Steve Jobs (center) with Ed Catmull (left) and John Lasseter (right), showrunners at Pixar, the company Jobs saved from the scrapheap.
From Cnet:
...along came Jobs to save the day. Brandishing a $5 million check, the Apple founder--by then kicked out of his own company--bought Pixar on January 30, 1986, setting in motion a string of events that would generate some of the best-loved films of the late 20th century and result in Disney's 2006 acquisition of Pixar for $7.4 billion. Jobs' initial $5 million purchase price, plus the additional $5 million in capital he invested in his new baby made him Disney's largest shareholder and instantly one of the most powerful people in Hollywood.
...Jobs was an "accidental visionary" in the film industry. Speaking to CNET by phone Thursday, the author said that though Jobs had at first bought Pixar mainly because he was enthralled by the outfit's computer technology, he was soon won over by the passion of John Lasseter, an animator who had flamed out in an initial stint at Disney in the 1980s, but who found a home at Pixar. Lasseter, Price said, "wanted to build an animation studio, and it's a great tribute to [Jobs'] genius that he was flexible enough to put aside his original idea of being a computer company owner with Pixar [and to] turn it into the incredible artistic powerhouse it is."
...Jobs was an "accidental visionary" in the film industry. Speaking to CNET by phone Thursday, the author said that though Jobs had at first bought Pixar mainly because he was enthralled by the outfit's computer technology, he was soon won over by the passion of John Lasseter, an animator who had flamed out in an initial stint at Disney in the 1980s, but who found a home at Pixar. Lasseter, Price said, "wanted to build an animation studio, and it's a great tribute to [Jobs'] genius that he was flexible enough to put aside his original idea of being a computer company owner with Pixar [and to] turn it into the incredible artistic powerhouse it is."
This from the Pixar blog:
As Jobs himself once pointed out, technology changes; gadgets become obsolete. The world-changing products he helped create (he is listed as an inventor on 317 patents), as magical as they seem today, will be historical rather than functional in a few short years.
Not so with great films. Great films endure in an entirely different way. And without Jobs, it's unlikely that any of Pixar's would exist.
No Jobs, no Pixar.
Sure, Jobs didn't have much to do with Pixar's films creatively—the characters, the stories. But he had more influence on the business of animation than anyone since Walt Disney.
And a statement from John Lasseter and Ed Catmull:
"Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend and the guiding light of the Pixar family. He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined. Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer animated films; the one thing he always said was to simply 'make it great.'
"He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength, integrity and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be a part of Pixar’s DNA. Our hearts go out to his wife Laurene and their children during this incredibly difficult time."
—John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer & Ed Catmull, President, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios
"He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength, integrity and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be a part of Pixar’s DNA. Our hearts go out to his wife Laurene and their children during this incredibly difficult time."
—John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer & Ed Catmull, President, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios
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