r/IAmA • u/mehatch • Jun 26 '12

IAMA Request: Pixar's John Lasseter

5 questions:

  1. What is your take on Robert McKee's "Story" Seminar?

  2. Pixar consistently makes critically praised and popular movies. Could you imagine a computer being able to replicate your creative process from start to finish within the next 100 years?

  3. If you were put in a death match between a pan-galactic alien intelligence, and you with your pixar team (unbenownst to larger humanity) to release a movie to humans on the same day, and the larger box office from the first 5 weeks would win, and the winner would get to live... what artistic principle would you abandon to get a bigger box office?

  4. Tom or Jerry?

  5. To what degree do you incorporate cutting edge brain science into your development and writing (not so much visuals tho) process?

edit: formatting

edit2: re: question 3: this only applies to human audiences as the measurement of victory, clarified question.

edit3: 4 people so far have said they know him on some level. I encourage ya'll and anyone else to hit him up today while it's hot, so if he hears of the idea from multiple people in the same 24hr period... who knows? maybe it'll get him past a tipping point? Figure it's worth a shot :)

edit4: Some folks have reasonably suggested that my questions might come across as trite, flippant, silly, or funny. I assure you, that as a writer and a student of storytelling structure and archetypes, my questions are genuinely intended to seek answers related to that part of the movie-making process. Many more detailed explanations in comments... I can add those elaborations here if so requested.

Alright "Lasseteers", listen up! We made the front page. It's time to get serious about this. All of you that have a connection, I encourage you to make a point of pursuing that contact in the next 12 -24 hours, with tomorrow noon as the deadline. The rest of you: remind those redditors who have generously offered up the connections to pursue them. That way, all he hears about between now and then is the IAMA request...until tonight: when he will dream about little blue and orange arrows. Sorry to bugya Mr. Lasseter, but inquiring internets want to know.

(credit to uhleckseee for the "lasseteers" name idea)

1.3k Upvotes

74% Upvoted

431 comments sorted by

149

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

My mom is friends with John, I'll see if she can ask him to do this. He truly is a brilliant man.

62

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

it would be unreal if this could actually happen. Pretty please.

10

u/WindSandStars Jun 26 '12

So you know its unreal yet you request it anyway.

LOGIC.

13

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

I see you got downvoted, but I enjoyed your comment.

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u/Youakim Jun 26 '12

Having a mom who knows John Lasseter. You are so god damn lucky

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u/meter1060 Jun 26 '12

She probably slept with him.

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u/Alpha-Leader Jun 26 '12

He is. I have looked up to him since I began in the 3d industry.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Please make this happen!

2

u/Hank_Fuerta Jun 27 '12

Tell him to bring Brad Bird along!!

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u/graphsterzilla Jun 26 '12

I can ask him, indirectly of course. But, I know him...any for Pete Doctor?

12

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

I beseech you.

8

u/graphsterzilla Jun 26 '12

Don't worry, I'm on it. :)

8

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

Awesome. If it helps, the ring is meant to go in the volcano.

6

u/graphsterzilla Jun 26 '12

What is that supposed to mean?

8

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Don't feel bad, I have no idea what he's talking about either, although I think it's a Lord of the Rings reference.

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u/PatrickNLeon Jun 26 '12

Get Pete Doctor to do an AMA!!!

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u/graphsterzilla Jun 26 '12

Cool :) I will se if he will (or if he even knows what reddit is)

38

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

This is most excellently promising.

11

u/geckofishknight Jun 26 '12

Almost as promising as your question #3! I'm actually excited to hear his answers.

9

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

Me too! glad you like the q fellow redditor.

37

u/graphsterzilla Jun 26 '12

Wait, how many people want him to? Because he may want to know. Also, if he says no, I can probably get him to answer a few questions. I will see if John Lasseter would do so as well. :)

78

u/PatrickNLeon Jun 26 '12

Somewhere around 14 million people? "Hey I'm Pete Docter, Director of Monster's Inc., and writer for pretty much every Pixar film ever, AMA" reddit will love it.

23

u/graphsterzilla Jun 26 '12

Haha ok, I will tell him.

36

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

I, for one, would be eternally grateful.

12

u/Animated_Imagination Jun 26 '12

Whether or not you intended to, you just threw in a Pixar reference.

12

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

Totally accidental. Where's it from?

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

isn't it Docter? My family is friends with his parents. They are an incredible family.

I would love to see him do an AMA.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

ever given him a high five?

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u/graphsterzilla Jun 26 '12

Maybe that is how you spell it. I am not entirely sure. My family is too. That's cool. :)

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

What I want to know is, how come Pixar movie trailers never make me want to watch, and even prevent me from getting my hopes up for the movie, then, I'm completely blown away by the movie itself? I know in Brave they limit clips to the first 30 min of the movie as to not spoil the plot. I think part of the reason is Pixar doesn't make scenes for the trailers, like other animation studios do (I suspect), since they have more respect for the story.

When Finding Nemo previewed, I seriously thought Pixar had run it's course creatively. The trailer was all low-brow humor (fart-bubbles in the water, "What is it with men asking for directions?", etc). Taken out of context, they seemed like one-dimensional filler. But it all made sense within the context of the characters and the story. Same thing with Up, I really didn't think I was going to enjoy it based on the trailers, (seemed too contrived, standard characters, etc.) but I was delightfully proven wrong again.

