ROTTEN TOMATOES: Exclusive: John Lasseter on Pixar Past, Present and Future Comments

Exclusive: John Lasseter on Pixar Past, Present and Future

by Joe Utichi | October 23, 2007

Summary

Celebrating the enormous Tomatometer success of Pixar's films, ahead of the DVD release of Certified Fresh Ratatouille, the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Animation Studios tells RT why the company he helped create is the most exciting place on earth to work at. Back to Article

(1-23 of 23 posts) | Reply

~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Oct 23 2007 06:06 PM

Long live Pixar. I will definitely be buying Ratatouille when it comes out; it's honestly one of the best movies I've ever seen and it will remain so unless Pixar tops it with each subsequent film after it (which they may indeed do; there's no studio I have higher expectations for than Pixar. If anyone can make a movie as good as Ratatouille and still potentially outdo it, it's Pixar.).

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JpPrewitt789 writes:
on Oct 23 2007 06:53 PM

Wall-E looks awesome.

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newf writes:
on Oct 23 2007 07:06 PM

i cant wait tell the blu-ray comes out its going to be AMAZING

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witherwings writes:
on Oct 23 2007 07:12 PM

Dream job. Right there. In that company.

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lavatory love machine writes:
on Oct 23 2007 11:23 PM

Ratatouille deserves a best pic nom

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dahluzz writes:
on Oct 24 2007 06:44 AM

In reply to this comment (#1218003)
that best animated feature category they created efectively prevents animated films from getting nominated for anything more. it's nice that the category recognizes these films, but they shouldn't be viewed as less than their live action counterparts. Ratatouille is one of the best pics of the year, but it'll have to settle for best animated (still nothing to sneeze at).

great article from the best in the biz.

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minderbinder writes:
on Oct 24 2007 11:18 AM

Definitely agree that Ratatouille is one of the very best films of the year, and that the animation category pretty much shuts it out of a shot at best picture.

Shame it didn't do a little better domestically, but I'm glad to see it's going gangbusters overseas. So far it's Pixar's #4 worldwide and will soon pass Monsters Inc.

I can't believe there are idiots out there who have been trying to paint this film as a failure or a disappointment just because it did "only" 200 million in the most crowded summer in memory.

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High School With Money writes:
on Oct 24 2007 11:34 AM

[b]that best animated feature category they created efectively prevents animated films from getting nominated for anything more.[/b]

Technically, animated films are eligible for nominations in Best Picture, much like documentaries, but the category is bit of a ghetto.

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Joe Utichi writes:
on Oct 24 2007 01:23 PM

It is a shame, but for what it's worth I think you'd be hardpressed to find an animator or a documentarian who'd see those categories as anything less than Best Picture.

I'm glad you liked the piece. There's more Ratatouille love, including a chat with Brad Bird, coming later in the week - any excuse to continue to champion one of the freshest films of the year.

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Lord_Kingsley writes:
on Oct 24 2007 02:21 PM

In reply to this comment (#1218776)
Yeah, but they have to withdraw their Best Animated Feature eligibility to even be considered for Best Picture. So it's kind of a gamble.

I hate that category. If you even make an animated film, no matter how bad it is (I'm looking in your direction, "Shrek"), it gets a nomination. This continues to inspire mediocre animated films. They need to get rid of it and treat these films like any other.

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CoUcH ToMaToE DoUgIe writes:
on Oct 24 2007 05:18 PM

In reply to this comment (#1218861)
great article, joe. i wish i could talk to such a great man like john

lesseter. he leads the best studio out there because all his films rule and having

directors like brad bird helps, too:) now joe if you could, when you interview mr. bird

when the next incredibles' movie is coming out? if there will not be a sequel i will be

so sad considering brad bird probably did as good of job of making a superhero film as

most other studios do. i hope there will be, joe and i hope you ask him the question:)

and again it was great hearing from john lesester and his incredbile career!

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Thundaar writes:
on Oct 24 2007 06:55 PM

I love Pixar and all of their films (although not crazy about Cars), but this was a smooch-fest article. Pucker up and plant another on each other's cheek. We love Pixar! Well, we love RT!

