provide 305 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: up to one hundred and twenty million instructions per second. 306 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: This is, you know, obviously not state of the art 307 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: compared to today's standards, but in the eighties, to be 308 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 1: able to create this device specifically so you could do 309 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: image computing was pretty impressive. The video controller bus was 310 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: twice as fast as the memory bus at four hundred 311 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: and eighty megabytes per second, and depending upon the software 312 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: load out, the computer would work with NTSC PAL and 313 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: ten twenty four by seven to sixty eight RGB displays. 314 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: The Pixar Image computer required a host computer, so it 315 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 1: wasn't a standalone device on its own. You actually had 316 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,159 Speaker 1: to pair it with another computer in order to control it. 317 00:20:54,600 --> 00:21:00,639 Speaker 1: This typically was a big, expensive computer that was not 318 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: meant for personal use. This wasn't a personal computer. It's 319 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:08,920 Speaker 1: not like it was an Apple one or anything like that. 320 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,639 Speaker 1: It wasn't anywhere along those lines. We're talking about like 321 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:18,520 Speaker 1: a Sun system or a similar computer where it's a 322 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: pretty massive, powerful system all on its own, and then 323 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 1: you would connect that, you would network it to the 324 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: Pixar Image Computer, and it would communicate over cables a 325 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:34,679 Speaker 1: transmission rate of eighty megabytes per second. The computer was 326 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: not cheap. It cost one hundred and thirty five thousand dollars, 327 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,120 Speaker 1: and keep in mind this is the mid nineteen eighties, 328 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:43,959 Speaker 1: so it would be significantly more than that today if 329 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 1: you adjust for inflation. And also keep in mind that 330 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:49,919 Speaker 1: one hundred thirty five thousand dollars just gets you the 331 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: Pixar Image computer. You still need that host computer, which 332 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: could cost another thirty five thousand dollars. So one hundred 333 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: and seventy thousand dollars just for this one method of 334 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 1: image computing, it's pretty pretty expensive. The list of customers 335 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:13,719 Speaker 1: was small, but it included some very influential ones, and 336 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,479 Speaker 1: in fact, the company envisioned, or rather the division at 337 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: this time within LucasArts or Lucasfilm, envisioned six different markets 338 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,640 Speaker 1: for its Image computer, and that included medical imaging, remote 339 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: sensing and mapping, seismic imaging, design and animation, graphic arts 340 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:36,360 Speaker 1: and science, and scientific visualization. So that's kind of incredible 341 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,360 Speaker 1: when you think about it, like this was a company 342 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 1: that eventually becomes known for creating computer animated films. But 343 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:49,719 Speaker 1: early on they were trying to generate revenue through developing 344 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: hardware and selling it to a diverse group of clients, 345 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: not just other entertainment companies, but medical industries, you know, 346 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: and scientific research centers. So it's kind of incredible. One 347 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: of the customers that was interested in this technology was Disney, 348 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 1: the Walt Disney Company, and Walt Disney Company approached the 349 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: Computer Graphics division over at Lucasfilm and said, hey, we 350 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 1: have this idea, but we can't put it together. We 351 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,640 Speaker 1: need someone else to design it for us, but we 352 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: want a computer animation production system or CAPS, And this 353 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 1: was their attempt to update the cell animation process. It 354 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:42,880 Speaker 1: was to digitize the animation process. So in other words, 355 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,719 Speaker 1: they still weren't going away from hand drawn animation. They 356 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: still wanted to do that, but they wanted an updated 357 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,800 Speaker 1: method to process each of those cells to make it 358 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:59,360 Speaker 1: more efficient and more effective. So the process of creating 359 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:03,439 Speaker 1: the system CAPS spanned a couple of years. By the 360 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: time it was ready, the division, this computer Graphics division 361 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,640 Speaker 1: was no longer part of Lucasfilm. It actually would take 362 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,719 Speaker 1: so long for them to finish the CAP system that 363 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: it was when it was done. When Pixar became its 364 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:25,920 Speaker 1: own entity. Now, Smith continued to work on other projects, 365 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: including creating a new channel for pixels. So by channel, 366 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: I mean how do you describe a pixel? You already 367 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,439 Speaker 1: had the color channels of red, green, and blue, but 368 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: Smith added an alpha channel, and the alpha channel allowed 369 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: you to tag pixels with extra data that could be 370 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: used for matting, for a compositing, for overlays, and for 371 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 1: anti aliasinc. So you can think of it as here's 372 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,400 Speaker 1: an extra way of being able to describe this pixel, 373 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 1: to get a specific effect beyond just what color is it? 374 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,880 Speaker 1: That's kind of cool. Now, around nineteen eighty five, Alvi 375 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 1: Smith was looking into creating the first feature length computer 376 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,959 Speaker 1: animated film, and he started actually having some serious conversations 377 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 1: about it. It was going to be a collaboration with 378 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,639 Speaker 1: a Japanese company, and the movie they had decided to 379 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: try and make would be a story inspired by the 380 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: famous Chinese novel Journey to the West. But when Alvi 381 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: ray Smith sat down to seriously look at how much 382 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: would that cost, what would the film's budget need to be, 383 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,399 Speaker 1: he realized that the industry wasn't efficient enough to allow 384 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 1: for a realistic budget. It's just that it would be 385 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 1: too expensive, it would never get made. And he came 386 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 1: to the reluctant conclusion that they would continue to wait 387 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:52,399 Speaker 1: for Moore's Law to keep on being Moore's Law and 388 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: bring down those costs. Keep in mind, Moore's law at 389 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 1: its heart, really isn't about how quickly computer power increases. 390 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: It's really about how quickly computer power becomes more affordable. 391 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 1: When Gordon Moore made the observation, it was really from 392 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: an economic standpoint, not a technological capability standpoint. He said 393 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:23,440 Speaker 1: that when the price of developing more powerful processors comes down, 394 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: than obviously people develop more powerful processors. And he's noticed 395 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,679 Speaker 1: that that tends to happen every eighteen to twenty four months. 396 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 1: So it's interesting to think that More's law is really 397 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: more about economics than it is about how many discrete 398 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: elements you can cram onto a square inch of a 399 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: silicon wafer. But at any rate, Smith recognized there just 400 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 1: was not going to be a full length computer animated 401 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,120 Speaker 1: feature film until the technology was caught up to make 402 00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: it economically feasible. In February nineteen eighty six, the Computer 403 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: Graphics Division was spun off from Lucasfilm. The technology the 404 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: team had developed had applications beyond the film industry, like 405 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 1: we mentioned, you know, was the medical field and seismic 406 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: studies as well as things like meteorology. All of them 407 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: had different applications. So the technology was valuable, but Lucas 408 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 1: was ready to get rid of it because while the 409 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:29,720 Speaker 1: division was accomplished, it had been losing money for several 410 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: years and it was really expensive to make good computer graphics. 411 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 1: But on top of that, Lucas had other reasons that 412 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: he didn't want to have this financial drain hitting him. 413 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:43,200 Speaker 1: For one thing, Return of the Jedi had come out 414 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty three, Now we're talking about nineteen eighty six, 415 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: three years later. Star Wars merchandise sales were starting to 416 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:56,120 Speaker 1: slack off pretty big time by nineteen eighty six, so 417 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: the huge checks that had been coming in first learn 418 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,159 Speaker 1: to dry up at this point. On top of that, 419 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,399 Speaker 1: Lucas had had a very expensive divorce in nineteen eighty 420 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: three and he was having lots of issues surrounding that. 421 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,200 Speaker 1: Which is an entirely different episode that doesn't involve technology, 422 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:19,840 Speaker 1: So I don't know who will ever cover it, but 423 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: it is a fascinating story. Oh and Lucas also had 424 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 1: one other albatross around his neck. He made a little 425 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:32,440 Speaker 1: movie called Howard the Duck, and it didn't perform quite 426 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 1: as well as he had hoped. You remember I mentioned 427 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:40,320 Speaker 1: that if you haven't seen young Sherlock Holmes, it's worth seeing. 