What do you think?
Rate this book
John Lasseter: The Whiz Who Made Pixar King
A two-time Academy Award-winning director and animator, John Lasseter is a founding member of and the creative force behind Pixar Animation Studios. Pixar is responsible for ushering in the age of computer-animation and revolutionizing the industry, having produced blockbuster features such as Cars, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc., and Wall-E.
Lasseter began his career in animation at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he soon became fascinated by the potential for creating animation using computer-generated images. After a move to a division of Lucasfilm that would later become Pixar, Lasseter wrote, directed, and produced many computer-animated short films and television commercials, including the first completely computer-animated short to win an Oscar, Tin Toy. He then began work on the first computer-animated feature film, the landmark Toy Story, which forever changed the animation industry.
In John Lasseter: The Whiz Kid Who Made Pixar King, learn how this creative mind keeps bringing lasting characters and stories to the big screen through the wizardry of animation.
Lasseter began his career in animation at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he soon became fascinated by the potential for creating animation using computer-generated images. After a move to a division of Lucasfilm that would later become Pixar, Lasseter wrote, directed, and produced many computer-animated short films and television commercials, including the first completely computer-animated short to win an Oscar, Tin Toy. He then began work on the first computer-animated feature film, the landmark Toy Story, which forever changed the animation industry.
In John Lasseter: The Whiz Kid Who Made Pixar King, learn how this creative mind keeps bringing lasting characters and stories to the big screen through the wizardry of animation.
135 pages, Library Binding
First published February 1, 2012
12 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Lenburg
55 books4 followersJEFF LENBURG is a prolific, award-winning author, celebrity biographer, entertainment historian, and writer-producer. He has authored 35 books, both fiction and non-fiction. His work has garnered nominations for several awards, including the American Library Association's "Best Non-Fiction Award" and the Evangelical Christian Publisher Association's Gold Medallion Award for "Best Autobiography/Biography."
In his teens, Jeff began interviewing many famous Hollywood personalities and became a frequent contributor to many leading and respected film journals and magazines that published his freelance work.
As one of the nation's premier biographers, he has authored 18 acclaimed celebrity memoirs and biographies. They include: the autobiography of actor Lorenzo Lamas, "Renegade at Heart"; the eight-book "Legends of Animation" series featuring biographies of Tex Avery, Walt Disney, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Matt Groening, Walter Lantz, John Lasseter, Hayao Miyazaki, and Genndy Tartakovsky; "How to Make a Million Dollars With Your Voice (Or Lose Your Tonsils Trying)" with radio/TV legend Gary Owens; "All the Gold In California and Other People, Places & Things" with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Larry Gatlin; "Peekaboo: The Story of Veronica Lake," the only authorized biography of her; "Dudley Moore: An Informal Biography"; "Dustin Hoffman: Hollywood's Antihero"; and "Steve Martin: An Unauthorized Biography."
An acknowledged authority on cartoon animation, Jeff has spent three decades preserving its history. He has penned seven books about its history: the first-ever "Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators"; three editions of "The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons," the most comprehensive history and so-called "Bible" on animated cartoons ever produced; "The Great Cartoon Directors"; and two editions of "The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoon Series," the first reference book on animated cartoons ever produced.
In 1993, in recognition of his contributions to the world of animation, Jeff was inducted into Hollywood's "Cartoon Legends Walk of Fame" along with cartoon icons William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Friz Freleng, June Foray and Don Messick.
Jeff is also a leading expert on the Three Stooges comedy team. A close friend of the original Stooges Moe Howard and Larry Fine and latter-day additions Joe Besser and Joe DeRita (and the only author-historian to have known them), he has co-written two books about this wacky comedy trio: "The Three Stooges Scrapbook," the official, authorized history, and "Once A Stooge, Always A Stooge," the autobiography of Three Stooges member Joe Besser. In 1983, along with radio-TV legend Gary Owens and his twin brother Greg, he spearheaded a nationwide write-in campaign that earned the Stooges their long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Jeff is also the author of numerous popular references: "Career Opportunities in Animation," a guide to a career in film, television, and games animation; two editions of "The Facts On File Guide to Research," the most comprehensive guide ever written on the subject of writing and research; and "Baseball's All-Star Game," a definitive game-by-game history of baseball's mid-summer classic.
In addition, Jeff has turned to writing fiction. In 1995, he published his first novel, "Scared to Death: A Lori Matrix Hollywood Mystery."
