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Pixar Animation Studios
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Pixar Animation Studios, or simply Pixar (/ˈpɪksɑr/), is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio is best known for its CGI-animated feature films created with PhotoRealistic RenderMan, its own implementation of the industry-standard RenderMan image-rendering application programming interface used to generate high-quality images. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the computer division of Lucasfilm before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986 with funding by Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, who became its majority shareholder. The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion, a transaction that resulted in Jobs becoming Disney's largest single shareholder at the time. Luxo Jr., a character from a 1986 Pixar short film of the same name, is the mascot of the studio.
Pixar has produced 15 feature films, its first being Toy Story (1995) and the most recent being Inside Out (2015). Most of the films have received both critical and financial success with an exception being Cars 2 (2011), which, while commercially successful, received substantially less praise than Pixar's other productions. All 15 films have debuted with CinemaScore ratings of at least "A−," indicating a positive reception with audiences. The studio has also produced several short films. As of October 2015, its feature films have made over $9.5 billion worldwide, with an average worldwide gross of $627 million per film. Three of Pixar's films—Finding Nemo (2003), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Inside Out (2015)—are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, and 13 of Pixar's films are among the 50 highest-grossing animated films. Toy Story 3 is the third all-time highest, behind Walt Disney Animation Studios' Frozen, which grossed $1.274 billion in its initial release, and Illumination Entertainment's Minions, which has grossed $1.151 billion as of 2015, in comparison to Toy Story 3 's $1.063 billion.
The studio has earned 15 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and 11 Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Since the award's inauguration in 2001, most of Pixar's films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Seven have won, including Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3, as well as Monsters, Inc. (2001), The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), and Brave (2012). Monsters, Inc and Cars (2006) are the only films that were nominated for the award, but did not win it. Up and Toy Story 3 were also the second and third animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (the first being Disney's Beauty and the Beast). On September 6, 2009, executives John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich were presented with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the biennial Venice Film Festival. The award was presented by Lucasfilm founder George Lucas.
Best films
(2018)
(2019)
(2010)
(2016)
(2003)
(2015)Filmography of Pixar Animation Studios (79 films)
Production
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For the Birds (2000)
, 3minutesDirected by Ralph Eggleston
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about birds, Children's films
Actors Ralph Eggleston
A small bird lands on a telephone wire and makes itself comfortable, only to have a second small bird land next to it. The two birds quickly start to squabble as others land on the wire and join in. They are interrupted when a large, gangly, awkward-looking bird sitting on top of the pole honks to them. Soon, the small birds start mocking the large one by puffing up their feathers to resemble its plumage and imitating its honk. They then slide farther out along the wire and chatter suspiciously among themselves, ignoring the large bird's attempts to befriend them until it settles in the middle of all of them out on the wire. However, its weight causes the wire to sag almost to the ground and all the small birds slide down toward it.
, 1h35Directed by Jay Roach
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Space adventure films, Spy films, Time travel films, Sur la Lune, Comedy science fiction films, Space opera, Robot films
Actors Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Michael York, Mimi Rogers, Alec Baldwin, Robert Wagner
Austin Powers is enjoying his honeymoon with his wife, the former Vanessa Kensington. She turns out to be one of Dr. Evil's fembots, who attempts to kill Austin, then self-destructs. Austin grieves briefly, then proceeds to the hotel lobby nude and celebrates being single again.
Toy Story 2 (1999)
, 1h33Directed by Lee Unkrich, John Lasseter, Ash Brannon
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Animation
Themes Jeu, Musical films, Films about toys, Buddy films, Children's films
Actors Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Jim Varney
Woody prepares to go to cowboy camp with Andy, but his right arm is accidentally torn. Andy decides to leave him behind, and his mother puts him on a shelf. The next day, Woody discovers that Wheezy, a penguin squeaky toy, has been shelved for months due to a broken squeaker. When Andy's mother puts Wheezy in a yard sale, Woody rescues him, only to be stolen by a greedy toy collector, who takes him to his residential 23-story apartment. Buzz Lightyear and all of Andy's other toys identify the thief from a commercial as Al McWhiggin, the owner of a toy store called Al's Toy Barn. Buzz, Hamm, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, and Rex all set out to rescue Woody.
