Before John Lasseter became one of the most iconic animators at Disney, he was a CalArts student who was striving for something beyond even Walt Disney’s imagination. While the animation industry was focused on a pencil-and-paper creative process, John was looking ahead – exploring the emotional connection digital animation could forge between character and audience.
Growing up, John often spent time drawing cartoons and reading books such as The Art of Animation, which contributed to sparking his interest in character animation. Though he began his higher education at Pepperdine University, John decided to transfer to California Institute of the Arts in Valencia once he heard about the new character animation program. In 1975, he was the second student to be enrolled.
The program quickly grew in enrollment and talent over the next decade, and the graduating classes of the late 70s would forever be remembered as the “great renaissance of animation.” Each individual graduate paved the way to great film, “giving a breath of new life into the art of animation,” as John described it during an exclusive presentation at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Los Angeles.
Though CalArts developed a program that would go on to produce some of the greatest talents in animation, each student had to start somewhere, and that was Classroom A113 – the place where all new animation students began their required coursework. Hidden like an “Easter egg” in many animated films created by CalArts alumni, the A113 stamp can be found if viewers closely watch their favorite animated classics, including John’s first films. And from his first day in A113, John’s time at CalArts proved to be influential. It was here in Valencia where he first started exploring ways to push technology to complement animation. Early on in his career, he was determined to be a pioneer in animation, and though it took about 20 years to get there, John did just that with the release of Toy Story in 1995.
“We had to prove ourselves to the studios,” John recalled of a turning point in his career. “We went to Disney and said we wanted to do a 30-minute holiday special, and they looked at us and said, ‘If you can do 30 minutes, you can do an hour and a half film.’”
In the months that followed, John and his team experienced the challenges and successes of creating the first full-length computer-animated feature film. But during the early stages of Toy Story, Disney producers doubted the possible success of the film.
“‘No teenager or adult would want to watch this type of animation’ – that’s what they said,” John recalled. “We were told we had to make the film more edgy, but we didn’t know how to do that. So we gave Woody a bit of an edge. We made him unlikeable; yes, Woody was once unlikeable. When we went to present the clip to Disney, they looked at us and asked what happened.
From that point we realized we needed to be true to ourselves.”
With Disney’s feedback, John made sure his team was original. They worked day and night to get the film off the ground, and when they presented the toy army scene to Disney producers, they got the green light. They had a film.
“I remember Bonnie Arnold, the producer at the time, walking in and giving us the good news,” John said. “I just stood there and smiled; I couldn’t believe it.”
That year, Toy Story went on to make $361 million worldwide. Reviews praised the technical innovation, characters and animation. The film earned three Oscar nominations – Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score, and Best Original Song for You’ve Got a Friend in Me – and won a Special Achievement Award.
John’s success with Toy Story set the stage for years of innovation, growth and success. Today, John is the Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and the Principal Creative Advisor of Walt Disney Imagineering. He has since directed A Bug’s Life, Cars and Toy Story 2, to name a few. As a producer, his credits include Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Frozen and many more. He has forever left his mark on the animation industry, as well as the hearts of his viewers, and continues to do so with future productions.
“Art challenges the technology and technology challenges the art,” John said.
