Animator: Pixar ( Production Studio)

Pixar is an American CGI Animation company based in California, US. Pixar Studios were one of the 1st to start with CG in films, firslty short films and later by producing full-feature lenght films, from 1995 with the release of the Toy Story. Its reputation is not in vain, to date, Pixar has earned twenty-four Academy Awards, including Six Golden Globes and three Grammys. Due to the technical, creative and production capabilities to create a new generation of animated feature films. Pixar combines the technology and world-class creative talent to develop computer-animated feature films with memorable characters and heartwarming stories that appeal to audiences of all ages.



Pixar was founded in 1979, as the Graphics Group, a part of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm. In 1986, it was bought by Apple, that recently sold it to Walt Disney in 2006.

To date, Pixar has made 20 feature films, the first being the pioneering in computer graphics, Toy Story in 1995. After the success of Toy Story, featuring John Lasseter's story-telling skills, Pixar decided to carry on making films in the medium that they are famous for CG. In 1998 was Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 in 1999, Monsters Inc. in 2001, the BlockBuster Finding Nemo in 2003, The Incredibles in 2004, Cars in 2006, Ratatouille in 2007, Wall-E in 2008 and Up in 2009.


Pixar's film, not only are beautifully developed and produced, but also they consist in the principals of good story-telling and animation. Creating films enjoyable to watch.

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Czech TV Advert- CEZ- Lampicky

While on my holiday/ working time, I took some time off and watched some tv, despite not understanding anything, is quite interesting because your vision counts more. So on tv was this advert that caught my attention, because it was CG and it had characters, that moved and acted.
This advert for a Electricity company shows hundreds of Pixar's Style lamps walking around, and interacting with the world.
I found it interesting because it relates to what we have to do.




hope you like it !

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Animator: John Lassester ( 1957-)

John Lassester is an American animator, Director and chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney. He is the name behind the well-known and innovative computer graphics Animation Company Pixar.



At a young age, he embarked into the world of animation, when he enrolled in an animation course at California Isntitute of the Arts. Where he was taught by 3 of the famous Disney's nine old men- Eric Larson, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, also he had as classmates other famous names of animation today, such as Brad Bird, John Musker, Henry Selick and Tim Burton.

After graduating, Lasseter joined the Walt Disney Studios as an animator, although his stay at Disney, He felt that the "magic" has faded after the release of 101 Dalmatians, repeating ideas and not being innovative enough. So in 1980, he firstly saw some footage from a computer-graphics conference, which showed the very first steps into the digital world. But it wasn't until later, when he was invited by some friends who were working at the film Tron, to see the first publication of computer graphics animation in a film.

After stepping into this new area of animation, Lasseter was so excited that him and his colleague Glen Keane went on with the project at Disney Studios, in which they would use computer generated environments with hand-drawn characters. Although, Disney firstly agreed with the project, soon they had to cancelled due to lack of support, this event also led to termination of John Lasseter's contract at the Disney Studios.


After leaving Disney, Lasseter joined Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Group, where he and a group colleagues continued the cancelled project,and this was the start of computer animation, with his 1st computer animated short: The Adventures of Andre and Wally B. Lasseter achieved much more of what he had expected. Not only he created 3D environments, but also the characters were 3D.
While creating some more CG short films, Lasseter had an idea to create a full- feature film, this was the beginning of the so-loved Pixar's Computer Generated films. From beautiful and close story of Toy Story, and Finding Nemo, to the touching stories of Wall-E and Up!. Although Lasseter didnt direct all of them, his touch can be perceived in all of Pixar's Films, a man that knows what is story-telling, and believes that a good story overcomes beautiful graphics.

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Animator: Tex Avery (1908- 1980)

Tex Avery was an American animator, cartoonist and director, famous for producing animated films or short film during the Golden Age of Hollywood Animation. He worked mainly for Warner Bros., but also for MGM Studios, inventing characters, such as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Droopy and also developing others such as Porky Pig, and also animating them.


