PIXAR: The Company and Its Founders - Sharyland ISD

MEET THE FOUNDERS
This hand later became the first computer animation
to appear in a feature film, when it was used in the
1976 movie Futureworld.
A PLACE TO EXPERIMENT
Catmull’s excitement for 3-D animation was clear.
One of his professors at the University of Utah was
Ivan Sutherland, the inventor of the first computerdrawing
device, called Sketchpad. Knowing Catmull’s
interest in digital animation, Sutherland traveled
with him to Disney Studios in Anaheim, California.
They tried to convince the legendary animation
company of the possibilities of computer animation
in hopes of landing Catmull his dream job. Disney
executives did offer Catmull a position, but not in
animation. They wanted him to use computers to
design a theme-park ride. Catmull was not interested
in designing rides, so he turned down the job.
His goal of making a computer-animated
movie seemed a long way off. Catmull would need
expensive equipment that was not readily available
in most universities, let alone to the public. By
this time, Catmull was married and had a young
son. Unable to find a job developing tools for
computer graphics and animation, he took a job as a
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