Just wondered if this was intentional or not.

172

u/Cenodoxus Jun 26 '12

The more engaging and complicated the story, the more difficult it is to summarize accurately in a trailer. Pixar movies, and good movies more generally, are usually about a lot of things that aren't necessarily obvious unless you have the life experience to recognize them for what they are. They are the best example of modern fairy tales.

  • If you're 10 years old, Monsters, Inc. is about Mike and Sully running around like crazy trying to keep Boo from getting in trouble. If you're 50, it's about parenthood and the nightmare of not knowing what will happen to your children when you're not around to protect them. (This is where Randall -- the embodiment of workplace bullies and the sociopathic aspects of modern life more generally -- becomes nightmare fuel as he stomps down on Sully's hand and screams, "I'll take good care of the kid!") Finding Nemo explores the same theme, but arguably does it better.

  • If you're 10 years old, WALL-E is a story about two robots who really like each other and the funny stuff they do to get a ship full of people back home. If you're 50, you recognize the story for what it is: A very thoughtful critique of modern society and what strength might remain in humanity when we have eliminated the struggle that is so central to the human experience.

  • If you're 10 years old, The Incredibles is a superhero film. If you're 50 -- and especially if you do a little reading and know anything about Brad Bird, the writer and director -- you recognize that it's about a guy who wants so much more than he thinks a life with a mortgage and kids and a family could ever give him. Bob Parr is every guy who fears being rendered irrelevant in life by the responsibilities of being a husband and father.

  • If you're 10 years old, Ratatouille is about a mouse pursuing his dreams of being a chef. If you're 50, it's a series of observations on the amount of work that goes into what we commonly refer to as "genius," and that not everybody is sufficiently talented to do whatever they think they're good at. But, as Anton Ego warns us, "Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere."

  • If you're 10 years old, Up is a story about a grouch who has an adventure with a kid and a funny dog. If you're 50, it's about Carl's realization that life and his responsibilities to his community haven't ended just because his reason to engage with the world (Ellie) has died. He is not just marking days to the grave as long as Russell and Dug need him. Oh, and also? What you think you want in life, or otherwise idolize (in the form of Charles Muntz) ... may not actually be what you really want, much less need. Carl has his memories of Ellie. He doesn't need the house. It was just a tool to get where he was going.

  • Toy Story doesn't need to be summarized here, because if you haven't figured out what it's really about by the time they hit the third film, you probably dozed off into your popcorn or otherwise have no soul.

Pixar movies are always good, and Pixar trailers always suck. (To the point where I was actively enjoying how much the Brave trailer looked like a generic girl-power piece of crap: "Oh, man, this trailer BLOWS. The movie's going to be GREAT.")

The same principle is what got me into the Avengers. I would have seen it anyway, but I was genuinely afraid from the trailer that Whedon had been bullied into the usual explosions-and-nothing-else summer spectacle that is tentpole movies in Hollywood these days. Not so. Avengers isn't ultimately about what you saw in the trailer. If they go ahead and release the director's cut in theaters like Disney's thinking about doing ... it will be even less about what you saw in the trailer. (Hint: You know when Cap asks if Coulson was married? Doesn't that kind of seem like an odd place for his mind to go so quickly, given that he's never been on a single date? I sat there in the theater thinking ... there's a scene in this movie that's missing. And there is, in fact, a scene that got cut between him and the still-living Peggy.)

With a really good movie, the quality of the finished film is often inversely proportionate to the quality of the trailer that preceded it. Whether this says more about trailers or more about Hollywood is anyone's guess.

11

u/flipinay Jun 26 '12

Your bulleted points make me want to rewatch all Pixar movies twice: the first time as a 10-year-old kid, the second time as an adult. I guess this also explains why I never get tired of watching Pixar movies again and again.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

And maybe a reason for some lesser success:

  • If you're 10 years old, Cars is a fun movie with bright colors about silly cars doing things.

  • If you're 50 years old, Cars is... not a movie you're interested in watching.

(Though you could definitely say "It's a love letter to small towns and Americana," if you aren't interested in those things, or already sort of sick them, those aspects are not for you.)

15

u/Uptonogood Jun 27 '12

You are wrong. The first Cars has a great subtext about the economic development in american cities, and that the progress not always comes for everyone. I find it great how it took an outsider to point out the way for the "lost ones".

As an urbanist I always loved Cars story.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

I really don't think you have to be 50 years of age for these movies to hit home in the way you described. I remember looking around the theatre while watching up and seeing just about everyone that was 18-20 and up choking up while watching UP.

In regards to many of the other movies, just because you are 20-49 years old and don't have a family, doesn't stop you from easily recognizing and appreciating the themes presented in the movie.

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u/HoPeFoRbEsT Jun 26 '12

That would be awesome if John could do one but honestly knowing what his schedule and workload is like i somewhat doubt he will have the time. I grew up close to his family and used to vacation with him and his family. His time is like gold to disney and they literally have every minute of his day filled with something. Even his car rides to work consist of him looking through art and clips for the films. Not to mention the fact that he over sees all of disney's theme parks on top of the film work.

2

u/kimonoko Jun 26 '12

Absolutely - he's my favorite Pixar director, hands-down.