Avery's way of directing encouraged many animators to produce cartoons where the medium allowed them to, for instance, animate the characters to do things that couldn't be done in live-action films. Creating funny yet painful cartoons of Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.

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Animator: Chuck Jones (1912- 2002)

Chuck Jones was a American cartoonist and animator, who produced over 300 animated films. Jones started his career by washing cels for the former and master animator Ub Iwerks at Iwerks Studio. After a short stay at Iwerks Studio, he moved on to work with Friz Freleng as an animator at Leon Schlesinger Studio.
The admiration that Jones had for the animators at that studio helped him not only to work with them but also to improve his way of animating.
During the Golden Age of Animation, alongside other animators, Chuch Jones helped bring to life many of Warner Bros. most famous characters- Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Proky Pig, Coyote and Road Runner, etc.




Although, the huge success with the characters Warner Bros. Studio had to close leaving Jones and many other animators unemployed. Even though he stayed shortly at Disney Studios, Jones moved to MGM Studios, where he created neW episodes from the Tom & Jerry cartoon series.
After working for other studios, Chuck Jones decided to open his own production company - Chuck Jones Enterprise- where he started by producing 9 half- hour animation films for television.
Later in his career, he joined his daughter to publish and share his art and ideas, by creating an educational institution dealing the art of animate.

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Animators: Disney's Nine Old Men

Disney's nine old men were a group of main animators set at Walt Disney Productions. Who created most of the iconic films to date due to its amazing and " believable" animation. Not only they applied the twelve principles of animation to the films , they actually refined them creating a more believable and enjoyable experience to watch.

This group was formed by 9 masters of hand-drawn animation:


Les Clark (1907-1979)


He was one of the first animators to join the Nine Old Men, working with Ub Iwerks creating many of the Mickey Shots in films, He did also many other beautiful scenes at Disney. After all the success at Disney, He moved onto directing many other films.



Marc Davis (1913-2000)


Marc Davis started to work at Disney in 1935, during the production of Snow White and Seven Dwarfs. He animated many of the most famous characters at Disney, such as Bambi, Cruella De Vil, etc. For someone who started as an apprentice at Disney, He achieved amazing reputation by the creating and animating, many of the iconic characters building Disney's reputation.

Here's a list of films he worked:


Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs (1937) - Assistant Animator

Bambi (1942) - Animator

Victory Through Air Power (1943) - Character Design

Song Of The South (1946) - Directing Animator

Fun And Fancy Free (1947) - Animator

So Dear To My Heart (1949) - Cartoon Story Treatment

The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr. Toad (1949) - Animator

Cinderella (1950) - Directing Animator

Alice In Wonderland (1951) - Directing Animator

Peter Pan (1953) - Directing Animator

Sleeping Beauty (1959) - Directing Animator

101 Dalmatians (1961) - Directing Animator

Ollie Johnston (1912- 2008)


Ollie Johntson as 1 of the first core animators integraded into Disney's group Nine old men. Johnston, apart from being an really good craftman, he had also a huge talent for animation.
All this talent can be perceived in the episodes of "Frank and Ollie", where Johnston was part of the animation team, this same drawings not only have life by the power of animation, but also their feelings, pathos and gags.
Nowadays, he has been a source of inspiration for many contemporary artist and animators, including John Lassester and Tim Burton, with his "perfect" animation and emotional characters.



Milt Kahl (1909- 1987)



Milt Kahl was another brilliant animator who belonged to the 9 most prestigious and core animators at Disney. He drew many of the importants characters in Disney films, such as Peter Pan, the Lady and the Tramp or even Mowgli in the jungle book. After retiring from Disney Milt Kahl, was privately employed by many other wanabee animators to share his techniques and his perfect craftmanship.



