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John A. Lasseter was born on January 12, 1957, in Hollywood,
California, to a father who worked at a Chevrolet dealership
and a mother who taught art at Bell Gardens Senior High
School. John grew up in Whittier, California and won $15 from
a local grocery store for a crayon drawing of the Headless
Horseman when he was five years old.
John developed a passion for cartoons and animation by his
freshmen year of high school. He wrote to The Walt Disney
Studios about his high-spirited interest in the field and
started studying art and drawing on his own. His education
began at Pepperdine University (the alma mater of both his
parents and his siblings) before learning of a new Character
Animation Program at the California Institute of the Arts.
Lasseter became the second student accepted into the very
first class and studied there alongside classmates Brad Bird,
Tim Burton and John Musker. During summer breaks, he
apprenticed at the Disney Studios and at Disneyland (as a
Jungle Cruise skipper!). John won Student Academy Awards after
creating the short films Lady and the Lamp and Nitemare.
John graduated from CalArts in 1979 with a degree in
animation. Shortly after college, he joined the Disney feature
animation department, where he would remain for the next five
years. During this period, he worked on various projects such
as the feature The Fox and the Hound and the short Mickey’s
Christmas Carol.
In 1982, Lasseter was exposed to computer animation during the
making of Disney’s film Tron. Fascinated by the prospects of
the revolutionary new medium, he and fellow animator Glen
Keane created an experimental 30-second test film based on
Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book, Where the Wild
Things Are. The test film blended traditional hand-drawn
character animation with computerized camera movements and
environment. Lasseter’s interest in this new technology
increased after he visited the computer animation division of
the Lucasfilm Industrial Light and Magic. He worked on a
computer animated treatment of The Brave Little Toaster, but
Disney was not happy with the pitch and told John that his
services were no longer needed.
John spent a month at Lucasfilm, but six months later when
entrepreneur Steven Jobs purchased the department, Lasseter
was still there. Jobs renamed the new company Pixar and gave
Lasseter the freedom to direct, produce, script, and create
models for numerous innovative shorts and commercials to help
push sales for their hardware division. His first short was a
joint project with Alvy Ray Smith entitled The Adventures of
André and Wally B.
In 1986, Lasseter made his directorial debut with a 2-minute
short called Luxo Jr. It was a huge critical success and
earned him a Silver Berlin Bear for Best Short Film, a World
Animation Celebration for Computer Assisted Animation and an
OIAF Award at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. It
also received an Oscar nomination for Best Short Film-Animated
and became the first computer animated short nominated for the
prestigious award. After John’s next short, Red’s Dream,
Lasseter took home his first Oscar for Best Achievement in
Animated Short Films for his short Tin Toy. John followed this
with the playful Knick Knack, which was the first Pixar film
to be done in 3D.
John Lasseter (along with Pixar President Ed Catmull) always
dreamed of creating a full length feature film, so he began
developing an original script about toys who come to life when
their owner isn’t around. What started out as a pitch for a
Tin Toy Christmas Story turned into a feature length film to
be distributed by Dinney. Toy Story was released in 1995 with
Lasseter sitting in the director’s chair. The film grossed
over $190 million in the U.S., received three Oscar
nominations, including one for Best Writing and Screenplay
Written Directly for the Screen and Lasseter was presented
with a Special Achievement award for his contribution in
bringing the first feature-length computer animated film to
the screen. He also won an Annie for Best Individual
Achievement in Directing.
John followed up the huge success of Toy Story with A Bug’s
Life, inspired by Seven Samurai and The Ant and the
Grasshopper. The film was another huge success and earned more
than $160 million at the domestic box office and collected a
number of nominations, including a Saturn for Best Fantasy
Film, a Los Angeles Critics Association for Best Animated Film
and an Oscar for Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score.
As for Lasseter, he was nominated for two Annie Awards for
Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an
Animated Feature Production and Outstanding Individual
Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production.
