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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
A LOT of the technical stuff in the beginning went right over my head. But it's well-written, and engaging once you get to the business part of it.
Interesting history of Pixar, with looks at the classic films and the business behind them. It's pretty amazing to learn all the obstacles towards this little company becoming a success.
The first half of this book is filled with technical details on the development of the animation process and political details on the silly rich men in charge.
Once the book got to story development, I was much more interested. I liked hearing how the plots evolved. Hearing the technical bits in the context of story was fascinating. If the entire book had been the story of their stories, I think I would have loved it. However, most of this book is a story of in-fighting. Pixar employees were constantly trying to convince Disney that they were not an ugly step-child, but a beautiful princess. Bit of a yawn, which is a bit of a disappointment from an animation studio that does not rely on fairy tale tropes to regale the world with compelling stories.
Once the book got to story development, I was much more interested. I liked hearing how the plots evolved. Hearing the technical bits in the context of story was fascinating. If the entire book had been the story of their stories, I think I would have loved it. However, most of this book is a story of in-fighting. Pixar employees were constantly trying to convince Disney that they were not an ugly step-child, but a beautiful princess. Bit of a yawn, which is a bit of a disappointment from an animation studio that does not rely on fairy tale tropes to regale the world with compelling stories.
Really interesting look at Pixar's evolution as a company.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
If you are enough of a Pixar fan to watch the movies with the director's commentary, most of this will seem familiar.
One interesting omission comes early on in the book when discussing the failure of the first Toy Story script: Price does not mention Katzenberg's pushing for more "edge" which is well covered in the Jobs biography, and seems central to the story to me. This kept me from fully "trusting" the book.
Perhaps the most interesting bit for me was the description of The Incredibles characters (I think I've not seen the commentary for it):
One interesting omission comes early on in the book when discussing the failure of the first Toy Story script: Price does not mention Katzenberg's pushing for more "edge" which is well covered in the Jobs biography, and seems central to the story to me. This kept me from fully "trusting" the book.
Perhaps the most interesting bit for me was the description of The Incredibles characters (I think I've not seen the commentary for it):
The dad is always expected in the family to be strong, so I made him strong. The moms are always pulled in a million different directions, so I made her stretch like taffy. Teenagers, particularly teenage girls, are insecure and defensive, so I made her turn invisible and turn on shields. And ten-year-old boys are hyperactive energy balls. Babies are unrealized potential.
informative
medium-paced
This book is currently available to listen to for free on Audible Plus. It was around eight hours long, and featured a detailed history of the formation of Pixar, behind the scenes looks into some classic Pixar films, and discusses the animators and brain power behind the logo. I just picked this book up because it was free to listen to, and who doesn't love Pixar? It was a decent book with interesting facts, and it got me through my workday.
informative
medium-paced
It was really interesting to hear about the history of such a creative company. My major problem with a lot of these insider business books is they tend to only highlight the good and not talk about the major sacrifices of the employees and maybe some of the toxic work culture that pervades these companies. This also was all before the stuff about Lasseter's alleged sexual harassment and Catmull's wage fixing came out. Just to frame it in the time.
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced