CORPORATE PROFILE
INTRODUCTION
Pixar Animation Studios (Nasdaq: PIXR) combines creative and technical artistry to create original stories in the medium of computer animation. In partnership with Disney, Pixar has created four of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time: Academy Award®-winning Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), Golden Globe-winner Toy Story 2 (1999) and Monsters, Inc. (2001). Pixar’s four films have earned more than $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office to date. The Northern California studio’s next film, Finding Nemo, will be released May 30, 2003.
Toy Story, released November 22, 1995, reflects more than nine years of creative and technical achievements. The film received tremendous critical acclaim and became the highest grossing film of 1995, generating more than $360 million in worldwide box office revenues. Toy Story’s director and Pixar’s executive vice president of creative, John Lasseter, received a Special Achievement Academy Award® for his “inspired leadership of the Pixar Toy Story team resulting in the first feature-length computer animated film.” Pixar has since released A Bug’s Life, the highest grossing animated film released in 1998 and Toy Story 2, the highest domestic grossing animated film released in 1999. Toy Story 2, at the time of release, broke numerous opening weekend records all over the world and won a Golden Globe award for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy in 1999. In 2001, Pixar released the Academy Award®-nominated Monsters, Inc., which reached over $100 million at the domestic box office in just nine days, faster than any animated film in history. At the time of release, Monsters, Inc.'s opening-weekend gross of $62.6 million marked the largest three-day opening ever for an animated film, the largest three-day opening ever in the month of November, the largest three-day opening in the history of The Walt Disney Studios, the largest three-day opening in the history of Pixar Animation Studios, and the sixth-largest opening in industry history. Monsters, Inc. has become the third-highest grossing animated feature film worldwide.
TECHNOLOGY
Since its incorporation, Pixar has been responsible for many important breakthroughs in the application of computer graphics for filmmaking. Consequently, the company has attracted some of the world’s finest talent in this area. Pixar’s technical and creative teams have collaborated since 1986 to develop three core proprietary software systems:
Marionette™, an animation software system for modeling, animating and lighting,
Ringmaster™, a production management software system for scheduling, coordinating and tracking a computer animation project and
RenderMan11®, a rendering software system for high-quality, photo-realistic image synthesis that Pixar uses internally and licenses to third parties.
In 2001, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Board of Governors® honored Ed Catmull, President, Loren Carpenter, Senior Scientist, and Rob Cook, Vice President of Software Engineering, with an Academy Award of Merit (Oscar)® “for significant advancements to the field of motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar’s RenderMan™.”
Pixar believes that its proprietary technology, which enables animators to precisely control the motion of characters and the sets in each frame, represents a breakthrough in the art of animation. The result is a new “look and feel,” with images of quality, richness and vibrancy that are unique in the industry. Pixar continues to invest heavily in these software systems and believes that further advancements will lead to additional productivity and quality improvements in the making of its computer animated films and other products. Pixar’s technology also facilitates the manipulation, editing and reuse of animated images, which helps to reduce person-hours and therefore film production expenses.
In 2002, the Producer’s Guild of America honored Pixar with the Guild's inaugural Vanguard Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in new media and technology.
CREATIVE TEAM
Pixar’s creative department is led by John Lasseter, an Academy Award®-winning director and animator and the director of Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2, as well as executive producer of Monsters, Inc.. Under the guidance of Mr. Lasseter, Pixar has built a creative team of highly skilled animators, writers and artists. This team was responsible for creating, writing and animating all three films from original stories. Pixar strives to hire animators who have superior acting ability—those able to bring characters and inanimate objects to life, as though they have their own thought processes. In order to attract and retain quality animators, the company founded Pixar University, which conducts three-month long courses for new and existing animators. Pixar also has a complete production team that gives the company the capability to control all elements of production of its films. Pixar has successfully expanded the production team so several projects may be worked on simultaneously.
BUSINESS MODEL
Successful animated feature films, such as Disney’s The Lion King and Aladdin, have become some of Hollywood’s top money makers. A single animated feature film has the ability to generate billions of dollars worth of consumer spending. Such revenues are derived from marketing campaigns surrounding the theatrical release of the animated film, which, in turn, drive demand for home videos, television, toys, and other film-related merchandise. Under the 1997 Co-Production Agreement with The Walt Disney Studios, Pixar and Disney have agreed to share the production costs of five animated feature films. Six films will actually be produced under the deal, as the sequel Toy Story 2 does not count as one of the five films under the agreement. All profits will be shared.
