John Lasseter
I do what I do because of Walt Disney. Goofy. Mickey Mouse. I never forgot how their films entertained me.
What I love about Goofy is the flesh on his cheeks. You can almost feel it.
It's the nature of Hollywood that there are the people in power and the people who tell them what they want them to hear.
When I look at the success I have, it's because of my creative-thinking skills.
You never hear of a live-action studio that has been making so-so films looking over at a studio that's making great movies and going, 'Oh, we see the difference - we're using a different camera.'
Look at the films of Walt Disney: 'Snow White' came out in February 1938, and I can't think of another film from that year that's watched as much. The same is true of 'Bambi,' 'Dumbo'... even, frankly, 'Toy Story,' which is probably watched more than any other movie of 1995.
When you set out to really entertain adults as well as kids, your audience is basically anybody who is breathing.
Every movie has three things you have to do - you have to have a compelling story that keeps people on the edge of their seats; you have to populate that story with memorable and appealing characters; and you have to put that story and those characters in a believable world. Those three things are so vitally important.
One of the big moments of my life was watching 'Star Wars' on its opening weekend in Hollywood. I was watching all these people enjoy this film, and I thought: animation can do this.
With science, there is this culture of experimentation, and most of the time, those experiments fail.
Growing up, my favorite TV show was 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', hands down.
I can't tell you, as a parent, how it feels when the doctor tells you your child has diabetes. First off, you don't really know much about it. Then you discover there is no cure.
True play is creativity.
I've always been thinking in three dimensions, ever since I started working with computer animation in the early '80s.
We work very hard in all of the Pixar films to not make anything in the imagery that causes people to think of something other than the story.
Short films really helped me develop as a story teller, animator, and as a director.
'Finding Nemo' was originally shot in 3D.
At Pixar, good ideas may be cut from a film, but they are never forgotten.
I loved animation and cartoons, even when it was not cool when you were in high school. I raced home to see the Bugs Bunny cartoons.
The way the films look will never entertain an audience alone. It has to be in the service of a good story with great characters.
I don't believe that an animation studio should be an executive-driven studio.
Of all bugs, growing up I just loved the pill bugs. They roll up, you play with them, you wait for them to open up, and then when you touch them they roll up again. I just love that.
I laugh very hard at work every day.
You know, going to the movies has always been recession-proof. It's fairly cheap entertainment; it's classic escapism.
Winnie the Pooh and his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood are among the most entertaining and beloved characters ever animated by Disney.
I am so proud that 'Up' is Pixar's 10th film. I think it's the funniest film that we've ever made and also one of the most beautiful.
Take any movie with an actor you like. Turn your head and just listen to the performance. In some cases, the physical presence remains as strong when you can't see the actor, when it's just the voice.
I always laugh at these companies that have these rules saying, 'You're only allowed to have this or that on your desk.' It's no fun to work at a place like that.
Today, among little girls especially, princesses and the romanticised ideal they represent - finding the man of your dreams - have a limited shelf life.
I love the Sonoma wine community. It's like Pixar - nothing competitive, only supportive. They're always rooting for you.
I love bringing the inanimate object to life.
At Pixar, 'Wall-E' was our ninth film, and they've all been successes - more than that, they've all really touched people. Everybody wonders, 'How do you do it?' Well, how do you not do it? You just work hard.
In an animated film you can do whatever you want, but that doesn't mean you should do everything you want.
People who get into animation tend to be kids. We don't have to grow up. But also, animators are great observers, and there's this childlike wonder and interest in the world, the observation of little things that happen in life.
I'm a big Disneyland nut.
Car love is the sound of a throaty V-8 rumbling and revving, the acceleration throwing you back in the seat - especially when you get on a beautiful, winding road and the light's dappling through the trees.
In computer animation, every detail has to be thought out, designed, modeled, shaded, placed and lit. The more you add, the more computer memory you need.
Of all studios that should be doing 2-D animation, it should be Disney.
If you think something's stupid, it probably is.
I try to make pictures I would want to see.
The only thing Steve Jobs has ever asked me in all the years we've been together and have been partners, the only thing he has ever asked me is: 'Make it great.'
My father pulled into Pearl Harbor four days after the bombing, and he said, everything was still burning. He said they never told the public how bad it was. It was really bad.
I would get so into playing as a kid that I'd lose track of time.
I don't really think of myself as a businessman at all. That's why I have the 'chief creative officer' role.
Every Pixar movie at one time was the worst motion picture ever made.
I've often heard people say that managing creative people is the hardest thing in the world. 'They're never happy, they drive up the cost of things, blah blah blah.' I just manage people the way I always wanted to be managed. That is, to be creatively challenged, but never to be told what to do.
Every technology that comes into filmmaking is first a gimmick. Think about sound with 'The Jazz Singer' or the first colour or surround sound - it takes a while for filmmakers to understand how to use it.
I love Japan. I love the collision of the modern and ancient worlds coming together in that place. It's so high-tech and cool.
'Cars 2' is about a character learning to be himself. There's times in our lives where people always say, 'Well, you've gotta act differently. You should always be yourself.' That's the emotional core of the story.