The “Unofficial” Tangled Animators’ Audio Commentary from Animation Podcast

http://animationpodcast.com/archives/2012/10/31/tangled-animators-audio-commentary/


A great behind the scene interview with many of the animators working on Tangled. ^^

The truth about the rise and fall of Big Idea Studios

http://philvischer.com/phil-news/what-happened-to-big-idea-part-1/

This might be one the most important things you will ever read, if you are planning to make your own animation studio or if you are working in the animation industry in general. This article was written by the creator of Big Idea Studios. Phil Vischer, the creator of Veggie Tales. And it is by far, one of the most riveting, inspirational and honest articles I have ever read on the internet. Period.

It's about the truth about the studio that brought you Veggie Tales and how it went from a sky-rocketing "the next big thing" to a fiasco law-suit battle worn, bankrupt studio with millions in debt(that in the end they were able to pay off).

But this article is so much more than that. 

This is a blueprint to what most people might go through if you make your own animation studio. The ugly side of Toon Town. Where back deals are made and politics get dirtier than the mob, you will read and understand how things really go down in the animation industry. And it ain't pretty.

But, it's actually more than that. It's a great story. 

Phil Vischer really left everything in this article. He poured his heart out and even though it's eleven pages long, it feels like two. Go ahead give it a read, you won't regret it.

An Interview with: Delacave Animation Supervisor - Fabrice Delapierre & Delacave Lead Animator - Bart Boirot

Podcast Part 1



Podcast Part 2

Just a quick FYI, about this interview, I tried using a podcast. The interview posted before(with Cinepix Animation Director - InHo Son), was written in an article format and that was great. But, I am still experimenting with different formats to convey interviews with and for this one I chose an audio format base. For the next interview I would like to try a video format and depending on which suits best, I might stick with it.

Alright! So this interview was actually taken a long(!) time ago. It was back in 2011 when I was in Paris finishing up at my school, Gobelins l'ecole de l'image. For the last 3~4 months, I had an internship at a studio called Delacave and this interview was taken right after we had finished making the movie "Cendrillon au far west". The interviewees are two of the most awesome and humble supervisors I have ever worked with and I will let the podcast speak for itself.

The podcast(interview) was pretty lengthy, so I divided it up into two segments(35~40 minutes each). I had contemplated whether to edit the piece in order to make it shorter and more to the point, but it seemed like I was losing a lot of the great details that were being said by my interviewees and it had become more like a bullet-point presentation, so I decided to upload the whole interview instead. But, I don't want you to feel like you're lost, aimlessly hearing the whole interview till you find something you like so here is a simple breakdown of how the interview went down.

Enjoy~

An interview AVEC: Delacave Animation Supervisor - Fabrice Delapierre & Delacave Lead Animator - Bart Boirot (By David Jang)

I would first like to personally thank Bart and Fabrice for doing this interview with me. We had just finished a feature film together so needless to say we were all very tired, but they were nice enough to take time out of their lives to sit down with me and have a genuine conversation for almost three hours.

PART 1

After a brief introduction, these questions were answered by Fabrice & Bart.  

1. Can you give us a brief introduction of yourself about how you came into the animation industry?

- Both Bart and Fabrice explained their journey from how they got interested in animation to how they came to be where they are now as supervisors along with a bit of animation history explained first-hand by people that were a part of it in France. They expressed the struggles they had to go through as 1st generation CG animators and what they felt then and now about this industry. We also talked about the nature of this profession and what it's about in our opinion to be animator and to work in CG.

2. Both of you have experience working abroad in many different countries and studios. Can you give us your insight about how to go about trying to "make it" out there as an animtor?

- Explanations and discussions about working in different countries and how it helps to accept change as it comes along. Also, how important motives are when it comes to working abroad.

PART 2

Continuation of question 2

- They talked in depth about moving abroad with your family. Why you should move, why you shouldn't move. Etc. Etc.

3. What is the role difference between an animator and an animation supervisor?

- Fabrice explained how it's like the difference between a orchestra conductor and a musician. Bart compared it as the difference between a sports coach and the sports players. We also talked about having mutiple supervisors and how it could help more than having just one supervisor. In depth conversations about the importance of team play and how it's all connected.