428 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 1: The same is not true for Howard the Duck, although 429 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: if you've got a bunch of friends over and you 430 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:47,360 Speaker 1: just want to make fun of a movie, it's a 431 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 1: pretty decent candidate. So Lucas wanted to dump this computer 432 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:58,000 Speaker 1: graphics division, and Katmull and Smith knew about this. They 433 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,040 Speaker 1: knew that this was coming, They saw the writing on 434 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 1: the wall, and so for about a year before this happened, 435 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:08,479 Speaker 1: they began to talk to potential investors who might be 436 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:12,160 Speaker 1: able to give some capital to the spun off company, 437 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: and they ended up courting a certain Steve Jobs as 438 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: a potential backer for that new company. And it had 439 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:24,440 Speaker 1: happened for about a year, and Katamull and Smith became 440 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 1: co founders of this new company, which they now named Pixar. 441 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: So they took the name from the computer they had developed, 442 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:33,640 Speaker 1: which wasn't an easy decision, by the way, There were 443 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,960 Speaker 1: a lot of internal disagreements within Pixar about what to 444 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: call the new company. The temporary name on the documents 445 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 1: at around that time was actually GFx, So I'm glad 446 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: that they dropped that and went with Pixar. We're going 447 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,040 Speaker 1: to take a quick break and then we'll finish out 448 00:29:51,080 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: the Pixar story Part one. Steve Jobs provided capital for 449 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:08,800 Speaker 1: the company. He signed a five million dollar check specifically 450 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,960 Speaker 1: to Smith and to Catmull, who then signed it over 451 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 1: to Lucas. Now that five million dollars was to essentially 452 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: pay Lucas for the company. He gave the company another 453 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 1: five million dollars to act as starting capital for Pixar itself. 454 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: And like I said, Jobs wasn't the only person that 455 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:33,640 Speaker 1: they talked to about the possibility of investing in this 456 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 1: new company. Another person who almost funded Pixar. This story 457 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: would be different if this had come to pass. The 458 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: person who almost funded Pixar was Ross Perrot. And guys, 459 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: if you're old enough to remember, you know Ross Perot 460 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: was an entrepreneur and a former presidential candidate, independent candidate. 461 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:01,479 Speaker 1: Certain character too, man, I mean, Saturday Night Life had 462 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 1: a lot of fun imitating Ross Perot for a few months. Anyway, 463 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,680 Speaker 1: Ross Perrot almost was the one to fund Pixar, but 464 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,840 Speaker 1: that deal fell through at the last minute and Steve 465 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: Job stepped in. Meanwhile, Steve Jobs himself was going through 466 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 1: a bit of a transition. He had co founded Apple 467 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: Computers in the seventies, but by this time Apple had 468 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: more or less forced him out of the company. The 469 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: board had made his life incredibly difficult. They kind of 470 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: removed all of his responsibilities, so he didn't have anything 471 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:37,240 Speaker 1: to do, and they kind of set him off off 472 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:39,520 Speaker 1: to the side, so he was more or less forgotten. 473 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,239 Speaker 1: So he just kind of left and they paid for it. 474 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: That company did not do so well without Steve Jobs. 475 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 1: In fact, Apple began to lose focus. At one point 476 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 1: the company was in danger of completely going bankrupt, and 477 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 1: only then was really Steve Jobs asked to come back 478 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:01,080 Speaker 1: and try and work on fixing that. And he did 479 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 1: come back and eventually was made CEO of Apple and 480 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 1: turned everything around. But that's another story. In fact, we've 481 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: covered that on Tech Stuff. We've talked about the story 482 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: of Steve Jobs and his exodus from Apple, his exile 483 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: and then his triumphant return later on. Now you might 484 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: have heard that Steve Jobs has been referred to as 485 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,479 Speaker 1: a founder or the founder of Pixar or the owner 486 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: of Pixar, and technically neither of those were true at 487 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 1: the time that Pixar was founded. Now he had a 488 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 1: majority stake in the company. He had seventy percent ownership 489 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 1: of the company and the employees had the other thirty percent. 