Free Essay Example about Pixar

Brief history of Pixar

Pixar animations is a company that is responsible for one of the most significant developments in the animation industry, Pixar animations are responsible for the creation of the first computer-generated animation in history. Pixar animations started out as a company called Graphics group, the company's primary purpose was the design and creation of computers that were specialized in computer graphics. This venture did not seem to be profitable as the company's income was not enough to sustain the company. To survive Graphics group tried strategies such as cutting down its employees and diversifying. The diversification included the making animation advertisements for other companies, but that did not help save the company. The most significant change that happened to the company was when Steve jobs acquired the company, after purchasing the company it was then renamed to Pixar animations, and it has remained the same till the present day. The first major decision that was done by Steve jobs after he joined the company was to disband the department that was in charge of making graphic design computers; this led to a partnership with Disney where the company was given a task to create a movie using computer-generated animation. The film was named "Toy Story." This presentation is going to be about how "Toy Story" changed the animation industry.

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There are various ways in which Pixar animations changed the methods and techniques that were used in making animated movies after the creation of "Toy Story." First was that "Toy story" completely changed how animated movies where created. In a time where animations were done without computer assistance, it seemed impossible that a full movie could be produced solely through the use computer animation. Previous animations where made majorly through hand-drawn designs, this meant it took a lot of labor and time to create a single movie hence production costs where higher. Computer involvement in making animations introduced ways in which the designer only needed to draw or design the characters once after which the char actors designs could be stored digitally. The digitally stored designed could be accessed any time the designer needed to use a design he/she had made before. With these advancements, the time and money that needed to be spent during the production of an animation movie drastically reduced.

Another way in which "Toy Story" changed how animations, where perceived, was by winning an academy award in 1996. The directors of the movie. "Toy Story" became the first computer animated movie to win such an important award; this paved the way for other movie directors who would later join the animation industry as it proved that animation also could compete with other movies. Winning significant awards also gave valuable publicity to animated films as it made people take animation movies seriously.

"Toy Story" was also the first movie that was voiced by high profile personalities such as Ellen DeGeneres, such a move would seem extravagant at the time as animation movies where not known generate a high income when compared to other kinds of movies that where being produced during that moment in time. This proved to be wrong as the movie surpassed all expectations by making over three hundred million dollars. With such returns, after seeing how successful the movie became, other animation companies also started hiring celebrities to voice their animation. Using celebrities to voice characters is a great strategy for the movie producers as it would create publicity for the movie. for instance when Pixar animations used Ellen DeGeneres in their movie in itself help the movie sell more as some people would want to watch a movie just to because their favorite actor, musician or media personality is in the movie.

Before the release of "Toy Story," a musical was a crucial part of animation movies as a majority of the animation moves targeted children. This was not the case when Pixar animations created" Toy Story," the movie targeted both adults and children. With such an approach, the sales made were bound to increase because unlike the other animation movies the latter had a more significant crowd that include both children and adults. Excluding the usual musical paved the way for diversity in the industry as it showed that creating animations scripts did not have to follow the criteria that were set by previous animation movies.

In my opinion, the success of "Toy Story" cannot be fully attributed to the use of computers during its production as the final product is more or less the same. The biggest difference that was brought about by the use of computer animation was a reduction in the initial cost of producing movies. This reduction of production costs was brought about by the fact that a single person was now able to do animations that would have previously taken a huge number of people to complete. This reduction in costs only affects profits but does not changes people's perception of animated movies. In my opinion, the main reason why" Toy Story" changed the animated movie industry was that of the promotional strategies that Pixar animations used to make the movie financially productive. The first marketing strategy that Pixar animations employed the use of celebrities to voice over the movie characters. In an attempt to attract viewers of all ages Pixar animations made the movie in a way that it would be captivating to both children and adults.

Relationship to contemporary life

There are various ways in which Pixar innovations have affected today's world, as a result of Pixar's animation innovative advancements, animated movies have consistently increased their earnings. This increase in earning also means that people how to choose to peruse animation as a career no have better pay as compared to the day when animated movies were not as popular. Advancement in animation technology has become so advanced to the point that it is now used in movies that aren't animations, for instance in movies that want to portray creatures or objects which are not available in real life turn to animation to produce the images they need. Animations are done and integrated into the movies in a way that the audience would hardly be able to tell that the pictures being shown are animations. Lastly, Pixar animations have affected how animation stories are written in the present day, in the 80s animations where mainly fairy tales. This changed after "Toy Story" made a fortune despite the fact that its storyline diverted from what many other animation movies looked like.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Pixar animations have been very influential in the evolution of movie animations. Steve jobs which were also the founder of Apple was very instrumental in this development as he bought Pixar and made it what it is today. The company previously dealt with hardware that could be used for animations and graphic design; all this was changed by Steve jobs once he relied upon that the company was making losses. Pixar animations opened a way for any other animations that were computer-based, in ten years animation techniques changed completely. Before "Toy Story," it was normal to create animated movies without the computer. This involved tedious processes of that involved drawing every frame that was to be part of the film. After the movie was released, companies quickly adopted and made computer animations the norm.

Works cited

"1995: First Feature-Length Computer-Animated Movie". Guinness World Records, 2018, http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/60at60/2015/8/1995-first-feature-length-computer-animated-movie-392883. Accessed 25 Feb 2018.

Hunt, Jilly. Popular Culture. Raintree, 2013.

Jackson, Aurelia. Disney's Pixar.

Messer, Lesley. "How 'Toy Story' Changed Animated Movies Forever". ABC News, 2018, http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/toy-story-turns-20-changed-animated-films-forever/story?id=35281890. Accessed 24 Feb 2018.

Price, David A. The Pixar Touch. Vintage Books, 2009.