4. What do you look for in demo reels as a supervising animator? Which demo reels stand out?

- Sensibility VS Perfect Technic and how it's a very subjective process. The evolution of demo reels and the difference between studio wants and needs. The difficulties of breaking into the industry.

5. Any last words for your fellow animators in France?

(This interview took place Sep 2011)

If you want to find more interviews, there is a category on the bottom that's called "An Interview with:" and you will find all the interviews gathered there.

Alt Animation Podcast: Episode 8 - Ed Hooks

http://altanimation.podomatic.com/entry/2011-09-19T10_01_56-07_00

This was by far one of the most important things I learned about the animation industry. If you are serious about being an animator or working in the animation industry, I would highly recommend this podcast for hearing. It's an eye-opener. 

I will outline a couple of the hot topics(in my opinion) discussed in this podcast, since it is a lengthy piece(1 hour and 46 minutes, but well worth it) for those of you who want to know what it's about before diving into it. Keep in mind these are questions addressed to Ed Hooks, the author and arguably "the" father of acting for animators.

1. Are animators the same as actors?

- Here Ed explains why he doesn't think animators are the same as actors and goes into detail about the differences and how he thinks the academy should categories animators(or rather animation characters) in terms of awards and acknowledgements.


2. How do you feel about outsourcing animation and the future of animation as an industry?

- Ed Hooks shares his experience working and teaching in China and India and how what he saw there shocked him. He also dives into detail on his views about the future generation of animators and what they stand to achieve and the obstacles they have to overcome as the industry changes for better or worse. 



I would also like to give props to Alt Animation for bringing this wonderful and informative podcast to light. You can listen to their other podcasts at http://altanimation.podomatic.com/

 

An Interview with: Cinepix Animation Director - InHo Son

During my time working at Cinepix Studios(Seoul, South Korea) on the TV series of Kungfu Panda:Legends of Awesomeness, I got to work with animation director InHo Son and on my last day he agreed to an interview and we talked about many things like his path down this road and what he views is the most important aspect of animation and occupational injuries, etc. This is the transcript or rather a written version to the best of my memory and some notes that I took during the interview. I would first like to take the time to personally thank InHo for agreeing to this interview and answering in such a genuinely honest manner. Enjoy~

An interview with: Cinepix Animation Director - InHo Son (@ Cinepix Studios)

1. Can you give us an introduction of yourself and how you came to where you are right now as animation director?

- I majored in mechanical design. I was interested in drawing, but I thought I lacked talent. The reason I majored in that was because I was attracted by the design drawings. The lines and how they drag out the lines for measurements. Those shapes really appealed to me. I wanted to be someone that did that kinda work, so that’s why I went into mechanical design. I went to school and first you start by drawing everything in pencils and I took a class called “CAD”, which was a software you used to draw out the designs and I had never known about this world of computers before, so in a way that was the beginning of my path down this road. And my friend, after showing me CAD introduced me to another 2D program called Dr. Hollow. You could use colors and replicate simple shapes, but the colors were very basic. Like blue, red, white. It was more primitive than your free paint program on Windows. And I looked at this and thought, “Wow, this is new.” But then now long after he showed me another software and it was 3D Studio.

- Max?

- No, before that. My friend studied this by himself and made logo animations on his own. But, back in those days even rendering a hundred frames would take a whole night. Even longer if it had heavy textures on them. So, I thought my friend was really good. At academic festivals, people would come over and get his contact info so I thought highly of him. Then I was called into the army. I went around the same time my friend went. We were discharged around the same time. And, my friend had set his mind on doing CG. I was still a bit unsure, because I was also interested in interior design at the time.

- Because you came out of a mechanical design background.

- Right, so my friend said he was going to goto an institute where they teach professionally. So I followed him to a CG institute located in Gangnam, cause he was my friend. The institutes had nice interiors, new computers and monitors. And with moving wireframes on the monitors that were divided into four seperate views. The software they were using at the time was called Explore. And it was the origin software of Maya, they called it Alias Explore back then. I looked at it and I thought it was super cool! 