Ward Kimball (1914- 2002)



Ward Kimball was another core animator at Disney in the 60's, even though he didnt have the main characters to animate, he had to animate the secondary with the same effort. He had a secret love for music, and this allowed him to animate characters more fluently, but also more accurately.As I mentioned before many of his works consisted in animating characters that would act alongside the main character, such as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland; Lucifer the Cat from Cinderella; and Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio.



Eric Larson (1905-1988)


Although Eric Larson wasn't one of the most famous 9 old men, as his work instead of belonging to many beautiful animations, stayed in recruting new talents and aspiring animators to would allow the continuation of talent at Disney Studios. with the best animators leaving Disney at that time, this recruiting program gave the opportunity train many wanabee animators such as, Joe Ranft, Ron Clements, John Musker, etc.



John Lounsbery ( 1911-1976)


John Lounsbery was a comic animator, that specialized and mastered the "squash and stretch" principal of animation. Along with the other 8 old men at Disney, many with different techiniques branching from the principals of animation, allowed to create many important films.
His works consisted in the dacing alligator in the "Dance of the Hours" sequence in the film Fantasia. The elephant march in the "The Jungle Book", etc. Not only, he animated for most of his life, but also he directed an co-directed many other films at Disney.



Wolfgang Reitherman (1909-1985)


Wolfgang Reitherman was most known for making the action sequences in such films as Pinocchio, Fantasia and Sleeping Beauty. Creating really dinamic animations never seen before. After "leaving" the drawing room, he directed many other films such as "The Jungle Book", although he did a great job inside Disney's as a director, the period that he directed films showed a decline of Disney's "Magic".



Frank Thomas (1912- 2004)


Frank Thomas is another legendary figure in the world of Animation, being the other part of "Frank and Ollie" animation teams, alongside Johnston. Also, his works consisted in animating Peter Pan's Captain Hook or the ice skating sequence in "Bambi".
Thomas and Johnston shared their ground-breaking techniques in the hand- drawn animation field to future animators, where they used the principal of animation, but also improved them.

All this 9 legends of Disney Animation, created many films that are the company of every child or every adult, giving not only motion, emotion and life to characters and to films, but also by using, what I like to call, the " magic ink", in which these beautiful drawings are made, adding a little hint of magic to the Disney's films.

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Animator: Ub Iwerks ( 1901- 1971)

Ub Iwerks was a American Cartoonist, Animator and Special effects technician, who was famous for working alongside Walt Disney in the creation of the company and of the characters that later labelled it.


Iwerks met Walt Disney in 1919, while working at the Pesman Art Studio in Kansas City, this strong friendship led to eventually start a business together, Although many bumps, and some company bankruptcy, they finally moved to Los Angeles. where they founded Walt Disney Studios. Ub Iwerks at that time was the artist responsible for all the animation in the studio, not only designing characters, but also animating them all by himself. He was the artist, behind many Disney characters, such as Oswald the Lucky Rabit, Clarabelle Cow or Horace Horsecollar. and also the iconic Disney character, Mickey Mouse. Steamboat Willie, the first sound/ animation film was animated by him.



After many of hours of unfair work, and rejection, Ub Iwerks friendship with Walt Disney had fell out and it led to Ub Iwerks leaving the Disney Studios and open a small studio under his name.
The Iwerks Studio opened in 1930, and was expected to have a great success under Iwerks command, Though the creation of characters such as Flip the Frog or Willie Whopper didnt have a major success. Giving all the reputation to his rival of that time Walt Disney.
Iwerks quit the studio and started to produce indepently small short animations, and also being employed by Looney Tunes company to create 4 episodes. All this change in Iwerk's career led nowhere.
Thus, He returned to Walt Disney studios in 1940, but this time only to supervise the animation and work as a technician in special effects. In this other profession, Iwerks succeeded by improving techniques in composing animation with Live- action via blue-screen, and many others techniques.
Iwerks, not only worked with Walt Disney studios in the special effects area, but also he helped Alfred Hitchcock in 1963, to create a masterpiece of technical achievement in the film the Birds.

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