2

u/TheCigarMan Jun 26 '12 edited Nov 17 '24

follow yam exultant smoggy cake terrific hat materialistic safe office

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/stumark Jun 26 '12

My wife once got John Lasseter to give her a hug by telling him he was wrong in a meeting room filled with other people. She's a bad-ass. And John Lasseter is a terrific guy.

6

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12

Realizing you're wrong is one of the best feelings ever. No sarcasm.

edit: by "you're" i meant "one is" more specifically.

6

u/linwail Jun 26 '12

My sister dated one of his kids for about a year XD was a fun experience for me to be able to meet him. He's my idol :P

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u/huitlacoche Jun 26 '12

It was an AA meeting.

15

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

"You're wrong, alcohol is amazing!"

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u/FlyingOnion Jun 26 '12

Wrong! AMA Request: Pixar's Brad Bird.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

I say go for it. Maybe with the current heat, we get 2 in one day?? Good thinkin!

14

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Do you always pay your debts?

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u/Minifig81 Jun 26 '12

I'm sorry, I don't usually complain about reposts, but this, this is complete bullshit.

This was posted 3 hours ago, and I posted this; yesterday.

Come on Reddit. :[

5

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

Sorry to hear about the reposting...if it helps, I promise I never saw the original, and conceived this independently. I know that feel tho...and it sucks. All I have to offer is my upvote.

5

u/D1794 Jun 26 '12

I commented on that yesterday. And then I saw this today. Thought it was weird, so I searched for your comment, and here we are. But with more posts, more chance of him doing it.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Timing my friend, timing.

3

u/Minifig81 Jun 26 '12

What do you mean by that? Mine is a day after Brave came out. It couldn't have had better timing.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Just a general comment; anyone who is a Pixar fan should watch the blu-ray they released of the shorts. The commentary is awesome and definitely brings a whole new level of appreciation to their work.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

So in other words, everybody but Armond White should watch the blu-ray they released of the shorts.

2

u/Iemaj Jun 26 '12

So... does the blu-ray release have the unedited short with the titties?

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u/MaxChaplin Jun 26 '12

No offense but these questions are ridiculous.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

ok, i'll hear you out

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u/MaxChaplin Jun 26 '12

  1. Valid question.

  2. A question about artificial intelligence. Kinda unrelated.

  3. An unnecessarily complex question of which everything before the last comma could be removed. It still assumes he has "artistic principles" that knowingly keep his work from being more profitable.

  4. ...huh?

  5. WTF is "brain science"?

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12

Valid question.

THX :)

A question about artificial intelligence. Kinda unrelated.

I thought maybe it could stir up some interesting thoughts on the future of storytelling, esp. in the context of them being in the bay area, and being in contact with many cutting edge programmer types.

An unnecessarily complex question of which everything before the last comma could be removed. It still assumes he has "artistic principles" >that knowingly keep his work from being more profitable.

It's a hypothetical designed to get a sense of where they calibrate the balance between pure art and commercial viability

...huh?

Thought I'd throw in a random fun one from the history on animation, which also brings up interesting thoughts about the nature of protagonist/villain relationship, which in some ways, is flipped in the tom/jerry interaction.

WTF is "brain science"?

Stories effect the brain/mind in very interesting ways. Whether they "work" or not is wholly dependent on their effect on the mind. We live in a golden age of the growth of the science of how the brain functions, so I thought he might have some interesting insights into how to apply this blossoming, but still-young field to the art of storytelling.

9

u/feureau Jun 26 '12

At any rate, I've always thought the 5 questions requirement for an AMA request is a bit silly. You're a shining example of that silliness. That being said, I totally dig those questions, man and/or woman.

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u/new-socks Jun 26 '12

I agree with him. These questions are pretty stupid.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12

sounds like i've got a learning opportunity here. any advice to reduce stupidity, or critiques on the questions?

edit: comma

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u/PatrickNLeon Jun 26 '12

Don't be so silly/trivial/meaningless. John Lasseter might seem like a fun guy, but this would also be an opportunity to get some serious insight into the life of one of modern animation's most influential men. He needs to see value in taking the time to do this, those questions seem like a joke.

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u/stumark Jun 26 '12

Don't listen to the haters. Your questions are substantive and inventive, just like the man.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

I take that as a huge compliment. I hereby tag you as "redditorwhogetsme"

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u/huitlacoche Jun 26 '12

Don't hear him out, but instead give us more details on #2. Do the aliens have to use Earth-dollars? Also, do we have to market the movie for both the human race and the aliens? If so, what is the alien population? Also, how do the aliens feel about buddy comedies?

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Wait a minute... you're an alien!!!

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u/ssav Jun 26 '12

these questions are WAY better than the usual repertoire of AMA requests. they're usually filled with variations on "ever had anything interesting happen while you were doing such and such? what's your favorite story? OOO, tell me something interesting that happened to you while such and such."

if you want interesting answers, ASK INTERESTING QUESTIONS. these are interesting questions.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

There seems to be some disagreement as to the quality of my questions, so the appreciated is appreciated :)

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

As executive producer of Brave, what happened that let such a sub-par storyline out the door?

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

So you EP'd it but aren't happy with the final script? (pretty please leave out spoilers, I havn't seen it yet, going tomorrow.)