A Bug's Life (1998)
, 1h35Directed by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Circus films, Film d'animation mettant en scène un animal, Films about insects, Children's films
Actors Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hayden Panettiere, David Hyde Pierce, Phyllis Diller
Flik, an individualist and would-be inventor, lives in a colony of ants in the middle of a dried creek. They are led by Princess Atta and her mother, the Queen. The colony is oppressed by a gang of marauding grasshoppers, led by Hopper, that arrive every season demanding food from the ants. One day, when the annual offering is accidentally knocked into a stream by Flik's latest invention, a grain-harvesting device, the grasshoppers demand twice as much food as compensation. The ants trick Flik into accepting his plan to recruit "warrior bugs" to fight off the grasshoppers. While Flik actually believes in the plan, the other ants see it as an opportunity to get rid of Flik and save themselves trouble.
Geri's Game (1997)
, 4minutesDirected by Jan Pinkava
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Jeu, Sports films, Vieillesse, Films about insects, Films about chess, Children's films
Actors Bob Peterson
The film is set in an empty park during autumn. The title character, Geri (voiced by Bob Peterson), is an elderly man who plays a game of chess against himself, "becoming" each of the players in turn by moving to the other side of the chessboard, where he changes his personality and either puts on or takes off his glasses to show this change. As the game progresses, it seems as though there are two people playing; at one point, the hands of both "opponents" are in frame. Black Geri (without the glasses) soon gains the upper hand over White Geri (with them), capturing every piece except his king and putting him in check. However, White Geri outsmarts Black Geri by faking a heart attack to distract him and spinning the board around. While Black Geri is still distracted, White Geri checkmates what is now his opponent's king. Finding that now he is the one with only his king left and discovering what has happened, Black Geri resigns the game and hands over a set of dentures as the prize. White Geri puts them in, then chuckles and grins in his victory, before the camera pulls back to reveal that he is alone at the chessboard.
Liar Liar (1997)
, 1h26Directed by Tom Shadyac
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about families
Actors Jim Carrey, Maura Lynn Tierney, Jennifer Tilly, Swoosie Kurtz, Amanda Donohoe, Jason Bernard
In Los Angeles, career-focused lawyer Fletcher Reede (Carrey) loves his son Max (Cooper), but his inability to keep his promises and compulsive lying in lieu of his career often causes problems between them and with his ex-wife Audrey (Tierney), who has become involved with another man named Jerry. In court, Fletcher is willing to exaggerate the stories of his clients, and his current client, the self-centered, money-grabbing Samantha Cole (Tilly) has garnered the attention of Mr. Allen, a partner at the law firm in which Fletcher works. If Fletcher wins this case, it will bring his firm a fortune and boost his career. Fletcher lies to Max about missing his birthday due to work, when he is actually sleeping with another attorney, Miranda, in order to get a promotion. Dejected, Max makes a birthday wish that for one day his father cannot tell a lie. The wish immediately comes true, and Fletcher accidentally tells Miranda he has "had better" after they have sex.
Tiny Toy Stories (1996)
, 20minutesDirected by John Lasseter, Alvy Ray Smith
Origin USA
Genres Animation
Themes Children's films
Actors Pat Fraley, Dee Bradley Baker, Jim Hanks, Jeff Bennett, John Ratzenberger
Toy Story (1995)
, 1h22Directed by John Lasseter
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Adventure, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Jeu, Films about dogs, Films about toys, Buddy films, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger
In a world where toys pretend to be lifeless in the presence of humans, Woody, a pullstring cowboy toy, is the leader of a group of toys that are owned by a boy named Andy Davis. With his family moving away one week before his birthday, Andy is given a week-early party to spend with his friends, while the toys stage a reconnaissance mission to discover Andy's new presents. Andy receives a spaceman action figure named Buzz Lightyear, whose impressive features see him replacing Woody as Andy's favorite toy. Woody becomes resentful, especially when he notices that Buzz also gets attention from the other toys. However, Buzz believes himself to be a real space ranger on a mission to return to his home planet, while Woody tries to convince him that he is just a toy.
Knick Knack (1989)
, 4minutesDirected by John Lasseter
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Animation
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Children's films
On a bookshelf filled with summer vacation-themed souvenirs, a snowman named Knick (who is the cousin of Frosty the Snowman, according to the audio commentary), who resides in a snow globe, wants to reach a "Sunny Miami" knick knack that shows a girl lounging in a bikini. Knick tries several but unsuccessful methods to exit the globe: ramming it with the igloo backdrop, using a hammer and his carrot nose to chisel through, attacking it with a jackhammer, using a cutting torch and detonating explosives. The globe eventually falls over the shelf's edge and Knick notices an emergency exit in the base and frees himself just before he and the globe fall into a fishbowl. Here Knick sees a pretty mermaid souvenir from "Sunny Atlantis" and runs toward her, but before he can reach her, the globe settles to the bottom and traps him for the second time, leaving Knick frustrated.
