Somebody’s loss is somebody’s gain.
The point in discussion is Steve Jobs in year 1986 when he purchased erstwhile computer graphics division of Lucas Films for $ 10 million from George Lucas and established it as an independent company christened “PIXAR”.
Lucas had to sell it after a cash flow crunch resulting by 1983 divorce to his first wife. Steve Jobs at that point was an ousted CEO of Apple. Since that purchase stock of Steve jobs have moved only in one direction – up, up and up. Lucas also went to create magic with his Star War series and smart negotiations for licensing deals.
Gain is OK but Steve must have never imagined that his $ 10 million investment in a company that made high end technology hardware would make him a billionaire and later one of the largest share holders of Disney.
Beyond money, the fact that Pixar has been able to repeat this success year after years is amazing. Pixar seems to have perfected this art. How they do it remains a mystery. Still for the curious, this link should provide a peep into the process.
PIXAR’s early experimentation came in form of specially commissioned commercials like Volkswagen’s “La Nouvelle Polo” and Pillsbury’s “plump”. They continued creating such commercials till 1996.
Going back, In 1991 Pixar and Disney teamed up to develop, produce and distribute up to three feature-length animated films.
In 1995 Pixar went pubic and raised 140 million USD as the biggest IPO of the year.
Same year “Toy Story” hit US theaters on Thanks-Giving weekend as the first fully-computer animated feature film. It was the highest grossing film of that year making more than $190 million in domestic box office receipts and 362 million worldwide.
In 1997 PIXAR took experimentation to the next level by animating skin and cloth through its short firm “Geri’s Game”. Same year Disney and Pixar entered into a new agreement to jointly produce 5 movies.
Pixar continued its winning spree with “A Bug’s Life” in 1998, “Toy Story 2” in 1999, “Monsters Inc.” in 2001, “Finding Nemo” in 2003 and “Incredibles” in 2004.
“Toy Story 2” was credited as first film in the history to be entirely crated, mastered and exhibited digitally. “Finding Nemo” became 8th highest grossing film of all time in 2003.
Pixar is all set to prove its prowess again with “Cars”, its new gig which will release in US theaters in a few hours from now. So far the reviews have been like “It is the first great movie of the summer” — TIME. “Thunderous Excitement” — Rolling Stones.
It will easily be the highest grosser this weekend what needs to be seen is the records that it will break or make. All said the most important message is reflected by punch line of the film which says LIFE IS A JOURNEY, ENJOY THE TRIP.
If you are a mobile game freak, there is something interesting for you here.
