Information AboutPixar |
Pixar Animation Studios is an American Computer Animation studio based in Emeryville, California ( USA ) notable for its seven Academy Award s. It is best known for its CGI animated Feature Film s—such as '' Toy Story '', '' Finding Nemo '', and '' Cars ''—achieved through PhotoRealistic RenderMan , its own implementation of the industry-standard Renderman image Rendering API , which is used to generate high-quality images. On January 24 , 2006 , The Walt Disney Company agreed to buy Pixar for $7.4 billion through an All-stock Transaction . The Acquisition was completed on May 5 , 2006 (swapping one Pixar share for 2.3 shares of Disney), making Pixar a Wholly-owned Subsidiary of Disney. HISTORY Early history Pixar was founded as the Graphics Group, one third of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm that was launched in 1979 with the hiring of Dr. Ed Catmull from the New York Institute Of Technology (NYIT). At NYIT, the researchers worked on an experimental film called '' The Works '', though it was never released. When the group moved to Lucasfilm, the team worked on creating the precursor to RenderMan , called Motion Doctor, which allowed traditional Cel Animators to work with computer animation with a minimum of training. Eventually, the team started working on sequences in films either being produced by Lucasfilm or on films with ''. The newly independent company was headed by Dr. Catmull, President and CEO , and Dr. Alvy Ray Smith , Executive Vice President and Director. Jobs served as Chairman of the Board. Initially, Pixar was a high-end Computer Hardware company whose core product was the Pixar Image Computer , a system which was primarily sold to government agencies and the medical community. One of the leading buyers of Pixar Image Computers was Disney studios, which was using the device as part of their secretive CAPS project, using the machine and custom software to migrate the laborious Ink and Paint part of the 2D animation process to a more automated and thus efficient method. The Image Computer never sold well. In a bid to drive sales of the system, Pixar employee John Lasseter —who had long been creating short demonstration animations, such as '' Luxo Jr. '', to show off the device's capabilitiess—premiered his creations at SIGGRAPH , the computer graphics industry's largest convention, to great fanfare. Business in transition As poor sales of Pixar's computers threatened to put the company out of business, Lasseter's animation department began producing computer-animated commercials for outside companies. Early successes included campaigns for Tropicana , Listerine , and LifeSavers . During this period, Pixar continued its relationship with Walt Disney Feature Animation , a studio whose corporate parent would ultimately become its most important partner. In 1991, after substantial layoffs in the company's computer department, Pixar made a $26 million deal with Disney to produce three computer-animated feature films, the first of which was '' Toy Story ''. Pixar was Re-incorporated on December 9 , 1995 . Disney and Pixar Pixar and Disney had disagreements after the production of '' Toy Story 2 ''. Originally intended as a straight-to-video release (and thus not part of Pixar's three picture deal), the film was upgraded to a theatrical release during production. Pixar demanded that the film then be counted towards the three picture agreement, but Disney refused. Pixar's first five feature films have collectively grossed more than $2.5 billion, equivalent to the highest per-film average gross in the industry. Though profitable for both, Pixar later complained that the arrangement was not equitable. Pixar was responsible for creation and production, while Disney handled Marketing and Distribution . Profits and production costs were split 50-50 but Disney exclusively owned all story and sequel rights and also collected a distribution fee. The lack of story and sequel rights were perhaps the most onerous to Pixar and set the stage for a contentious relationship. The two companies attempted to reach a new agreement in early 2004 . The new deal would be only for distribution, as Pixar intended to control production and own the resulting film properties themselves. Pixar wanted complete financial freedom; they wanted to finance their films on their own and collect 100 percent of the profits, paying Disney only the 10 to 15 percent distribution fee. More importantly, as part of any distribution agreement with Disney, Pixar demanded control over films already in production under their old agreement, including '' The Incredibles '' and '' Cars ''. This was unacceptable to Disney, but Pixar would not concede. Bad blood between Steve Jobs and Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner made the negotiations more difficult than they otherwise might have been. They broke down completely in mid-2004, with Jobs declaring that Pixar was actively seeking partners other than Disney. However, Pixar did not enter in negotiations with other distributors, since other partners saw Pixar's terms as too demanding. After a lengthy hiatus, negotiations between the two companies resumed following the departure of Eisner from Disney in September of 2005. In preparation for potential fallout between Pixar and Disney, Jobs announced in late 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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