490 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 1: But it was Smith and Catmull who actually founded the 491 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: company and ran the operations. They were the president or well, 492 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,360 Speaker 1: Catmill was the president and Smith was the vice president 493 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: of the company. They managed the company. So what Steve 494 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: Jobs did was provide that starting capital, and he also 495 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: was a master marketing genius type. We all know this 496 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:07,240 Speaker 1: if you've ever seen any Steve Jobs presentation. The guy 497 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: knew how to sell like he was really good at 498 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: expressing interesting ideas and getting you excited about them. So 499 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,240 Speaker 1: what he started to do with Pixar is marketed as 500 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: a computer hardware company, like the makers of the Pixar 501 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:26,200 Speaker 1: Image computer, and that became a major product under his watch, 502 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: and Pixar sold several to various entities, including the Walt 503 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 1: Disney Company. Now Steve Jobs was technically providing money to 504 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: Pixar to buy the technology rights to the systems that 505 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: they built, that Pixar Image Computer and other technologies that 506 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: they built while they were at Lucasfilm. That was where 507 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:49,000 Speaker 1: that first five million dollars went. And like I said, 508 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,640 Speaker 1: they he had seventy percent of the ownership and the 509 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 1: employees had thirty percent ed Kettmull and Alvi Smith owned 510 00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: the majority of that thirty percent, and that's how they 511 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,280 Speaker 1: ended up also becoming the managers, or rather they were 512 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,719 Speaker 1: also the managers for Pixar, the president and vice president respectively. 513 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 1: And they weren't really as keen on the idea of 514 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,080 Speaker 1: being a hardware company. They realized that there was a 515 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 1: necessity for it in order for them to remain afloat 516 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: while waiting for Moore's Law to kick in so that 517 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 1: they can actually start doing what they wanted to do 518 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:30,239 Speaker 1: in the first place, which was produced computer animation in 519 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:36,000 Speaker 1: an economical way. And when Pixar formed, Catmill and Smith 520 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 1: brought along around thirty eight employees of the computer graphics 521 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:44,920 Speaker 1: division with them from Pixar. That included John Lassiter. So 522 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:51,360 Speaker 1: Lassner was one of forty Lucasfilm employees who became Pixar 523 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:56,280 Speaker 1: employees and Lassener also really wanted to push computer animation, 524 00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:59,440 Speaker 1: just as he was still doing at Disney before they 525 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,439 Speaker 1: fired him. He really wanted computer animation to become a thing, 526 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:07,280 Speaker 1: and he got the freedom to work on a few projects. Now, 527 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: it wasn't that Steve Jobs was interested in having this 528 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:18,080 Speaker 1: company produce computer animated shorts or films. That wasn't the case. 529 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,040 Speaker 1: Lassen was able to make the argument, Hey, we have 530 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:27,080 Speaker 1: this equipment, this Pixar Image computer, and you need to 531 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 1: be able to sell it to people, so you need 532 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 1: to show them some interesting demonstrations of what the computer 533 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 1: is capable of doing. How about we shoot some computer 534 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:41,000 Speaker 1: animated shorts and that will act as almost like a 535 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: sales pitch, a demo of the technology itself. And he 536 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,719 Speaker 1: got the go ahead. So Lassener kind of found a 537 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:51,240 Speaker 1: workaround in order to get to do what he wanted 538 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:55,880 Speaker 1: to do, which was to make computer animated films. But 539 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,719 Speaker 1: these weren't intended at least not originally to reach a 540 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,360 Speaker 1: wider audience. It was really meant to pitch to potential customers. 