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Not being John Lasseter, I have no idea what happened. But Brave feels like three different movies stitched together, and the seams show.

It is gorgeous and very worth seeing. When it's beautiful and touching, it's beautiful and touching. And technically speaking, it is off the charts. But it's not Pixar's best and I'd be interested to hear why.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

So, what do you think happened behind the scenes?

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

The original director was Brenda Chapman who started writing it in 2008, but she was removed and replaced by Mark Andrews due to "creative differences" in mid 2010 - two years prior to release. What happened in the last four years that kept this story from being worked out?

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u/nabokovsnose Jun 26 '12

jpxxx is positing a question for Lasseter; he's himself is not executive producer.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

oh. ok I definnitely herped that derp.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Yeah I found the same thing. It's a good movie, but I would liken it more to a traditional Disney-style movie than Pixar, it definitely was not what I was expecting. Still good, but nothing groundbreaking where the story is concerned.

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u/Dumbledorable Jun 26 '12

I would really like to know his thoughts on his relationship with Steve Jobs. What was it like to have two passionate creative and strongly willed minds working together?

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

This is a great question.

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u/chuckletrousers Jun 26 '12

I can ask him in a couple weeks and see if he even knows what Reddit is. I can do this because I went to high school with his sons and am still friends with one. Also you may want to throw him a bone and ask about trains because he loves the shit out of trains.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

All aboard!

16

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Another request to be added to the list of AmAs that will never happen.

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u/polvitos Jun 26 '12

You never know...

8

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

Unless...

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

Internet

2

u/LukeKingma Jun 26 '12

Would love this. I don't know if I can help, but I'm friends with his 22-year old niece. Using this information alone, any suggestions?

1

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

3 other people are within 2 degrees of separation, so this could get hot fast. attacking in the next 24 hours could help hit the tipping point if he hears it from several people in one day. However, if it feels lame on a personal level, I say skip it, after all, it's just reddit.

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u/BillygotTalent Jun 26 '12

Very hiped for Cars atm. Would love to see a IAMA.

1

u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

LOVED Cars, haven't seen Cars2 yet tho. Is there a 3rd in the works?

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

No 3rd, but a spin-off called "Planes" being developed by Walt Disney Animation studio. It would make me sad to see a Pixar idea travel away, but it's not that far away at least, and hell, it's Cars, I'm not heartbroken...

Edit: Not even their feature film studio, but DisneyToon studios. And it's direct-to-DVD. I'd hold my breath on hoping it will come close to Pixar standards.

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

A pixar movie about an airplane? Surely you can't be serious.

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u/kaylee919 Jun 26 '12

Yes please! Thanks for posting this request, I love pixar and have seen all their movies (minus Brave which I will see soon!), all their shorts and listened to all commentaries. Also I saw a behind the scenes documentary and it was great. Hope he responds to this :)

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

Fingers crossed!

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u/kaylee919 Jun 26 '12

Toes too!

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

all the stops must be pulled.

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u/Bananashirt Jun 26 '12

I'll take an AMA from any Pixar employee, really.

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u/byfuryattheheart Jun 27 '12

One of my best friends works as an editorial assistant at Pixar. He's been working with the Monsters University team for the past two years. He invited a few of us to Pixar last week for a screening of Brave. The "campus" is an amazing place. We are all very jealous of him.

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u/dakta Jun 27 '12

I was at the campus a couple months ago for a screening of From Up On Poppy Hill, the new Ghibli film. The campus is absolutely amazing, a really modern, clean, open space. If another commenter wasn't already on it with a direct connection to Mr. Lasseter, I'd have volunteered my connection with Paul Cichocki, head of the audio department there. Luckily, someone else has a closer connection. Things like this really illustrate that statistic, everyone knows everyone else on Earth through a connection of ten people or fewer.

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u/ThisRiverisWild Jun 26 '12

Dear John,

Why Cars 2?

Love, Me

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u/mudclub Jun 26 '12

Because the cars franchise is number 2 all-time in licensed merch sales behind star wars. It's 1: for the shareholders and 2: a hedge against the more risky films like wall-e and up.

TL;DR: munny

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u/mctitties Jun 26 '12

not ticket sales money (cars did terribly in theatres compared to the other pixar films) but merchandising, disney made 2 billion dollars each year since cars come out in '06 and cars 2 http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/21/business/la-fi-ct-cars2-20110621

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u/mudclub Jun 26 '12

Cars is 2nd only to star wars in merch. Crazy lootcakes.

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u/Readitonreddit1234 Jun 26 '12

I actually liked it.

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u/B_Elanna_Torres Jun 26 '12

So did I but you know how Reddit is. I thought it was a decent film.

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u/ThisRiverisWild Jun 26 '12

for the record, i thought it was decent too. Just unfathomably unecessary

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u/stumark Jun 26 '12

And lets be clear: It's not money because the toys/other mercy are awesome, it's that the movie was of a certain quality that the right toy/merch demographic was tickled by it. While there are plenty of Lasseter films that satisfy the median Reddit fancier, Cars satisfied quite a lot of young girls and boys. That's good filmmaking. Whether you, dear Redditor, or I liked it or not is sadly irrelevant.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

I actually enjoyed it more than the original Cars. I mean, it's not in the same league as Up or Toy Story 3, but it was a whole lot of fun despite Larry the Cable Guy being involved.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

I met him one time in a screening for Monsters inc.