As writer and producer, Jeff has also worked on many top-rated programs and specials for ABC, NBC, PBS, and Tribune Broadcasting, served on the advisory board of Cartoon Network in its development from its inception, and as founder of his own company, Sandcastle Entertainment, develops original properties for both film and television, including live-action and animated television series (including original branded reality series), specials, and documentaries, and original branded characters for animation.
Throughout h
In his teens, Jeff began interviewing many famous Hollywood personalities and became a frequent contributor to many leading and respected film journals and magazines that published his freelance work.
As one of the nation's premier biographers, he has authored 18 acclaimed celebrity memoirs and biographies. They include: the autobiography of actor Lorenzo Lamas, "Renegade at Heart"; the eight-book "Legends of Animation" series featuring biographies of Tex Avery, Walt Disney, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Matt Groening, Walter Lantz, John Lasseter, Hayao Miyazaki, and Genndy Tartakovsky; "How to Make a Million Dollars With Your Voice (Or Lose Your Tonsils Trying)" with radio/TV legend Gary Owens; "All the Gold In California and Other People, Places & Things" with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Larry Gatlin; "Peekaboo: The Story of Veronica Lake," the only authorized biography of her; "Dudley Moore: An Informal Biography"; "Dustin Hoffman: Hollywood's Antihero"; and "Steve Martin: An Unauthorized Biography."
An acknowledged authority on cartoon animation, Jeff has spent three decades preserving its history. He has penned seven books about its history: the first-ever "Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators"; three editions of "The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons," the most comprehensive history and so-called "Bible" on animated cartoons ever produced; "The Great Cartoon Directors"; and two editions of "The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoon Series," the first reference book on animated cartoons ever produced.
In 1993, in recognition of his contributions to the world of animation, Jeff was inducted into Hollywood's "Cartoon Legends Walk of Fame" along with cartoon icons William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Friz Freleng, June Foray and Don Messick.
Jeff is also a leading expert on the Three Stooges comedy team. A close friend of the original Stooges Moe Howard and Larry Fine and latter-day additions Joe Besser and Joe DeRita (and the only author-historian to have known them), he has co-written two books about this wacky comedy trio: "The Three Stooges Scrapbook," the official, authorized history, and "Once A Stooge, Always A Stooge," the autobiography of Three Stooges member Joe Besser. In 1983, along with radio-TV legend Gary Owens and his twin brother Greg, he spearheaded a nationwide write-in campaign that earned the Stooges their long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Jeff is also the author of numerous popular references: "Career Opportunities in Animation," a guide to a career in film, television, and games animation; two editions of "The Facts On File Guide to Research," the most comprehensive guide ever written on the subject of writing and research; and "Baseball's All-Star Game," a definitive game-by-game history of baseball's mid-summer classic.
In addition, Jeff has turned to writing fiction. In 1995, he published his first novel, "Scared to Death: A Lori Matrix Hollywood Mystery."
As writer and producer, Jeff has also worked on many top-rated programs and specials for ABC, NBC, PBS, and Tribune Broadcasting, served on the advisory board of Cartoon Network in its development from its inception, and as founder of his own company, Sandcastle Entertainment, develops original properties for both film and television, including live-action and animated television series (including original branded reality series), specials, and documentaries, and original branded characters for animation.
Throughout h
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 26, 2019
I enjoyed the anecdotes and the quotes, especially concerning philosophy and the art of storytelling. It was clear how important storytelling was, and how different computer animation was from hand-drawn animation. The book didn't communicate the details or the challenges too well, though, from a technical standpoint, and I wish Jeff Lenburg put more attention into the inner workings, in particular between humans like Lasseter & Jobs, or Lasseter and his fellow directors. There were scattered mentions of brainstorm sessions over lunch, or scenes that inspired movies — like the clownfish poking out of anemone — but those are generally well-documented storybook tellings, and what I expected was more information in between the lines, like the *way* directors brainstormed, or the kinds of conflicts they resolved in the story itself. Human relationships and conflict are what make the story and the payoff most rewarding, so my eyes just glossed over the meaningless litany of titles and their box office numbers; it's not emotional or interesting at all that movie X generated $17000 per domestic theater, or what critic Y said in newspaper Z. I wanted more details about the creative process, and the problem-solving, creativity, and good humor that went into that.
Displaying 1 of 1 review