541 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:06,719 Speaker 1: But that did change. So in nineteen eighty six, a 542 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:11,000 Speaker 1: little bit later on, after it spun off and started 543 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:17,000 Speaker 1: its shaky first Steps. Pixar premiered the film Luxo Junior 544 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 1: at Siggraph. Now that's the short that introduces the famous 545 00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 1: Luxo desk lamp. That little lamp that bounces into frame 546 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,640 Speaker 1: with the Pixar logo, jumps up and down on the ball, 547 00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 1: and then becomes the eye for Pixar. This is where 548 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:41,480 Speaker 1: that character comes from. And the short received an Academy 549 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:45,640 Speaker 1: Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film, so people took 550 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:48,640 Speaker 1: notice of it. The award actually ended up going to 551 00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:52,160 Speaker 1: a different film called a Greek Tragedy. But it's okay 552 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:57,360 Speaker 1: because Pixar would end up getting a lot of Academy 553 00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:01,600 Speaker 1: Awards over its history, and I'll mention quite a few 554 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,600 Speaker 1: of them in both this one and more importantly in 555 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:10,320 Speaker 1: the second episode about the Pixar Story. So by getting 556 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:14,240 Speaker 1: that notoriety of being an nominative or an Academy award, 557 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,760 Speaker 1: it helped the company land some commercial gigs and design 558 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:21,160 Speaker 1: animation for other studios, so it kept business going, although 559 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:26,239 Speaker 1: Pixar as a company was still losing money, and when 560 00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:28,960 Speaker 1: it would lose money, Steve Jobs would invest a little 561 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:31,680 Speaker 1: more money to keep it going in the hopes that 562 00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:36,200 Speaker 1: it would eventually pay off big time. More on that 563 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:38,840 Speaker 1: in just a minute. So in nineteen eighty seven, Pixar 564 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:45,240 Speaker 1: debuts a short film titled Red's Dream Reed Red's Dream, 565 00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:49,359 Speaker 1: also directed by John Lassner, and they premiered that at 566 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:54,839 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighty seven Sigraph. In nineteen eighty eight, they 567 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:57,720 Speaker 1: have another short film come out. This one is called 568 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:02,080 Speaker 1: ten Toy ti in ten Toy and it won an 569 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:07,520 Speaker 1: Academy Award for Best Animated Short. That exposure helped the 570 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:11,480 Speaker 1: company a lot and led to the eventual partnership with 571 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:16,480 Speaker 1: the Walt Disney Company. It got Disney's attention and eventually 572 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:19,680 Speaker 1: it would lead to discussions between the two companies now. 573 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,000 Speaker 1: That same year, nineteen eighty eight, Pixar finished development on 574 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,839 Speaker 1: an animation system called men me E and V, which 575 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:31,520 Speaker 1: stands for Modeling Environment. I'll go into more detail on 576 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:34,239 Speaker 1: some of the technologies they developed in our second episode. 577 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty nine, Pixar completed work on a new 578 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,640 Speaker 1: short called nick Knack, one of my favorites. It features 579 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,799 Speaker 1: a very determined plastic snowman inside a snow globe and 580 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:51,560 Speaker 1: he's trying so hard to get to a Hawaiian themed 581 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:58,880 Speaker 1: like a tropical themed setting, including a lovely young lady toy. 582 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:02,200 Speaker 1: So you've got the snowman who gets a crush on 583 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:07,440 Speaker 1: this whole, you know, sort of tropical toy and is 584 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,080 Speaker 1: trying really hard to break out of his snow globe 585 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:13,240 Speaker 1: in order to get over to there. It's an adorable 586 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:17,960 Speaker 1: little short. Pixar also started to work on some commercials 587 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:23,120 Speaker 1: at that time. My favorite commercial that Pixar, or actually 588 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:26,160 Speaker 1: it's really was an ad campaign that Pixar worked on, 589 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:29,400 Speaker 1: because it wasn't just a single commercial came out in 590 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,759 Speaker 1: the early nineties, around nineteen ninety three. That was an 591 00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:37,359 Speaker 1: ad campaign for a cool mint, Listerine. So if you've 592 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,000 Speaker 1: ever seen those commercials, those are the ones where you 593 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:44,160 Speaker 1: see a little bottle of listerine swinging through the jungle 594 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:48,759 Speaker 1: and Baltimora's Tarzan Boy is playing in the background, which 595 