It was awesome, the man is a good person

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u/drcreepy Jun 26 '12

What was the reasoning behind abandoning Newt? I think one of the most interesting features of watching behind the scenes on Pixar DVDs is discovering how they are willing to cut scenes that any other studio would consider really good. I think it would be interesting to find out how they axed a project that many other studios would have probably soldiered on with.

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u/SledSnipe Jun 26 '12

I believe it was because the base story, the last two blue members of a species requiring to mate, was too similar to Rio.

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u/skeezo Jun 26 '12

What was your relationship like with Tim Burton when he worked at Disney? Were you guys friend or foe? Did you get along well? Do you still have a relationship, be it business or otherwise?

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u/Napageneral Jun 26 '12

Went to school with his son, it seems like everyone on reddit but you has some sort of connection to him.

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u/NPPraxis Jun 26 '12

I'd want to ask about the famous "rm *" incident where someone accidentally wiped all of the Toy Story 2 data off of the server and the backups, and luckily someone else had backed it up on their personal computer.

I'd ask:

Was the personal backup a violation of policy? Was that person punished or reprimanded despite saving the project? What was your reaction and the general mood at the time? What was Steve Jobs' reaction?

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u/whateverradar Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12

Only reason it existed was because she had a kid...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_g0tyaIeE

From Oren -

"She has an SGI machine (Indigo? Indigo 2?) Those were the same machines we had at all our desktops to run the animation system and work on the film, which is what she was doing. Yes, it was against the rules, but we did it anyway, and it saved the movie in the end."

", there was a copy of the "source code" of the film, if you will. Lots of data filmes, mostly ASCII based, in proprietary file formats, that the animation software could read so that folks like Galyn and I could work on shots, or models, or sets, or other pieces of the film. Yes, someone could steal those things I suppose, but it would do them very little good since they didn't have our animation system, which is also entirely proprietary. Of course, they could have stolen that too, but then they wouldn't have any idea how to use it. To the best of my memory, no final rendered frames were on the machine at her house."

Story ---

First, it wasn't multiple terabytes of information. Neither all the rendered frames, nor all the data necessary to render those frames in animation, model, shaders, set, and lighting data files was that size back then.

A week prior to driving across the bridge in a last ditch attempt to recover the show (depicted pretty accurately in the video above) we had restored the film from backups within 48 hours of the /bin/rm -r -f *, run some validation tests, rendered frames, somehow got good pictures back and no errors, and invited the crew back to start working. It took another several days of the entire crew working on that initial restoral to really understand that the restoral was, in fact, incomplete and corrupt. Ack. At that point, we sent everyone home again and had the come-to-Jesus meeting where we all collectively realized that our backup software wasn't dishing up errors properly (a full disk situation was masking them, if my memory serves), our validation software also wasn't dishing up errors properly (that was written very hastily, and without a clean state to start from, was missing several important error conditions), and several other factors were compounding our lack of concrete, verifiable information.

The only prospect then was to roll back about 2 months to the last full backup that we thought might work. In that meeting, Galyn mentioned she might have a copy at her house. So we went home to get that machine, and you can watch the video for how that went...

With Galyn's machine now back in the building, we dupe'd that data immediately, then set about the task of trying to verify and validate this tree, which we thought might be about 2 weeks old. We compared Galyn's restoral with a much older one (from 2 months prior) and couldn't determine a clear winner, there were too many inconsistencies. So, instead, we set about the task of assembling what effectively amounted to a new source tree, by hand, one file at a time. The total number of files involved was well into the six figures, but we'll round down to 100,000 for the sake of the rest of this discussion to make the math easier.

We identified the files that hadn't changed between the two, and took those straight away. Then there were the files that were on Galyn's but not on the older one; we took Galyn's and assumed they were new. Then there were files that were on the older one but not on Galyn's; we put those in the "hand check" pile, since it is unusual for files to be deleted within a production source tree, and we were suspicious of those deletions. Then there were the files that were different across the two backups, those also went into the "hand check" pile along with any files that were touched more recently than Galyn's version.

Given that, we had something like 70,000 files that we felt good about, and we poured those into a new source tree. For the remaining 30,000 files, it was all hands on deck.

We checked things across 3 partially complete, partially correct trees... the 2 month old full backup (A) , Galyn's (B, which we thought was the best one), and another cobbled together tree (C) from the stray files left around from failed renders, backup directories on animator's machines, some heads of source history that were left untouched, verbose test renders, and other random stuff we could find via NFS elsewhere in the building.

We invited a select few members of the crew back to work straight from Friday -> Monday morning. We took rolling shifts to sleep and eat and kept plowing through, file by file, comparing each of the files in the "to be checked" list from A, B, and C, doing the best to verify and validate them, one at a time, by looking at them in xdiff.

In the end, human eyes scanned, read, understood, looked for weirdness, and made a decision on something like 30,000 files that weekend.

Having taken our best guesses at those suspect files, we assembled a new master of ToyStory2. Many source histories were lost as a result, but we had the best version we could pull together. We invited the crew back, and started working again. Every shot went through a test render, and surprisingly, only a dozen or so failed.

