The Pixar Story (2007)
Leslie Iwerks Productions

Description

The first in-depth look at the most influential animation studio of its time, The Pixar Story goes behind the scenes of the groundbreaking company that pioneered a new generation of animated feature films. Iwerks uses never-before-seen footage from the Pixar library, along with historic archival animation and first hand accounts by animators, studio executives, directors, producers and voice performers to chronicle the remarkable company that revolutionized an industry. The Pixar Story includes exclusive interviews with some of the key players in the Pixar story including John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs, George Lucas, Michael Eisner, Bob Iger, Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal, Tim Allen, Brad Bird and more.

Tags

Animation, Pixar

Collected reviews and ratings

10 Film Edge | Scott Weitz

Through interviews with all the key Pixar figures plus other directors, producers, animators and performers, THE PIXAR STORY unfolds as a triumphant victory which almost didn't happen. As the mark of a great documentary, Iwerks tells Pixar's famous tale by creating interest and suspense about events despite us already knowing how they end.
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8.0 Animation Insider | Aaron H. Bynum

In The Pixar Story, you'll find a perfectly and wonderfully narrated overview of the most influential animation production studio on the planet. It's not easy to summarize and encapsulate the struggles and successes of a group of artists and computer wizards over the past three decades, and their subsequent rise to the top of their industry; but somehow, The Pixar Story takes things slow, and gets it just right.
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8.0 Variety | Peter DeBruge

Leslie Iwerks' "The Pixar Story" charts the company's rise to infinity and beyond, so to speak, and who better to chronicle the journey than the Oscar-nominated granddaughter of animation pioneer Ub Iwerks? Though a talking-heads retrospective by nature, pic boasts not only all the right heads but also plenty of animated eye candy from Pixar itself, including early shorts and concept art. Result makes for a rosy inhouse portrait, sure to interest fans, especially down the road on DVD.
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8.0 Ultimate Disney

Catering to Pixar and animation devotees but serving anyone interested enough to watch, the film offers enough unique content and distanced retrospect to merit a viewing.
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7.0 DVD Talk | Brian Orndorf

Iwerks doesn't dare probe too deeply into the personalities of company founders Steve Jobs and John Lasseter, preferring to address the struggles of the production team and Pixar itself with a casualness that does a great disservice to the true toil of the company as it wrestled with Disney over the years for financial dominance and artistic lucidity. Heck, even Walt had a dark side, and he's still beloved.
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