DISNEY RELATIONSHIP
Since the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Disney in 1937, animated films have become one of the most universally enjoyed forms of entertainment. Disney has a long history of developing, producing, and distributing films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The stories and characters of these popular animated feature films have become part of our modern mythology, enjoyed generation after generation. Traditionally, these popular animated feature films have been created using the time-consuming and labor-intensive process of two-dimensional, hand-drawn cel animation.
In May 1991, Pixar entered into the Feature Film Agreement with Walt Disney Pictures for the development and production of up to three computer animated feature films to be marketed and distributed by Disney. It was pursuant to the Feature Film Agreement that Toy Story was developed, produced, and distributed. In February 1997, Pixar entered into the Co-Production Agreement (which superseded the Feature Film Agreement) with Disney pursuant to which we, on an exclusive basis, agreed to produce five original computer-animated feature-length theatrical motion pictures for distribution by Disney. Pixar and Disney agreed to co-finance the production costs of the Picture, co-own the Picture, co-brand the Pictures, and share equally in the profits of each Picture and any related merchandise as well as other ancillary products, after recovery of all marketing and distribution costs, a distribution fee paid to Disney, and other fees and costs, such as participations to talent and the like. The first two original Pictures under the Co-Production Agreement were A Bug’s Life and Monsters, Inc., which were released in November 1998 and November 2001, respectively. Toy Story 2, the theatrical sequel to Toy Story, was released in November 1999, and is also governed by the Co-Production Agreement although it does not count towards the five original Pictures. We are currently in various stages of production on the remaining three Pictures under the Co-Production Agreement.
AWARDS
Monsters, Inc. composer Randy Newman took home the Oscar® for Best Song (“If I Didn’t Have You”). Monsters, Inc. also received three Academy Award® nominations: Best Animated Feature Film, Best Sound Editing, and Best Score.
Toy Story 2 was honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with a Golden Globe for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy. The film was also chosen as Best Animated Feature by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. And composer Randy Newman has garnered a Golden Globe nomination as well as an Academy Award® nomination for the Toy Story 2 score.
A Bug’s Life was chosen as Favorite Family Film by the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in 1999. Also in 1999, composer Randy Newman won a Grammy for his score on A Bug’s Life (Best Instrumental Composition Written For A Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media) and was nominated for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score for A Bug’s Life.
John Lasseter, Pixar’s executive vice president of creative and director of Toy Story, won the Academy Award® for Special Achievement for his “inspired leadership of the Pixar Toy Story team resulting in the first feature-length computer-animated film.” Toy Story is also the first and only animated film to receive an Academy Award® nomination for Best Screenplay Written Directly For the Screen. The film also garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture.
At the animation industry’s Annie Awards in 1996, Toy Story ran away with all eight top motion-picture honors, winning every Annie Award category in which it was nominated. In addition to winning an award for Best Animated Feature, Pixar also received recognition for: Directing, which went to Toy Story director John Lasseter; Producing, awarded to Ralph Guggenheim and Bonnie Arnold; Writing, received by Andrew Stanton, Joss Whedon, Joel Cohen and Alec Sololow; Production Design, awarded to Ralph Eggleston; Animation, which went to Pete Doctor; and Music, awarded to Randy Newman. Pixar Animation Studios also received a special technical achievement award for the extraordinary advances in three-dimensional, computer-generated animation showcased in Toy Story. The Annie Awards are sponsored by the International Society for Animated Films.
For more than eleven years, Pixar’s creative and technical teams have worked closely to produce short films and television commercials using three-dimensional computer animation while continually developing their creative expertise and proprietary technology. In 1986, Pixar’s first short film, Luxo Jr., received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Short Film. In 1988, Pixar’s short film Tin Toy received an Academy Award® for Best Animated Short Film. And in 1997, Geri’s Game, also received the Academy Award® for Best Animated Short Film. Geri’s Game was the first film to incorporate the studio's technology for creating more realistic-looking skin and cloth. Most recently, in 2002, Pixar’s For the Birds received the Academy Award® for Best Animated Short Film.
In total, Pixar employees have been awarded fifteen Academy Awards®. Pixar has also won two Gold Clios in the category of Computer Animation for its commercials, one in 1993 for the Gummi Savers commercial titled “Conga,” and one in 1994 for the Listerine commercial titled “Arrows.”
MANAGEMENT
Pixar is located in Emeryville, California, and has over 600 employees. Pixar’s Office of the President consists of Steve Jobs, chairman and chief executive officer, Edwin E. Catmull, president, Ann Mather, executive vice president and chief financial officer, John Lasseter, executive vice president of creative, and Sarah McArthur, executive vice president, production, and Lois Scali, executive vice president and general counsel.
Copyright © Pixar Animation Studios
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