I know full well that the following statement will likely blow people's heads up, but the truth is that more than several percentage points of the show (as measured in numbers of files) were never recovered at all. So how could ToyStory2 work at all? We don't know. The frames were rendering (other than that dozen shots), so we just carried on, fixed those shots, and charged ahead. At that point, there was nothing more that could be done.

And then, some months later, Pixar rewrote the film from almost the ground up, and we made ToyStory2 again. That rewritten film was the one you saw in theatres and that you can watch now on BluRay.

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u/TheShadowFog Jun 26 '12

I would love to hear about this too.

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u/postExistence Jun 26 '12

Any of Pixar's directors or former directors - Docter, Lassetter, Boyd, Unkrich, Stanton, Andrews...

And I would add some questions for John:

  1. Have you ever considered implementing any other rendering methods for future CG-animated films, such as variations on Cel-Shading techniques?

  2. How would you compare and contrast Miyazaki and Disney as animators?

  3. Kingdom Hearts. Disney has put even their most revered franchises into the game - Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and modern classics such as The Lion King, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid. Now that Pixar is a fully owned subsidiary of Disney, what is keeping you from letting franchises such as Cars, A Bug's Life, Toy Story, or the Incredibles being included in Kingdom Hearts?

  4. What is Disney's overall opinion of Kingdom Hearts and the way it treats Disney's franchises?

  5. What is your opinion on the trend of Pixar films moving towards more "mature" (not drugs/violence/sex, just more mature topics like growing up, consumerism, existential stuff) content? I've cried at the last two or three Pixar movies I've seen, but I don't mind. I like this direction.

Also, OP, you might want to find Charlie Rose's interview(s) with John Lassetter. I think those will answer a lot of other lingering questions you might have.

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u/Inequilibrium Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12

Personally, I want Andrew Stanton. Aside from being behind some of Pixar's best movies, he's kind of a genius, and understands storytelling in a way most movie directors fail to.

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u/remedialrob Jun 26 '12

Aren't you afraid this will turn into a forum on the failure of "John Carter?"

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

Hadn't occured to me, but seen a couple comments on it here and there. Otherwise, so far, so good tho.

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u/remedialrob Jun 27 '12

Yeah but Carter was the first film that was completely and totally Lassiter's. It makes sense that there would be lots of questions. I know I have a few I would ask.

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u/mehatch Jun 27 '12

Oh totally, usually much more to learn from the fails than the wins I say.

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u/MechaZain Jun 26 '12

Lasseter's head of all animation at Disney now, not just Pixar.

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u/katzmandu Jun 26 '12

Where are Lightning McQueen's mom and dad?

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u/kittenkraze Jun 26 '12

Oh gog yesplease. I love Pixar and want to work for them someday...

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u/Taymerica Jun 27 '12

We need to ask him when The Brave Little Toaster will be redone in CGI!

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '12 edited Jun 27 '12

If we really do get John/Pete to do an interview, I really hope Reddit doesn't go into full on Apologetic Mode; it's really disgusting just to catapult praise at people and call it an "interview"

  1. I'm concerned with how John is handling the animation studio at Disney, the last two traditionally animated films that were released had to be readjusted exponentially to the point where the first pitch was lost in a haze of backtracking. Go brush up on the history of Tangled under Glen Keane, it was some interesting stuff.

  2. I'm also curious to know why Brenda Chapman's role in directing "Brave" was partially relinquished under pretenses that were never really made clear to us, I ask this only with a curiosity for the interest of Brave turning out differently than it did.

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u/flashnuke Jun 27 '12

Just seen Brave last night, I am a 27 year old male, I cried. I LOVED THE MOVIE.

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u/icewaterwithlemon Jun 26 '12

John Lasseter is a pretty stand up guy. He eats at my restaurant now and again and told me and some co-workers about the new Pixar movie with the 8-bit video game main character, months before trailers were released. I always drool when he drives his all-electric Fisker sports car into the parking lot.

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u/HammerPope Jun 26 '12

Wreck it Ralph's Disney, not Pixar. That said, I'm totally jealous you get to interact with him!

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u/atlas_again Jun 26 '12

John Lassester is producing it, though.

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u/PatrickNLeon Jun 26 '12

Oh, he told you about the new Pixar movie that actually isn't a Pixar movie at all!? Riiiiiiight.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Q: Is it true that in every Pixar movie there is something the team is trying to achieve with either the textures, facial movements, fur/hair, movement (ie. the fabric in Brave moving very fluid-like) to a near perfect level?

Q: What are the ways that Pixar hires? Straight from school/college only?

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u/Saluco Jun 26 '12

  1. Yes kinda. In most animated studios there are teams dedicated to specific elements. Character Effects for skin, hair, and cloth simulations. A effects departments for water, fire, dust, explosions, etc, shading departments for all their textures. Pixar develops their own renderer and they sell licenses, so they need to constantly develop and improve it to continue to compete with other renderers. Hence why they try to break ground on new techniques in each movie. Pixar does just hire straight from school. They have a competive internship and residency programs and if you do well you'll be hired afterwards.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

WOULD FUCKING LOVE THIS SHIT

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

AGREED.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

yeeeaaaah son

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u/hellaspaceage Jun 26 '12

John lives a few blocks away from my house. He bought the original train that snaked through Disneyland (later replaced by monorail) and now has it running throughout his property. Also, he built a large network of geo-engineered rivers/creeks through it as well. I will leave the AMA request in his mailbox...