- LOL~

- It was during that time I was at the institute that I saw Luxo Jr., Red's Dream and Knick Knack and it inspired me a lot and I wanted to make something like that. So, I worked hard and our group made a short film at the end of the term about two basketball hoops coming to life at night and playing basketball amongst themselves and it won first place at the institutes yearly competition and I was pretty happy about our small, but meaningful achievement. After we graduated, me and couple of our classmates opened our own studio in a small office space in a crumbling building somewhere and we tried to get some projects going. At first, all that came in were jobs for making perspective conceptual renders for architectural buildings printed out into 2D photos and I was a bit flustered by it, but then we got an advertisement gig for a network hub device with camera movements and logo designs as well, so I worked on the storyboards and found I was more interested in this line(story-based) of work. We worked without compensation for about a year and after that paid gigs started to come in. But, by then we started to have some conflicts occur within the studio and some of us, including myself, left to set up another studio. And we got to work on some commercials like Cheetos and Kellogg and we worked day and night during that period, but some complications arose and we had to close down the studio and I fell into a bit of a slump. I was burned out and contemplating whether or not I should keep doing animation, when a friend of mine called me and asked what I was up to. I told him what was going on and he told me to come join him on an animation film project called Elysium, so after being convinced to come on over and being referred to the project manager, I was immediately brought on board to work on the promo video for this feature film. It was here that I actually got my first real taste of character animation with characters and story. After working there for about two years, I briefly moved to another studio called Zero One Pictures before settling into Cinepix Studios and I have been there ever since. 

- And you were appointed animation supervisor right away?

 - Yes, what was going on was they were animating a tv series called Cubix at the time and they placed me as supervising animator for one of the supporting characters. And as time went by I moved up to supervising animator for the main character and then animation director when we started a new tv series called Aqua Kids(2004). 

2. Is there an animation film that you like in particular? Something perhaps that left a big impression on you? And, if so can you elaborate on that? You mentioned earlier that you first saw Luxo Jr. and was very inspired....

- Yes, Luxo Jr. and other Pixar shorts, especially Knick Knack. But, you can say that there are two types of inspiring animations for me. The ones that I just mentioned would be inspiring animations for someone who didn't really know much about animation and then there are animations that you admire from the perspective of someone that has learned and worked in the same field for some time. And that one would be Finding Nemo and more recently Tangled.  

- Could you elaborate more on why you find Finding Nemo and Tangled as well-made animations?

- Well, I am not an expert on story, but I find the story of Finding Nemo to be very good. Coincidentally, Finding Nemo came out right around the time I became a father and thinking about it as a parent I really empathized with the story. Also, I was amazed by how well they could express human-like features through fish characters. Even in terms of innovation, I think they did a great job with slowly inputting human characters to their films along with ocean scenery, textures and colors. Didn't they do well in box offices as well?

- Yes, I read they were number one and still to this day hold the number two title for animation films if I'm not mistaken.

- For Tangled, this could be an excuse, but there was a period when after having observed all the different animations from all the different studios and CG was no longer something scarce and new, it might have also been that I was losing interest in it as well, but there was a period when I stopped watching animation. Even Pixar films, I remember I used to watch the same films in the theaters in awe two or three times by sneaking back in after all the other people left. But, after working as a supervisor for some time, it started to become comparative to projects I was working on and it made me feel inferior and along with other thoughts and concerns I started to stray away from watching feature films. 

- So this had nothing to do with the films themselves, but it was more about what was going on with you internally?

- Yes, I also saw Shrek, but not Shrek 2. There was a period in my life like that. And not too long ago, I started watching feature animations again. Even the old ones, I started watching them all over again and then I came across Tangled with the vibrant colors and long hair animated and all. I watched this while we were making KungFu Panda and naturally I compared it with what we were doing and observed all the aspects of it in detail and.....above all, I thought the animation was done well.

3. What do you think is the most important aspect in an animation shot as an animator? It could be one of the twelve principles in animation or anything else you might think.

- I think that's a hard question and I don't necessarily think there is one particular best aspect in animation. Just like a car, all the parts in the car matter in order for it to run properly, so too does all the aspects in animation. But, if there is one thing that I feel is important in becoming a great animator, it's sensibility.

