Droidmaker

We can all agree that Pixar is a fantastic company. Every single project they have embarked upon for more than 25 years has been successful, both financially and creatively. Few companies have created a product so consistently good for so long. What that means is that whatever made them great was present at their inception. But the path to that moment was unusual and complicated.  

 

The story of Pixar begins with George Lucas.


Pixar was founded as “The Graphics Group”, one-third of Lucasfilm’s Computer Division, in 1979. But the question should be “WHY?” Why would a non-technical rebel filmmaker like George Lucas spend a disproportionate amount of his newfound wealth to hire computer scientists and what were they charged with doing? What was it like in this kernel within the secretive Star Wars environment, caught in the swirl between two competitive friends, George Lucas and Francis Coppola.

 

If you like computers, Star Wars, Pixar or just movies, you have to read this story.