Pixar

Pixar Animation Studios (/ˈpɪksɑːr/) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful feature films. It is based in Emeryville, California, and is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios owned by The Walt Disney Company.

Pixar began in 1979 as part of the Lucasfilm computer division, known as the Graphics Group, before its spin-off as a corporation in 1986, with funding from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who became its majority shareholder.[2] Disney purchased Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion by converting each share of Pixar stock to 2.3 shares of Disney stock.[4][5] Pixar is best known for its feature films, technologically powered by RenderMan, the company’s own implementation of the industry-standard RenderMan Interface Specification image-rendering application programming interface. Luxo Jr., a desk lamp from the studio’s 1986 short film of the same name, is the studio’s mascot.

Pixar has produced 23 feature films, beginning with Toy Story (1995), which is the first fully computer-animated feature film; its most recent film was Soul (2020). The studio’s films have usually debuted with CinemaScore ratings of at least an “A−”, which indicates a positive reception with audiences.[6] The studio has also produced dozens of short films. As of July 2019, its feature films have earned approximately $14 billion at the worldwide box office,[7] with an average worldwide gross of $680 million per film.[8] Toy Story 3 (2010), Finding Dory (2016), Incredibles 2 (2018), and Toy Story 4 (2019) are all among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, with Incredibles 2 being the third highest-grossing animated film of all time, with a gross of $1.2 billion; the other three also grossed over $1 billion. Moreover, 15 of Pixar’s films are in the 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time.

The studio has earned 20 Academy Awards, 9 Golden Globe Awards, and 11 Grammy Awards, along with numerous other awards and acknowledgments. Many of Pixar’s films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since its inauguration in 2001, with ten Pixar winners being Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), Brave (2012), Inside Out (2015), Coco (2017), and Toy Story 4 (2019); the three nominated without winning are Monsters, Inc. (2001), Cars (2006), and Incredibles 2 (2018). Up and Toy Story 3 were also nominated for the more competitive and inclusive Academy Award for Best Picture.

On September 6, 2009, Pixar executives John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich were presented with the Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement by the Venice Film Festival. The physical award was ceremoniously handed to Lucasfilm’s founder, George Lucas.