- Sensibility?

-Yes, there are some people that can memorize an action or movement just by seeing it once in there life. And when they animate something they remember back and bring out the feel of the action or movement better than others. That sense is very important in becoming a great animator in my opinion.

- That's very interesting. I never thought of it like that. But, for example someone like me would probably watch videos again and again frame by frame to understand and learn timing and feel for weight, etc. I guess I'm not that talented. lol~

-Well, yes that is another way of acquiring that skill set. And you don't have to remember exactly how something moves. I guess it's more intuitive than anything.

4. What are your thoughts on occupational safety and health, since animators are prone to many injuries such as back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, reduction of eyesight, etc, etc due to long-term intensive working hours in front of the desk or computer?

- Yes, because our job requires us to sit in front of a computer when you look at it in long term, there are many risks. I think the most important way to avoid that is self-management. I believe in working hard when you work and resting hard when you rest. That's why I don't advocate working late to anyone or coming out on weekends to work as well.

- Well, I think that's easier said than done. From personal experience working here and looking around I think many people would like to get off work on time, but just can't.

- Well you can look at it as a battle between your ideals and reality. I also believe that you need to be in an alert mindset while you're working. I think it's important to prevent yourself from working late as time goes by.

5. And finally, any word of advice you can give to anyone that’s looking to work in animation or is going through a slump period in their careers?

- ......................

   
- or would you not recommend people to work in this industry?

- No, it's nothing like that. I was just thinking. I enjoy working with people that have a positive mindset and I think that's one of the hardest things to keep after you've been working for a long period of time. But for people that are trying to get into this industry I would suggest you try and nurture a positive attitude that lasts. That's my advice.

- Well, that's all we have. Thank you very much for your time!

- Thank you~

(This interview took place Nov 6th 2012)

Eric Goldberg's wisdom of the day

I recently had the pleasure and privilege of meeting Eric Goldberg in Seoul, South Korea (of all places. LOL~). And we had a nice talk, came back home and found this on youtube. So, I thought I would share it with you guys. For me personally, as an animator that's been working in the field for some years now, I understand what he's saying. And, I try to improve myself in this area as well. You can never under-value a good pose.

Todays Animator: Tony Fucile

This is an article from the "50mostinfluentialdisneyanimators" wordpress blog. For inspirational purposes.

Tony Fucile

In a scene in an animated film communication of the story is essential. An animator must find the key drawing(s) that clearly show the feeling and thought process of the character in that particular sequence. These poses are called storytelling drawings because through a pose they tell the audience in the clearest possible way the story and the character. One of the best animators ever at storytelling drawings is this week’s honoree, Tony Fucile.

Tony Fucile was born around 1964 and grew up inCalifornia. At a young age he was exposed to great cartoons through a local TV cartoon host. Among the cartoons these hosts showed were some of the best Looney Tunes directed by geniuses such as Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, and Chuck Jones. Ray Harryhausen monster movies, stop-motion films, and seeing Pinocchio for the first time also helped inspire Fucile to become interested in animation and inspired to draw. After graduating from high school he went on to the character animation program at the California Institute of Arts. Among his classmates were Pixar director Andrew Stanton, Simpsons directors Richard Moore and David Silverman, and future Disney colleagues Broose Johnson and Russ Edmonds. Fucile also learned a lot from his teachers, former Disney animators Hal Ambro and Bob McCrea. In 1986 Tony was hired by Brad Bird to work on the Family Dog episode of Amazing Stories, where he first worked with future Disney giant Duncan Marjoribanks. A year later he went over to Disney where he worked under the great Glen Keane on Oliver and Company. Tony Fucile’s animation still has many elements of Keane’s including the mentor’s strong draftsmanship and bold gestures. After Oliver Tony again worked under his mentor on the animation of Ariel in the Little Mermaid. One of the key scenes he animated was the scenes of Ariel and Eric together in the Kiss the Girl sequence. After Mermaid Tony Fucile left Disney for two years to animate on various projects including Box Office Bunny, Ferngully, and Tom and Jerry: the Movie. However when work began on Ron & John’s feature, Aladdin he raced back to the studio and worked again under Glen Keane on the animation of the title character. In the film he animated the first kiss between Aladdin and Jasmine after they return from the magic carpet ride. After Aladdin Tony was one of the first supervising animators picked to work on the Lion King. His character was Mufasa, Simba’s majestic father who gets killed midway through the movie. Fucile also did the pencil test for the Mufasa ghost sequence, although visual effects are put over it to make the scene more powerful. This was followed by him supervising Esmeralda, the Gypsy girl, in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. On this he worked closely with the young but talented supervising animator James Baxter, who supervised Quasimodo. Unfortunately during the production of Hunchback the atmosphere at the studio was starting to become intense and the Disney Renaissance had ended when Jeffry Katzenberg left the studio in 1994. Fucile stayed after this through the production of Hunchback but left for Warner Brothers after the film was completed. Now Tony worked as the head of animation on Brad Bird’s film the Iron Giant at Warner Brothers. This was followed by employment at Pixar where he most notably worked on Bird’s two films the Incredibles (character designer, supervising animator) and Ratatouille (animator of the end credits.) After Ratatouille Tony Fucile decided to end his animation career and now writes as well as illustrates children’s books. He now lives with his wife and two kids in Sonoma,California.