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:54,800 Speaker 1: is an awesome poppy song. So I remember those distinctly 596 00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,080 Speaker 1: because I remember seeing those commercials come on and they 597 00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:59,960 Speaker 1: actually affected me, Like I thought, a lots of neat 598 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,440 Speaker 1: commercial most of the time I ignore them, but I 599 00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:05,960 Speaker 1: like those. So Pixar just kind of had this ability 600 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:11,319 Speaker 1: to inject personality into objects that otherwise would be inanimate 601 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,160 Speaker 1: and it was something that would serve them very well 602 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:16,680 Speaker 1: as they moved forward into the feature films later on. 603 00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:21,680 Speaker 1: Getting back to the nineteen eighties, in nineteen eighty nine, 604 00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:26,839 Speaker 1: Pete Doctor and Andrew Stanton both joined Pixar, and they'd 605 00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:29,239 Speaker 1: both become very important later on. Both of them end 606 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 1: up writing and directing films for Pixar. According to the 607 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:38,040 Speaker 1: book To Infinity and Beyond. By this time or around 608 00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:41,920 Speaker 1: this time, Steve Jobs had invested more than fifty million 609 00:40:42,239 --> 00:40:45,680 Speaker 1: dollars into Pixar over the years, mostly as an attempt 610 00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:49,080 Speaker 1: to just keep the business going. Sales of the Pixar 611 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:52,960 Speaker 1: Image Computer had really dropped off by this point, the computer, 612 00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:57,359 Speaker 1: the company rather was losing money, so Jobs ended up 613 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,040 Speaker 1: doing a round of downsizing, in other words, firing a 614 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:03,080 Speaker 1: lot of employees, and Jobs was also in the middle 615 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:07,760 Speaker 1: of dealing with another troubled venture, his company, Next Incorporated, 616 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:12,759 Speaker 1: which produced the Next Computer, which is incredibly expensive but 617 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:16,600 Speaker 1: pretty impressive machine. The machine itself failed to make a 618 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,080 Speaker 1: large impact in the market, but it was the thing 619 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:22,719 Speaker 1: that convinced Apple's board to bring Steve Jobs back a 620 00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:26,840 Speaker 1: little bit later. So by nineteen ninety Steve Jobs decided 621 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: he wanted to sell off the hardware division of Pixar 622 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: to refocus Pixar into an animation studio and no longer 623 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:39,319 Speaker 1: be a company that's developing hardware for other industries. So 624 00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:43,200 Speaker 1: he sold that hardware division for two million dollars to 625 00:41:43,239 --> 00:41:46,920 Speaker 1: a company called Vicom Systems. Didn't do so well for 626 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:51,120 Speaker 1: Vicom Systems. They filed for Chapter eleven bankruptcy the following year. 627 00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:58,719 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety one, Steve Jobs fired half of Pixar's employees. 628 00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:02,640 Speaker 1: The company still losing money. In nineteen ninety one, he 629 00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:06,239 Speaker 1: demanded all employees stock shares of the company, so he 630 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:10,399 Speaker 1: essentially bought the employees's shares. In fact, he kept doing 631 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:12,920 Speaker 1: that throughout the years that fifty million he invested in 632 00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:16,359 Speaker 1: the company. Most of the time that ended up him 633 00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:21,440 Speaker 1: being him purchasing employee stock share, so little by little 634 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:25,960 Speaker 1: he was increasing his ownership of Pixar. But it wasn't 635 00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:27,719 Speaker 1: necessarily because he thought it was going to be a 636 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:31,360 Speaker 1: huge hit. It was because he had to keep investing 637 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:33,799 Speaker 1: money for it to stay around, and he wanted to 638 00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:38,760 Speaker 1: have that investment payoff. If he let the company just die, 639 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:41,200 Speaker 1: he would lose all that money. He would not have 640 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:46,719 Speaker 1: recaptured it at all. So at one point he technically 641 00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:51,520 Speaker 1: shut down Pixar. Pixar was done, but he formed a 642 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:55,959 Speaker 1: new company called Pixar, so really it was shut down 643 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:59,200 Speaker 1: on paper only it wasn't really shut down, and he 644 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:02,000 Speaker 1: hired on all that people that he had not fired 645 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:06,520 Speaker 1: in that round of downsizing, and he had full ownership 646 00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:09,560 Speaker 1: of the company. The employees did not get shares in 647 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:13,560 Speaker 1: the company. That would end up benefiting Steve Jobs big 648 00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:17,840 Speaker 1: time in just a few years. One of the employees 649 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:21,120 Speaker 1: who left Pixar in nineteen ninety one was its co 650 