John Lasseter, in full John Alan Lasseter, (born
January 12, 1957, Hollywood, California, U.S.), American animator widely
credited with engineering the success of Pixar Animation Studios through a
synthesis of cutting-edge computer animation and classic storytelling. He is
best known for his work on films such as Toy Story (1995), the first fully
computer-animated feature, and its sequels (1999, 2010).
Lasseter—who was encouraged by his mother, an art
teacher—won a drawing contest at the age of five. In high school, after reading
about the making of Walt Disney Company’s animated film Sleeping Beauty (1938),
he was inspired to pursue a career as an animator. He attended the California
Institute of the Arts, which had just begun offering animation courses taught
by veteran Disney artists. After graduation (1979) he took a job at Disney’s
animation studio, where he worked on The Fox and the Hound (1981) and Mickey’s
Christmas Carol (1983). His enthusiasm for nascent computer animation
technology put Lasseter at odds with some of his superiors, however, and he was
fired in 1983.
By the following year Lasseter had been hired to
work in the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd., the film company
owned by director George Lucas. His first assignment was to direct an animated
short film, The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984), which was one of the
first movies to feature computer-generated characters. In 1986 the division was
acquired by Apple Computer, Inc., cofounder Steve Jobs and became an
independent company called Pixar that focused primarily on developing and
selling animation software. Disney became its biggest client. Pixar also
produced television commercials and short films, with Lasseter serving as
director. Tin Toy (1988) earned Lasseter an Academy Award for best short
animated film.
In 1991 Pixar began to produce movies for Disney.
Lasseter directed the initial effort, Toy Story, which featured a throng of
talking toys. It became the highest-grossing film of 1995 and earned him a
second Academy Award, this time for special achievement. Lasseter went on to
direct other successful Pixar films for Disney—namely, A Bug’s Life (1998), a
comical adventure featuring animated insects, and Toy Story 2 (1999), a sequel
featuring further adventures of the toys from the 1995 hit. He codirected Cars
(2006), which followed an array of anthropomorphic vehicles. During that time
Lasseter also produced such Pixar films as Monsters, Inc. (2001), about the
clash between the monster and human worlds, and Finding Nemo (2003), about a
clownfish’s oceanic search for his son.
Lasseter returned to the company that had fired
him when Disney purchased Pixar in 2006. He was named chief creative officer of
both Pixar’s and Disney’s animation operations, and in that capacity he
produced numerous features, including Up (2009), an aerial picaresque featuring
a senior citizen as its hero; the third installment in the Toy Story franchise
(2010); and Inside Out (2015), which deals with the complicated emotions of a
young girl. In addition, he codirected Cars 2 (2011).
In November 2017, amid allegations of sexual
misconduct, Lasseter announced that he was taking a six-month leave of absence
because of “missteps.” In June 2018, however, it was reported that he would be
leaving Disney at the end of the year. In January 2019 Lasseter became head of
Skydance Media’s animation division.
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