Like I mentioned earlier one of Fucile’s biggest assets is his ability to make one drawing that has great essence and works as a storytelling drawing. He is a master at character design and animating by using strong key poses that have great strength and clarity. Like his mentor Glen Keane Tony is great at dynamic drawings and communicating a powerful gesture. Great examples of this include the scene where Mufasa is talking to Simba after the elephant graveyard incident and the scenes of Esmeralda singing in the cathedral. In the Mufasa sequence his facial expressions are very strong and show you the concern he is feeling inside. The lip-sync is also very well done and the movement of the mass in the checks is an excellent addition of a secondary action. These secondary actions work because the communication is so strong and they are completely in line with the intent behind the scene. In the Esmeralda scene you can read through her powerful gestures the pain and discrimination she feels. Her eyes too are very clear and boldly expressive. Eyebrows are a refinement oftentimes used strongly in a Tony Fucile drawing. Another great Fucile scene to study frame by frame when you’re learning about using gestures and storytelling drawings is the scene in Mermaid where Eric is guessing Ariel’s name and her expression of joy when he finally gets it right. I know that Dan Jeup’s phenomenal animation of Sebastian and the beautiful backgrounds in the scene are good distractions but try to pay attention to the ways Tony communicates the emotions of the two characters and how the posture defines their character. Eric is a lively, nice guy who is rather caring so he moves in a way that shows his liveliness and cool but has an essence in his facial expressions that show that he is honest and has feelings for the girl. Ariel, who can’t talk in this point in the movie, is a passionate teenage girl who is crazy about this guy. With this in his mind Fucile shows this by having her expressions more energetic and extreme. The girl is so excited about the fact this guy can love her and so she nods and smiles very widely when Eric guesses correct. This type of acting and poses make a good animator a great animator, which Tony Fucile most definitely is.

Tony Fucile’s impact comes in the fact he was crucial in bringing back strong storytelling drawings to Disney and reestablishing the great animator AND great character designer combination. For quite some time it had gotten to the point where you were either a great animator or good character designer or you were a good animator and great character designer. The glory days of draftsman such as Bill Tytla, Milt Kahl, and Marc Davis where long over. However as people such as Fucile, Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, and James Baxter emerged this great coordination between the two positions returned. Also Tony was one of the first animators mentored by people in the second generation to emerge as a top animator. Even animators just a few years before him were mentored by the old timers such as Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Eric Larson. Also speaking of this I’ve got to point out Glen Keane really is the master of all time at making animators become better and preparing them to become supervisors. Probably half of the successful supervising animators over the past 20 years were trained under him. Even Mark Henn first started out as an inbetweener to Glen.