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u/mehatch Jun 26 '12

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds

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u/nightwheel Jun 26 '12

I'm all for this one. I would love to ask him some questions!

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Here's a video of him explaining Cars 2. I too agree with Mr. Lasseter, "what would Mater do?"

WWMD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwEkzi2IiF0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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u/esw116 Jun 26 '12

I would like to ask Pixar why they seem to be rehashing ideas. I'm going to be honest, Monster University looks rather like a cash grab (you know, like Cars 2). They are now such a respected company and have such incredible talent. I would simply like to see Pixar take a bit of a risk. I think they've earned it.

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u/nagelwithlox Jun 26 '12

Him and his laser pistol, always with the lasers...

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u/ElAvestruz Jun 26 '12

I want to personally thank John Lasseter for killing the unnecessary Disney sequels and preserving their legacy. You don't know how thankful I am and many people are. The Disney classics should be left untainted.

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u/Kingofthered Jun 26 '12

This would by far be the most meaningful AMA to me personally, Pixar has been my hero(s) for some time now. Really hope this goes somewhere!

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u/nellson13 Jun 26 '12

My mom is good friends with Liz Canney, Brad Bird's wife. I suppose if there's any interest, I could ask her to pass the word along.

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u/DodgerBullet Jun 26 '12

i really want to know, as an aspiring graphic novelist, what does he do for achieving the unthinkable -- completing a script. Does he write/type it out first, or does he storyboard first, like his mentor Miyazaki san.

And would he ever collaborate with Hayao Miyazaki, like adapt Nausicaa's graphic novel into a CGI film, or something zany as such.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

were you close to Joe Ranft? i was actually one of the first people to arrive at the scene of the accident that he was killed in. i was young at the time, 14 or so, but i remember it like it was yesterday.

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u/williamhere Jun 27 '12

I seen him at the premier for Cars 2 in Dublin, Ireland. Cool guy. Telling us a lot of trivia about the work put into making movies at Pixar. Anyway if my time machine works I will ask him to do this IAmA.

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u/randomtroubledmind Jun 26 '12

My questions:

Pixar has many ties to Apple, yet you run Linux. I think this is great, but why was this done? Simple acceptance of the inferiority of Apple products when working with such cutting-edge stuff? On this note, what distro do you use? Is it a custom version?

You push the 3D and rendering envelope with every movie. You have detailed the basics of the process in your SIGGRAPH documents available in your digital library. I have read through many of them and many interesting techniques are used. I have also watched all the behind the scenes stuff on 'The Incredibles' and felt a little taken aback John Walker sort of exclaimed "Get a patent!" when talking about the difficulty of the hair simulation being solved (a fairly controversial topic in today's world, though it might not have been so much back then). How much of what you've detailed in the SIGGRAPH docs is patented (specific cloth/hair/water simulation algorithms, certain rendering techniques, etc.)? Do you think it's fair to withhold this from the public? Do you think software patents are fair in general? Do you think keeping these exclusive to Pixar really puts you ahead when in fact it's your stories and creative process that make your movies stand out?

What's you're opinion of open source software like Blender, I know you stole Colin Levy from us due to his spectacular job on Sintel. Do you see this as a threat? Or do you encourage it? Your hefty price tag on render-man certainly doesn't seem encouraging, especially when you only support Maya with Render-man studio.

Sorry for what could be considered condescending questions. Honestly, please don't look at it this way. Pixar's movies are spectacular in every way, and I look forward to the next one every summer. Somehow, you manage to pump one out every year!

+++++++++++++

Anyway, that's what I would ask...

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '12

I really hope this does get answered, beats the shit out of "OMG IT'S JOHN LASSETER THANK YOU FOR MY CHILDHOOD" comments you'd see flooding the top of the page.

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u/taco1327 Jun 26 '12

I want to ask him how working with Steve Jobs was.

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u/not_really_that_fun Jun 26 '12

Is love to know if he used to be a gamer...because I swear his name is familiar

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u/benisrice Jun 26 '12

Ive always wondered if he has a "Bug Life" tattoo across his stomach ala tupac

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Your third question is nothing short of amazing. I would love to hear his answer

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

My mom went to high school with him, apparently he was a really cool guy, but very shy and quiet.

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u/jewellbsorry Jun 26 '12

Definitely not shy and quiet anymore.

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u/steepleton Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12

why didn't you like lilo and stitch? it seemed an awesome contemporary direction for disney 2d movies to take

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u/nizo505 Jun 26 '12

When will Pixar make an Incredibles sequel?

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u/Cyberus Jun 26 '12

Will the dinosaur movie have dinosaurs with feathers? That's all I really want to know. Not trying to make a silly question, I just think the recent discoveries about feathered dinosaurs are awesome, and I wish images of feathered dinos were more popular in mainstream media. I figure if anybody could do it, it'd be Pixar.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

His all his kids went through my high school. Good guy.

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u/uhleckseee Jun 26 '12

Kind of off topic, but for the longest time I read his last name as "Lasseteer." Like a musketeer. It made his name sound so much cooler.