The following year saw Lasseter step in and “save” Toy Story 2
(which was originally scheduled to go straight to DVD, before
Disney decided to release it in theaters). Toy Story 2 is
regarded by many as one of the best sequels of all time and
was rewarded with two Annies for Outstanding Individual
Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production
and Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an
Animated Feature Production. The film also received a Golden
Globe nomination in the category of Best Film-Musical or
Comedy.
As John became more involved in the overall direction of the
company, he encouraged others to take the helm. John provided
opportunities for other Pixar employees to pitch short films
which resulted in executive producer duties on Geri’s Game,
For the Birds, Boundin’, Mike’s New Car, Jack-Jack Attack, One
Man Band, Your Friend the Rat and Presto. John’s earliest
hires moved on to direct feature length films and John was
there to executive produce and guide projects for Pete Docter
(Monsters, Inc. & Up), Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E)
and Brad Bird (The Incredibles and Ratatouille).
In early 2006, The Walt Disney Company purchased Pixar and
Lasseter was appointed Chief Creative Officer of both the
Pixar and Disney animation studios. He was also appointed
Principal Creative Advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering. The
same year, Lasseter returned to the director’s chair for the
animated feature Cars, which won him an Oscar nomination for
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. He also picked up a
2007 BAFTA nomination for Best Animated Feature Film, an Annie
nomination for Best Directing in an Animated Feature
Production and a Hollywood Film Festival for Animation of the
Year. John also came up with the original story and directed
Mater and the Ghostlight for inclusion on the Cars DVD.
Lasseter went on to produce Disney animated films (How to Hook
Up Your Home Theater, Meet the Robinsons, Bolt, Tinker Bell
and Super Rhino) and bring hand drawn 2D animation back to
Disney with 2009′s The Princess and the Frog. John’s also had
the opportunity to work with his hero and friend, Hayao
Miyazaki on English translations of Howl’s Moving Castle,
Spirited Away and Ponyo and ensures theatrical and DVD release
of his films through Disney.
John’s work continues in all aspects of Disney and Pixar’s
endeavors including new theme park attractions (Cars Land at
Disney’s California Adventure), Pixar films (Toy Story 3) and
Disney films (Rapunzel, Winnie the Pooh).
Filmography
* The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984) (character
design, animation)
* Luxo Jr. (1986) (writer, models, animation, producer,
director)
* Red’s Dream (1987) (writer, animator, director)
* Tin Toy (1988) (writer, animator, director)
* Knick Knack (1989) (writer, director)
* Toy Story (1995) (original story, director)
* Geri’s Game (1997) (executive producer)
* A Bug’s Life (1998) (original story, director)
* Toy Story 2 (1999) (original story, director)
* For the Birds (2000) (executive producer)
* Spirited Away (2001) (executive producer)
* Monsters, Inc. (2001) (executive producer)
* Mike’s New Car (2001) (executive producer)
* Finding Nemo (2003) (executive producer)
* Exploring the Reef (2003) (executive producer)
* Boundin’ (2003) (executive producer)
* Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) (executive producer)
* The Incredibles (2004) (executive producer)
* Jack-Jack Attack (2005) (executive producer)
* One Man Band (2005) (executive producer)
* Cars (2006) (original story, screenplay, director)
* Mater and the Ghostlight (2006) (original story, director)
* Meet the Robinsons (2007) (executive producer)
* Ratatouille (2007) (executive producer)
* How to Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007) (executive producer)
* Your Friend the Rat (2007) (executive producer)
* WALL-E (2008) (director, original story, screenplay)
* Presto (2008) (executive producer)
* Glago’s Guest (2008) (executive producer)
* Ponyo (2008) (story, executive producer)
* Rescue Squad Mater (2008) (director)
* Mater the Greater (2008) (director)
* El Materdor (2008) (director)
* Tokyo Mater (2008) (director)
* Bolt (2008) (executive producer)
* Super Rhino (2008) (executive producer)
* Tinker Bell (2009) (executive producer)
* Up (2009) (executive producer)
* The Princess and the Frog (2009) (executive producer)
* Toy Story 3 (2010) (story, executive producer)
* Rapunzel (2010) (executive producer)
* Winnie the Pooh (2011) (executive producer)
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