The Pixar Story, a new documentary from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks, has been released in select theaters in 14 major markets across the U.S. in order to qualify for this year’s Academy Awards. The movie takes viewers on a dramatic journey behind the scenes of the Northern Califronia-based toon shop and explores how John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs got together in the mid 1980s to create a studio that would revolutionize the animation industry.
Iwerks, the granddaughter of animation legend UB Iwerks, employed never-before-seen footage from the Pixar library, along with historic archival animation and first-hand accounts by animators, studio executives, directors, producers and voice performers to chronicle the history of Pixar. The film features exclusive interviews with Lasseter, Catmull, Jobs and such other key players as George Lucas, Michael Eisner, Bob Iger, Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal, Tim Allen and Brad Bird.
‘In a relatively short period of time, Pixar went from a bootstrap enterprise run by some pretty daring risk takers to a multi-billion dollar corporation that sets the standard for an entire industry,’ says Iwerks. ‘The film is in large part a tribute to their tenacity and creativity, their unwillingness to give in when it seemed impossible to win, and to continue their creative journey no matter how difficult it became.’
Iwerks received her Oscar nomination for her 2006 short film Recycled Life, which tells of the thousands of people who have been living and working in the Guatemala City garbage dump, the largest and most toxic landfill in Central America, over the last sixty years. She also chronicled the life of her famous grandfather in the award-winning The Hand Behind the Mouse-The Ub Iwerks Story, and wrote, directed and exec produced Pixar’s 20th Anniversary Special for The Wonderful World of Disney, which aired on ABC on June 3, 2006.
The Pixar Story is currently playing in select Landmark theaters in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, and opens on Oct. 30 in Washington D.C., New Orleans, Denver and Seattle. Nov. 6 will see it expand to San Diego, Boston, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, before hitting San Francisco in Nov. 13. A companion book titled To Infinity and Beyond’The Story of Pixar Animation Studios by Karen Paik is based on interviews and research by Iwerks, and is scheduled for release by Chronicle Books this fall.