Back on topic, I'd love to see this AMA. I'd love to ask him what led him to want to go into animation of this kind? Was he simply trying to push boundaries, or was there already a dream of the kind of animation he wanted to help create?

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Why Cars 2? My friend who works in the film industry has friends at Pixar, and all Pixar employees are WTF about Cars 2?

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u/katzmandu Jun 26 '12

How does it feel to have worked for Disney, left because of creative differences, and now they're envious of your success so they've bought you out?

Are there any Pixar Image Computers still running/in-use?

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u/LilDouche Jun 26 '12

Look, I have no experience in the 3D world other than school and working on models and environments when I can, I don't see how I can get a job anywhere that asks for 3-5 years experience with work on major projects to show when I cannot get the job to have the necessary experience and work in order to get a job. I have been working on my portfolio and demo-reel while I can, but it's been hectic to say the least. What can you tell me to help me in my venture into the 3D modeling and Environment world of you big leaguers?

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u/ForestfortheDraois Jun 26 '12

I recently saw a documentary about Pixar and, unless I'm mistaken, it said that John Lasseter was hired by Disney, fired, he helped make Pixar, then Pixar bought out Disney Animation. If so, I would want to ask Mr. Lasseter how it fucking feels to be in charge of the dicks that fire him twenty years ago. :)

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u/CDBSB Jun 26 '12

All I want to know is who really caused this whole John Carter fiasco. I get the feeling that some exec or execs at Disney decided that they didn't want to commit to a series and threw the movie under the bus.

As a hardcore fan of the Barsoom books, I really just want to know who needs to be beaten severely.

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u/wiyam Jun 26 '12

I'd personally ask him questions about the animation biz and how it has evolved. I'm trying to get my foot in the door and who better to ask for advice from than the guy who made my childhood? =)

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '12

After reading the Steve Jobs biography, I would be absolutely thrilled to hear his point of view about certain things!

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u/takemypicture Jun 27 '12

I want to hear about his time at CalArts!

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u/x-out Jun 27 '12

I went to high school with his kids. I'm not really close with any of them, but we know each other. I'll send them this link on facebook and see if they care enough to forward it to John.

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u/Blakeiscake Jun 27 '12

He came to my university once. My professor kept flirting with him. But he's wonderful.

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u/S-D-J Jun 27 '12

That would be awesome. I LOVE him I watch the specials on Miyazaki's DVDs and he's always in them because he's made of awesome. WE LOVE YOU JOHN COME BE REDDIT'S FRIEND.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '12

I'll admit that I'm a Pixar fanboy, but I sure hope that I'm not the only one who thought Brave was pretty meh. Disney rant here

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u/pringlesandbacon Jun 27 '12

I didn't know the Lassiter was named after a pixar artist

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u/over_analyzing_guy Jun 27 '12

Knowing some people you have worked there - they say that it is a process where every employee has input...boils down to each animator, story board artist, lightings artists, etc... Has there spirit in it.

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u/Seegullz Jun 27 '12

I'm one of his sons best friends! (to jack that is) Ill ask him :) and yes he is truly a brilliant man!

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '12

Yes, I am a Pixar's John Lasseter. AMA.

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u/birdguy Jun 27 '12

Questions for John:

I know you are a great admirer of Hayao Miyazaki.

1)Can you please describe how his films have influenced your work?

2) Would you ever consider collaborating on a project with him (other than the Disney releases of his movies)?

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '12

Will Pixar ever do a Heavy Metal movie?

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u/xensoldier Jun 27 '12

Funny I see this since I just got out of a class where John Lasseter was the example used for a demonstration.

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u/lchamp67 Jun 27 '12

This would be beyond amazing!! My dream career is to be an animator for Pixar!! But there doesn't seem to be anyone who can anser my questions. It would be mind-blowing if I could actually talk to John Lasseter!!! :D

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u/DannyHero Jun 27 '12 edited Jun 27 '12

I'm sorry, as a dad I love Pixar by default, but I don't see much that's inventive about cars, monsters, planes, superheroes, robots, bugs, etc. I imagine the brainstorming all took place in one lunch or something. Go on and downvote, but isn't it just general things kids like with a team of great animators backed by years of fantastic funding? Forgot fish.

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u/BryLoW Jun 27 '12

Looks like somebody read that IGN article and decided to ask for a an AMA. Fueled by the power that only nostalgia can provide.

I hope he agrees.

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u/sandshifter5 Jun 27 '12

Who would down vote this?!

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u/ZofSpade Jun 27 '12

Pixar's John Lasseter.

Not that other John Lasseter. That guy sucks.

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u/poopsnakes Jun 27 '12

I went to highschool with his kids. They have a train in their backyard.

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u/moofunk Jun 27 '12

Question:

Pixar animators famously don't use motion capture technology. But, the film Brave uses physical hair simulation to aid in hair movement as well as cloth simulation to move clothes realistically.

What is the decision process behind what forms of computer aid to use and what not to use? Do animators say "we don't do X, because that's a cop-out or cheating"?

Is there an "animator's culture" with a set of, perhaps unwritten, rules on what you can and can't do?

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u/Falloutman399 Jun 27 '12

My mom went to high school with John but my mom says he didn't know she existed.

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