The Pixar Touch

The Making of a Company

By: David A. Price

Narrated by: David Drummond

The Pixar Touch is a lively chronicle of Pixar Animation Studios' history and evolution, and the "fraternity of geeks" who shaped it. With the help of visionary businessman Steve Jobs and animating genius John Lasseter, Pixar has become the gold standard of animated filmmaking, beginning with a short special effects shot made at Lucasfilm in 1982 all the way up through the landmark films Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, and others.

David A. Price goes behind the scenes of the corporate feuds between Lasseter and his former champion, Jeffrey Katzenberg, as well as between Steve Jobs and Michael Eisner. And finally he explores Pixar's complex relationship with the Walt Disney Company as it transformed itself into the $7.4 billion jewel in the Disney crown.

©2008 David A. Price (P)2008 Tantor

Insightful

Very insightful and ostensibly comprehensive look into a cool company managed by geniuses and owned by lunatics. An entertainment biz must listen.

Inspiring and Insightful

A very interesting insight into the making of Pixar and how little the creative ‘geniuses’ new about what they were doing. What stood out was the sheer time and planning process of the movies and the dedication and love poured in by the creators. Pixar really was and is a work of great passion and commitment.

The best parts center around the films themselves

I found this book most interesting when it went into details about the making of Pixar's best films. Most of the specifics are about Toy Story, and the other films unfortunately get much less time. Most of the book is about how the company got started and stayed afloat and it's partnership with Disney, which will be of most interest to those curious about the 3D, tech, and film industries. But mercifully it does not get bogged down with excessive details about business deals and court proceedings like some company biographies do, so it moves along and remains entertaining throughout.

Computer graphics enthusiasts may not learn many tricks of the trade from this book, but it does get specific about who invented and developed a lot of the modeling, shading, and lighting techniques that we still use today. So it was more technical than I expected. Though it does emphasize the importance of story over technical achievement, which is a key aspect of Pixar's success.

David Drummond is a narrator I enjoy and he was part of the reason I bought this book. He did an excellent job.

a well told history of Pixar

Some of the story is already well known, butt it is well told with new details and insights. It feels a little too much on Parts copywrite cases. Insights into the Disney wars.

Very Interesting!

White giving an in depth look on Pixar's history, it also portrays a look into corporate business strategy, technical and artistical developments over a decade.