Find out what Pixar, one of the largest animation studios in the world, has to do with Star Wars, a film franchise considered an icon in pop culture
In the world of animation, studios like Pixar are widely recognized as references. Likewise, the Star Wars franchise, which began in 1977, has become an icon of fiction, constantly reinventing itself and winning over fans around the world. But, did you know that the two entertainment giants are also connected to each other?
The connection between Pixar and Star Wars
Long before Disney purchased Star Wars, George Lucasthe creator of the franchise, had the idea of inventing a studio that would produce visionary animations. For this, he had help from three big names in the film industry, namely Ed Catmullformer president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, John Lasseterchief creative officer at Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios and DisneyToon Studios and Steve Jobsco-founder and president of Apple.
In 1979, two years after the first Star Wars film was released, Luke created a division within Lucasfilm that focused solely on animation, with the aim of developing advanced computing technologies for cinema. At the same time, he hired Ed Catmull to lead ‘Industrial Light & Magic’, a division that had originally been created as the visual effects department for Star Wars. In this role, Catmull was instrumental in the development of digital compositing technology, which made it possible to combine images in a convincing way.
Already John Lasseter he only joined the team in 1983, when he was fired from Disney due to creative differences. Lasseter helped Catmull and his colleagues from freelance work, making the first computer-animated short, ‘The Adventures of André and Wally B’., released in 1984. After its release, Lasseter was hired to work full-time at ‘Lucasfilm’s Computer Division’ under the role of Interface Designer, as Catmull I couldn’t hire animators.
After two years, Lucasfilm ended up going into debt due to the construction of ‘Skywalker Ranch’, a type of retreat that serves as a workplace for George Lucaswho prefers to isolate himself to have good ideas. Some say that he spent US$50 million to set up the place, others point out that it was US$100 million, but, in any case, the lack of money ended up bankrupting the production company.
To get the money back, George Lucas it was counting on the revenue from the feature film ‘Howard, The Superhero’, which cost US$35 million. However, the problem is that this was one of the biggest box office failures for a film starring a Marvel character, resulting in a loss of over US$21 million for Lucasfilm.
Amid the setbacks, his last option was to sell Lucasfilm’s animation division, or at least just a part of it, which was purchased by Steve Jobs shortly after he left Apple Computer. After the change, the independent company started to be called the name we all know today: Pixar.
Starting in 1986, the studio began producing a series of animated shorts, including ‘Luxo Jr.’ and ‘Tin Toy’, the latter being the first computer-animated film to win an Oscar. In 1995, in partnership with Disney, they released the acclaimed ‘Toy Story – A World of Adventures’, the first fully computer-animated feature film and which also gave rise to one of Pixar’s most beloved franchises.
In 2007, more than 20 years later, Disney bought the studio, making it Steve Jobs the largest shareholder of The Walt Disney Company at the time, with about 7% of the shares. Likewise, following the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, George Lucas became the company’s second largest shareholder, just behind his former colleague.
Source: Recreio