To me Tony Fucile is a very inspiring animator because of his bold draftsmanship and strong storytelling drawings. One of the first things covered in Eric Goldberg’s Character Animation Crash course is the importance of storytelling drawings. They really are the best way to communicate the emotion, acting, and intent in a scene. They also make everything else much easier. Recently I used pose to pose animation in a flip book for the first time and believe me it’s much easier and better if you do it that way. This is especially true when you use strong storytelling drawings like Fucile’s. Instead of worrying to much about the movement and the perspective as well as losing control, in this type of environment your priorities are well put in shape and the organization makes it very easy. When you go back and do the inbetweens it’s just a piece of cake because you have the hard, important stuff already figured out. Also I love his drawing style and his use of gestures. They make a scene feel so real and very focused. Thank you Tony Fucile for being an inspiration to me along with many other people and for your incredible animation.

Fucile’s Work

Oliver Company- Animator on Sykes, Fagin, and Georgette

Little Mermaid- Animator on Ariel and Eric

Aladdin- Animator on Aladdin and Additional Animation(uncredited) on Jasmine

Lion King- Supervising Animator on Mufassa and Mufassa’s Ghost

Hunchback of Notre Dame- Supervising Animator on Esmerelda

HOW SHOULD YOU RUN AN ANIMATION STUDIO?

Here is an article I found at www.mckinseyquarterly.com 

APRIL 2008 • Hayagreeva Rao, Robert Sutton, and Allen P. Webb

 

Innovation lessons from Pixar: An interview with Oscar-winning director Brad Bird 

If there’s one thing successful innovators have shown over the years, it’s that great ideas come from unexpected places. Who could have predicted that bicycle mechanics would develop the airplane or that the US Department of Defense would give rise to a freewheeling communications platform like the Internet?
Senior executives looking for ideas about how to make their companies more innovative can also seek inspiration in surprising sources. Exhibit One: Brad Bird, Pixar’s two-time Oscar-winning director. Bird’s hands-on approach to fostering creativity among animators holds powerful lessons for any executive hoping to nurture innovation in teams and organizations.
Bird joined Pixar in 2000, when the company was riding high following its release of the world’s first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, and the subsequent hits A Bug’s Life and Toy Story 2. Concerned about complacency, senior executives Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull, and John Lasseter asked Bird, whose body of work included The Iron Giant and The Simpsons, to join the company and shake things up. The veteran of Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, and FOX delivered—winning Academy Awards (best animated feature) for two groundbreaking movies, The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

Brad Bird makes his living fostering creativity. Academy Award-winning director (The Incredibles and Ratatouille) talks about the importance, in his work, of pushing teams beyond their comfort zones, encouraging dissent, and building morale. He also explained the value of “black sheep”—restless contributors with unconventional ideas. 

Steve Jobs hired him, says Bird, because after three successes (Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2) he was worried Pixar might struggle to stay innovative. Jobs told him: “The only thing we’re afraid of is complacency—feeling like we have it all figured out,” Bird quotes his boss as saying “…We want you to come shake things up.” Bird explains to McKinsey how he did it — and why, for “imagination-based companies to succeed in the long run, making money can’t be the focus.”

The piece is behind McKinsey’s pay wall, but we extract its 9 key lessons below.

Lesson One: Herd Your Black Sheep

The Quarterly: How did your first project at Pixar—The Incredibles—shake things up?

Brad Bird: I said, “Give us the black sheep. I want artists who are frustrated. I want the ones who have another way of doing things that nobody’s listening to. Give us all the guys who are probably headed out the door.” A lot of them were malcontents because they saw different ways of doing things, but there was little opportunity to try them, since the established way was working very, very well. We gave the black sheep a chance to prove their theories, and we changed the way a number of things are done here.

Lesson Two: Perfect is the Enemy of Innovation

The Quarterly: What sorts of things did you do differently?

Brad Bird: I had to shake the purist out of them—essentially frighten them into realizing I was ready to use quick and dirty “cheats” to get something on screen… I’d say, “Look, I don’t have to do the water through a computer simulation program… I’m perfectly content to film a splash in a swimming pool and just composite the water in.” I never did film the pool splash [but] talking this way helped everyone understand that we didn’t have to make something that would work from every angle. Not all shots are created equal. Certain shots need to be perfect, others need to be very good, and there are some that only need to be good enough to not break the spell.

Lesson Three: Look for Intensity

The Quarterly: Do angry people—malcontents, in your words—make for better innovation?