Tin Toy (1988)
, 5minutesDirected by John Lasseter
Origin USA
Genres Animation
Themes Jeu, Films about toys, Children's films
The film takes place in one room and stars the toy of the title, a mechanical one-man band named Tinny, and a baby named Billy. At first Tinny is delighted at the prospect of being played with by Billy until he sees how destructive he can be. Fleeing beneath the couch, Tinny discovers dozens of other toys who are too terrified to come out as they went through the same experience. But then Billy falls flat on the hardwood floor and starts crying. Tinny feels ashamed of himself, and decides he has to help no matter what. His antics succeed in cheering Billy up, to the point where Billy picks him up and shakes him violently before throwing him away. Once the toy has recovered from this ordeal, he is annoyed to see that Billy has forgotten about him and is now playing with the cardboard box and bag that he came out of. Billy walks off with the bag on his head, wandering around the room with Tinny following while the credits roll. At the end of the credits, Billy and Tinny walk out the door of the room and a few other toys come out of hiding to run across the floor.
Red's Dream (1987)
, 4minutesDirected by John Lasseter
Origin USA
Genres Animation
Themes Children's films
Set in a lonely city on a rainy night, the film takes place in a bicycle shop (named "Eben's Bikes" for Pixar animator Eben Ostby) that is closed for the night. In the corner of the shop sleeps Red, a red unicycle who languishes in the "clearance corner", waiting to be purchased. As the camera zooms on him, the sound of rain falling turns into a drumroll, and we go into the dream-sequence. In his dream, Red is being ridden by a circus clown (which was nicknamed 'Lumpy' due to his appearance) as part of a juggling act.
Luxo Jr. (1986)
, 2minutesDirected by John Lasseter, William Reeves
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Animation
Themes Children's films
Two balanced-arm desk lamps, named Luxo Jr. (small) and Luxo Sr. (large), are playing with a small inflatable rubber ball. When Luxo Jr. tries balancing on it, the ball eventually deflates due to excessive jumping. As a result, he is later seen playing with a beach ball.
, 2minutesDirected by Alvy Ray Smith
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Animation
Themes Children's films
The short involves a character named André being awakened in a forest by a pesky bee named Wally B. André distracts the bee so that he can run away. Wally B. chases André and eventually catches up with him, then stings him offscreen. Wally B. later reappears with a bent stinger. Soon, though, Wally B. gets hit by André's tossed hat as a last laugh.
Distribution
BURN·E (2008)
, 7minutesDirected by Angus MacLane
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure, Animation
Themes Post-apocalyptic films, Films set in the future, Children's films, Robot films
Actors Ben Burtt, Angus MacLane, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin
The short opens with WALL-E running his hand through the rings of Saturn while hanging on the side of EVE's ship, as shown in the original film. One of the rock particles that swirls away begins to increase in velocity as it moves up against the atmosphere of a Saturnian moon, becoming a meteorite that destroys a small lamp spire outside the Axiom. AUTO sees this and activates SUPPLY-R, a storage robot that dispenses spare lamps. He then dispatches BURN-E, a repair robot, to replace the broken lamp. Before he can secure the new lamp, EVE's ship enters the Axiom 's docking bay. Still hanging on the side of the ship, WALL-E waves to greet him, but as BURN-E is distracted the loose lamp floats into space.
Liar Liar (1997)
, 1h26Directed by Tom Shadyac
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about families
Actors Jim Carrey, Maura Lynn Tierney, Jennifer Tilly, Swoosie Kurtz, Amanda Donohoe, Jason Bernard
In Los Angeles, career-focused lawyer Fletcher Reede (Carrey) loves his son Max (Cooper), but his inability to keep his promises and compulsive lying in lieu of his career often causes problems between them and with his ex-wife Audrey (Tierney), who has become involved with another man named Jerry. In court, Fletcher is willing to exaggerate the stories of his clients, and his current client, the self-centered, money-grabbing Samantha Cole (Tilly) has garnered the attention of Mr. Allen, a partner at the law firm in which Fletcher works. If Fletcher wins this case, it will bring his firm a fortune and boost his career. Fletcher lies to Max about missing his birthday due to work, when he is actually sleeping with another attorney, Miranda, in order to get a promotion. Dejected, Max makes a birthday wish that for one day his father cannot tell a lie. The wish immediately comes true, and Fletcher accidentally tells Miranda he has "had better" after they have sex.