7 ms·

I really recommend reading Creativity Inc. By Ed Catmull, one of the cofounders of Pixar. It's an incredible book full of insight on how Pixar fosters creativi

I really recommend reading Creativity Inc. By Ed Catmull, one of the cofounders of Pixar. It's an incredible book full of insight on how Pixar fosters creativity to create hit after hit movie. It really helped me shift my mind during some difficult projects where I felt like I was working against impossible odds.

jluk 10y ago
You really do get incredible insight into how they work up and tear down ideas in a setting that is both art and technology. Also fun to hear about lessons learned from iconic films such as toy story, finding nemo, and inside out.
arafa 10y ago
I read that book and it was so good I immediately read it again. Then I read it halfway through again before switching to another book. Really great read and, oddly enough, a great book on leadership (especially in creative organizations).
greggman 10y ago
I read the book. But it was after that that Mr. Catmull got caught apparently keeping is employee's salaries lower than market rates by making illegal non-poaching agreements. http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/pixars-ed-catmull-emerges-as-central-figure-in-the-wage-fixing-scandal-101362.html http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/pixars-ed-catmull-emerge... Also, he never covered why Cars was so awful. (or Cars 2) which I believe both came out before the book? Maybe you disagree they were bad but rottentomatoes and metacritic has them near the bottom of the list along with The Good Dinosaur, Brave, and Monsters University. I'd love to know what he thinks changed. What I liked most about that book was how much he acknowledged luck. Examples: Luck they didn't get sold/disbanded before Jobs bought them from Lucas. Luck that Jobs was willing to blow 70 million on them as a computer company before they switched to being an animation company. And he acknowledges lots of other luck.
- SeanDav 10y ago
  Cars (first one) was good, agree that Cars 2 was complete rubbish. I love animated movies, always have - but I could not get through Cars 2.
- childifchaos 10y ago
  Cars is not a bad movie, it did very well, it was just a little below normal Pixar quality but still above most other studios work. The good dinosaur, Brave and Monsters university all still good but not quite Pixar. Cars two is an absolute disaster though and it's a shame it wasn't covered in the book. Something clearly went very wrong with this movie and they redid most of it in ten weeks or so I read, it seems to go against all the values and things they talk about and it does feel as if the story they tell about themselves is perhaps worked as much as the stories they make.
- euyyn 10y ago
  What's not to like about Brave? I enjoyed it a lot.
  - zem 10y ago
    here's my review from when i saw the movie: Finally went and saw Brave. And, I have to say, I was disappointed :( Oh, the movie certainly had its good points. It was technically gorgeous - both the artwork and the character animation were Pixar at the top of their very considerable game. And despite complaints of the story being overly Disneyfied it was satisfyingly subversive[0] of many of the tired tropes it referenced. I didn't even mind that it was predictable[1] - fairytale movies tend to be, and that is often part of their charm. No, what ruined it for me was that it was a fundamentally boring movie. The dialogue was bland, the humour was slapsticky (which tends to fall flat for me), the moralising was heavy handed, and there was no real tension other than that required for the linear development of the plot. Even the "jokes for the adults" that have practically become de rigueur for big-budget animated movies weren't all that funny (though I did blink a bit at the Wicker Man reference). All in all, not one of Pixar's best. [0] http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/just-another-princess-movie/ http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/just-another-princess-movie/ [1] it was nice that it ended with her going her own way rather than finding a nice boy to marry, but it wasn't really what I'd call a plot twist

jluk 10y ago

You really do get incredible insight into how they work up and tear down ideas in a setting that is both art and technology. Also fun to hear about lessons learned from iconic films such as toy story, finding nemo, and inside out.

arafa 10y ago

I read that book and it was so good I immediately read it again. Then I read it halfway through again before switching to another book. Really great read and, oddly enough, a great book on leadership (especially in creative organizations).

greggman 10y ago

I read the book. But it was after that that Mr. Catmull got caught apparently keeping is employee's salaries lower than market rates by making illegal non-poaching agreements. http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/pixars-ed-catmull-emerges-as-central-figure-in-the-wage-fixing-scandal-101362.html http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/pixars-ed-catmull-emerge... Also, he never covered why Cars was so awful. (or Cars 2) which I believe both came out before the book? Maybe you disagree they were bad but rottentomatoes and metacritic has them near the bottom of the list along with The Good Dinosaur, Brave, and Monsters University. I'd love to know what he thinks changed. What I liked most about that book was how much he acknowledged luck. Examples: Luck they didn't get sold/disbanded before Jobs bought them from Lucas. Luck that Jobs was willing to blow 70 million on them as a computer company before they switched to being an animation company. And he acknowledges lots of other luck.

SeanDav 10y ago
Cars (first one) was good, agree that Cars 2 was complete rubbish. I love animated movies, always have - but I could not get through Cars 2.
childifchaos 10y ago
Cars is not a bad movie, it did very well, it was just a little below normal Pixar quality but still above most other studios work. The good dinosaur, Brave and Monsters university all still good but not quite Pixar. Cars two is an absolute disaster though and it's a shame it wasn't covered in the book. Something clearly went very wrong with this movie and they redid most of it in ten weeks or so I read, it seems to go against all the values and things they talk about and it does feel as if the story they tell about themselves is perhaps worked as much as the stories they make.
euyyn 10y ago
What's not to like about Brave? I enjoyed it a lot.
- zem 10y ago
  here's my review from when i saw the movie: Finally went and saw Brave. And, I have to say, I was disappointed :( Oh, the movie certainly had its good points. It was technically gorgeous - both the artwork and the character animation were Pixar at the top of their very considerable game. And despite complaints of the story being overly Disneyfied it was satisfyingly subversive[0] of many of the tired tropes it referenced. I didn't even mind that it was predictable[1] - fairytale movies tend to be, and that is often part of their charm. No, what ruined it for me was that it was a fundamentally boring movie. The dialogue was bland, the humour was slapsticky (which tends to fall flat for me), the moralising was heavy handed, and there was no real tension other than that required for the linear development of the plot. Even the "jokes for the adults" that have practically become de rigueur for big-budget animated movies weren't all that funny (though I did blink a bit at the Wicker Man reference). All in all, not one of Pixar's best. [0] http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/just-another-princess-movie/ http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/just-another-princess-movie/ [1] it was nice that it ended with her going her own way rather than finding a nice boy to marry, but it wasn't really what I'd call a plot twist