Brad Bird: Involved people make for better innovation… Involved people can be quiet, loud, or anything in-between—what they have in common is a restless, probing nature: “I want to get to the problem. There’s something I want to do.” If you had thermal glasses, you could see heat coming off them.

Lesson Four: Innovation Doesn’t happen in a Vacuum

The Quarterly: How do you build and lead a team?

Brad Bird: I got everybody in a room. This was different from what the previous guy had done; he had reviewed the work in private, generated notes, and sent them to the person… I said, “Look, this is a young team. As individual animators, we all have different strengths and weaknesses, but if we can interconnect all our strengths, we are collectively the greatest animator on earth. So I want you guys to speak up and drop your drawers. We’re going to look at your scenes in front of everybody. Everyone will get humiliated and encouraged together…

Lesson Five: High Morale Makes Creativity Cheap

The Quarterly: It sounds like you spend a fair amount of time thinking about the morale of your teams.

Brad Bird: In my experience, the thing that has the most significant impact on a movie’s budget—but never shows up in a budget—is morale. [what’s true for a movie is true for a startup!] If you have low morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about 25 cents of value. If you have high morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about $3 of value. Companies should pay much more attention to morale.

Lesson Six: Dont Try To “Protect your success”

The Quarterly: Engagement, morale—what else is critical for stimulating innovative thinking?

Brad Bird: The first step in achieving the impossible is believing that the impossible can be achieved. … “You don’t play it safe—you do something that scares you, that’s at the edge of your capabilities, where you might fail. That’s what gets you up in the morning.”

Lesson Six: Steve Jobs Says ‘Interaction = Innovation’

The Quarterly: What does Pixar do to stimulate a creative culture?

Brad Bird: If you walk around downstairs in the animation area, you’ll see that it is unhinged. People are allowed to create whatever front to their office they want. One guy might build a front that’s like a Western town. Someone else might do something that looks like Hawaii…John [Lasseter] believes that if you have a loose, free kind of atmosphere, it helps creativity.

Then there’s our building. Steve Jobs basically designed this building. In the center, he created this big atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center—which initially drove us crazy—so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. [Jobs] realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company.

Lesson Seven: Encourage Inter-disciplinary Learning

The Quarterly: Is there anything else you’d highlight that contributes to creativity around here?

Brad Bird: One thing Pixar does [is] “PU,” or Pixar University. If you work in lighting but you want to learn how to animate, there’s a class to show you animation. There are classes in story structure, in Photoshop, even in Krav Maga, the Israeli self-defense system. Pixar basically encourages people to learn outside of their areas, which makes them more complete. [and more creative].

Lesson Eight: Get Rid of Weak Links

The Quarterly: What undermines Innovation?

Brad Bird: Passive-aggressive people—people who don’t show their colors in the group but then get behind the scenes and peck away—are poisonous. I can usually spot those people fairly soon and I weed them out.

Lesson Nine: Making $$ Can’t Be Your Focus

The Quarterly: How would you compare the Disney of your early career with Pixar today?

Brad Bird: When I entered Disney, it was like a classic Cadillac Phaeton that had been left out in the rain… The company’s thought process was not, “We have all this amazing machinery—how do we use it to make exciting things? We could go to Mars in this rocket ship!” It was, “We don’t understand Walt Disney at all. We don’t understand what he did. Let’s not screw it up. Let’s just preserve this rocket ship; going somewhere new in it might damage it.”

Walt Disney’s mantra was, “I don’t make movies to make money—I make money to make movies.” That’s a good way to sum up the difference between Disney at its height and Disney when it was lost. It’s also true of Pixar and a lot of other companies. It seems counterintuitive, but for imagination-based companies to succeed in the long run, making money can’t be the focus.

Tim Johnson talks about How to Train your Dragon sequel and TV series

Dreamworks Animation SKG, Inc. talks about dragons and their process in making films.

Pushing Through Your Inner Garbage as Artists

 Ira Glass, host and producer of the radio and television show This American Life, talks about struggling through the hard times of becoming "Great" and how to get past that annoying stage as artists.

What makes Pixar.....Pixar?

The delicate art of managing a quality company like Pixar is revealed in this video.