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:26,200 Speaker 1: founder Alvi Ray Smith, so he had been there from 651 00:43:26,239 --> 00:43:29,360 Speaker 1: the very beginning. His name was on the founding documents 652 00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:33,520 Speaker 1: along with ed Ketmell, but this was his time to leave, 653 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:37,160 Speaker 1: so he departed Pixar and went on to co found 654 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:41,560 Speaker 1: a company called Altamira Software Corporation, which was later acquired 655 00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:45,320 Speaker 1: by Microsoft. Then he worked for Microsoft for a while 656 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:48,960 Speaker 1: until he retired in nineteen ninety nine, so he kind 657 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:52,120 Speaker 1: of departs our story at this point. It was also 658 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:56,439 Speaker 1: right around this time that Pixar got a message from 659 00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:02,160 Speaker 1: a little company called Disney, and they decided that Disney 660 00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:06,600 Speaker 1: would fund Pixar in making the first feature length computer 661 00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:12,560 Speaker 1: animated film. By nineteen ninety two, those conversations had developed 662 00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:15,200 Speaker 1: a little further. Pixar actually agreed to go into a 663 00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:18,600 Speaker 1: partnership with Disney and committed to a three picture deal, 664 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:24,120 Speaker 1: three movies for twenty one million dollars. So the three 665 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:26,960 Speaker 1: movies essentially each had a budget of seven million if 666 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:30,520 Speaker 1: you just divide it up evenly. The first movie that 667 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:33,320 Speaker 1: was to be produced under that deal is the movie 668 00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:37,160 Speaker 1: that became Toy Story Now that came out in nineteen 669 00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:41,080 Speaker 1: ninety five. Steve Jobs had still been shopping the company 670 00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:44,080 Speaker 1: around in those last couple of years, kind of seeing 671 00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:47,720 Speaker 1: if anyone wanted to buy it. But he wasn't ready 672 00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:49,920 Speaker 1: to just give up on it. He wanted to recapture 673 00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:53,600 Speaker 1: the money he had invested in the company that fifty 674 00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:57,279 Speaker 1: million dollars, which is a little tricky to do, you know, 675 00:44:57,360 --> 00:44:59,960 Speaker 1: if people don't think that the company is worth that much. 676 00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:02,920 Speaker 1: And he almost sold it a couple of times. He 677 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:07,280 Speaker 1: almost sold it to Microsoft at one point, but instead 678 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,640 Speaker 1: he held onto it and he wanted to see how 679 00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:13,760 Speaker 1: Toy Story would do at the box office. By nineteen 680 00:45:13,800 --> 00:45:17,080 Speaker 1: ninety four, they had screened Toy Story to critics. It 681 00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:20,600 Speaker 1: had not come out in theaters yet, and the early 682 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:27,560 Speaker 1: response was overwhelmingly positive. It was looking pretty good. So 683 00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:31,440 Speaker 1: right around that time, Steve Jobs named himself Pixar CEO. 684 00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:36,320 Speaker 1: According to several sources, this was mostly done out of necessity. 685 00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:40,400 Speaker 1: The idea was put a recognizable name as CEO of 686 00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:43,319 Speaker 1: the company. Steve Jobs was someone that people they knew 687 00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:46,600 Speaker 1: who he was, so it's almost like having a celebrity 688 00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:49,600 Speaker 1: as the head of your company to get that recognition 689 00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:54,480 Speaker 1: out there. Technically, cat Moll was really still the one 690 00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:59,920 Speaker 1: calling the shots for Pixar, but the question was would 691 00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:03,319 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs hold on to the company or not. It 692 00:46:03,520 --> 00:46:09,759 Speaker 1: all would depend on the success of Toy Story. And 693 00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:13,719 Speaker 1: here's where we end part one. Hope you enjoyed that 694 00:46:13,880 --> 00:46:17,160 Speaker 1: classic episode of tech Stuff. As I said, we're going 695 00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:20,759 Speaker 1: to have two more episodes in about Pixar coming up 696 00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:24,279 Speaker 1: in the next couple of weeks in the classics. And yeah, 697 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:27,320 Speaker 1: maybe I'll do an update to kind of talk about 698 00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:31,239 Speaker 1: what the company has done since twenty sixteen. There have 699 00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:34,480 Speaker 1: been several more movies that have released to varying degrees 700 00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:38,719 Speaker 1: of success, both critically and at the box office. So 701 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:41,400 Speaker 1: maybe we'll revisit that, but for now, I hope you 702 00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:44,640 Speaker 1: are all well, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 703 00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:55,440 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 704 00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:59,560 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to. 705 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:00,600 Speaker 1: Your face were chops