june-2010

MATT HOYLE/CONTOUR
ian shirts (often bearing beloved Pixar characters) over
suits and ties. His modest office at Disney Studios boasts
enough collectible toys to populate the next two Toy
Story sequels. And he’s much more likely to get excited
when talking about formative creative influences such
as Frank Capra, Buster Keaton and Star Wars than
discussing multibillion-dollar deals or blockbuster box
office receipts.
“I was already going to Cal Arts and knew I wanted
to be an animator when, in the summer of 1977, Star
Wars came out,” Lasseter says, with the giddiness of a
geeky fanboy. “I saw it on opening weekend at the Chinese
Theater in Hollywood, and I was just shaking with
excitement by the end of it. This huge crowd of people
was all on the edge of their seats, and it entertained
them to a level I had never seen before. I thought, ‘This
is what I want to do!’”
As a student at the California Institute of the Arts,
Lasseter was taught by three of Disney’s famed “Nine
Old Men”—the core animators responsible for classic
films ranging from 1937’s Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs to 1977’s The Rescuers—and learned alongside a
future Who’s Who in the world of family films, including
John Musker (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid), Brad
Bird (The Incredibles) and Tim Burton (Corpse Bride).
It also earned him a job as an animator at Walt Disney
Animation Studios, which was a dream come true for
the lifelong Mouse House fan.
“I do what I do because of Walt Disney and the way
his films entertained me as a kid,” Lasseter says. “All
I’ve ever wanted to do is create animation. I grew up
near Disneyland and worked as a ride operator for the
Jungle Cruise. Disney is just one of those things that I’ve
always loved and have always been a part of.”
COVER STORY 075
JUNE 2010 GO MAGAZINE