Images: Pixar hits the 10-film milestone
The studio, little-known at the time, released its first feature, "Toy Story," in 1995. Its tenth film, "Up," comes out Friday.
Toy Story
The movie was an unexpected hit, earning more than $350 million worldwide. And over time, it has held up as a solid piece of storytelling. But what really made "Toy Story" noteworthy as a historical artifact is that it was the first-ever fully computer-generated animated feature film.
Toy Story poster
A Bug's Life
The film, which was said to be a loosely based parody of Aesop fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper," came out shortly after the DreamWorks CG feature "Antz." At the time, many people were curious about how two computer-generated films about ants and other bugs came out so close together.
Toy Story 2
Originally commissioned outside the terms of a five-picture distribution deal between Pixar and Disney, "Toy Story 2" became a centerpiece in a long-running dispute between the two companies, since Pixar felt the film should count as one of the five projects and Disney felt otherwise. Eventually, the bad blood between the companies would result in Pixar's 2004 decision not to team up on distribution with Disney after the five-picture deal ended. However, when Disney CEO Michael Eisner left the company, the door opened for new relations between the companies, and in fact, Disney ended up buying Pixar outright, making Steve Jobs the largest Disney shareholder.
Later this year, Disney and Pixar will release both "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" as a Digital 3D double feature, and "Toy Story 3," now in production, is scheduled for a 2010 release.
Toy Story 2 poster
Monster's Inc.
"Monsters, Inc." was notable at the time for the innovations Pixar developed in using computer graphics to animate Sulley's realistic looking fur, the first time such a process had been done on film. It earned $525 million worldwide.
Finding Nemo
"Finding Nemo" also was notable for the technical innovations Pixar implemented in the film, especially the studio's techniques for using computer graphics to animate underwater sequences. To do so, the animators had to learn how to use the CGI tools to animate the refraction of light underwater, as well as murk and other elements of life under the sea.
Finding Nemo poster
The Incredibles
According to Wikipedia, the project was originally a traditional animation film at Warner Bros., but was eventually shut down. Director Brad Bird took the project with him to Pixar, where it was developed, as are all Pixar films, as a CGI movie.
Cars
"Cars," which was based on the live-action film, "Doc Hollywood," featured a cast of, well, cars. The main character, Lightning McQueen, is a brash rookie race car who ends up stuck in a small Southwestern town.
The film achieved a notable technological innovation, implementing computerized procedural animation to display 300,000 individual car "fans," a process neither Pixar nor any other studio had done before.
"Cars 2" is now in pre-production and should hit theaters in 2011.
Cars poster
Ratatouille
The film earned $624 million and plaudits for its attention to culinary details. According to Wikipedia, Pixar also put a great deal of emphasis on the realism of some of the water scenes in the film. "There are...many water-based sequences in the film, one of which is set in the sewers and is more complex than the blue whale scene in 'Finding Nemo,'" according to the site. "One scene has (a character) wet after jumping into the Seine to fetch Remy. A Pixar employee...wearing a chef uniform and apron jumped into Pixar's swimming pool to see which parts of the suit stuck to his body and which became translucent from water absorption."
"Ratatouille" was nominated for Oscars for best animated feature, best sound editing, and best sound mixing.
Ratatouille poster
Wall-E
"Wall-E" was Pixar's first film set (partly) in space, as well as its first attempt at mixing CGI animation with live-action segments. The film has two main sets: one on the trash-covered Earth, and the other on a people-packed space colony. While the movie seems to promote a pro-environmental message, the filmmakers denied any such agenda.
The film won the Oscar for best animated feature, and earned $532 million at the box office worldwide.
Wall-E poster
Up
The film has many technical innovations, including Pixar's techniques for procedurally animating the thousands of individual, interdependent balloons. But the film also employed innovative techniques for animating the feathers of a bird, and Carl's loose-fitting clothing.