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Joe Utichi writes:
on Oct 24 2007 07:48 PM

Couch Tomatoe: Sorry to disappoint, but the interview has come and gone and we did talk future projects but not a sequel to The Incredibles. He teased at something which has me quite excited though, so have faith - anything he does is well worth keeping an eye on.

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~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Oct 25 2007 03:50 AM

Ratatouille's a shoe-in for Best Animated Picture. The only other animated movie I even remember from this year is Surf's Up, and it's obviously got nothing on Ratatouille. I'd say Ratatouille really may be my favorite movie of this year and it definitely should get Best Picture, but it is a gamble. Animated is a moderately small niche and Pixar is the indisputed king there. With Oscar season rolling around and who knows how many great movies coming from the end of the year, Ratatouille would face some serious competition for such an important award. And I know some people would probably frown on it simply for being animated and allegedly for kids, too, which further hurts its chances. So at least it will win Best Animated, as it full well deserves to.

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VML writes:
on Oct 25 2007 12:20 PM

God bless Pixar, the only great animation studio in existence right now.

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VML writes:
on Oct 25 2007 12:21 PM

God bless Pixar, the only great animation studio in existence right now.

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katsat writes:
on Oct 25 2007 02:59 PM

Loved your article! Lasseter is one of my favorites.

But please don't confuse "led" with "lead":

"...that lead me on to working with Lucasfilm's computer animation division with Ed Catmull."

(It's one of my pet peeves.)

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Orbean writes:
on Oct 25 2007 05:29 PM

In reply to this comment (#1221062)
Wait a second! Have you thought about Studio Ghibli?!
You know, Hayao Miyazaki's studio?
They're great too!

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mawnck writes:
on Oct 25 2007 10:24 PM

All the entries aren't in yet for Best Animated Feature, folks. We have two more months. Remember when everybody was sure "Lilo and Stitch" was a lock for the Oscar? Well, I saw a screening of "Persepolis" recently, and it has a very good chance of beating "Ratatouille". Go see it when it's released nationally (on December 25) and see if I'm wrong.

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Jen Yamato writes:
on Oct 26 2007 01:27 AM

In reply to this comment (#1221616)
Is that a British English spelling thing?

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pinkincide writes:
on Oct 26 2007 04:31 AM

Love Pixar, but Ratatouille? I went into that movie thinking I was inoculated against the whole people-eating-food-prepared-by-rats thing. Friends had warned me about it. But braced though I was it still grossed me right the hell out. In fact all the parts with the extended rat family were pretty stomach churning and unfunny. They should've put a LOT more of that food critic guy in there, since he was the most unique character. People raving that it's the best animated pic...yadda...yadda need to watch the Toy Stories and Nemo again.

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minderbinder writes:
on Oct 26 2007 08:43 AM

Personally, I think it's the best film Pixar has made, they really raised the bar. It's a shame you weren't able to get past the "rats in the kitchen" thing, it didn't bother me at all.

I've heard some buzz about Persepolis, it's probably the only animated film with a shot at beating Ratatouille for the oscar. I've actually heard some people insist that Simpsons has the oscar locked up, which I find beyond preposterous. Fanboy posturing at its worst.

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AtomicAge writes:
on Oct 28 2007 09:02 PM

I don't know if I would say that the Best Animated Feature category is a "ghetto". However, I do think that, much like Best Documentary or Best Foreign Film, it allows films that may have barely managed a nomination to actually go up for an specific award.

Just imagine the Oscars without a Best Documentary category, for example. That would force every single documentary to pit themselves against all American live-action films for a Best Picture nom. Whereas now, with these specified categories, films of a different style (animated, documentary, foreign) are allowed a higher chance of recognition than had they just been thrown into the pool with the rest of the year's films.

I believe that the Best Animated Feature category is clever, and though many see it as the Oscars' most useless section, I personally believe that it allows these animated pictures to receive exclusive recognition for their craft.

P.S. - And despite these seperate categories, they can still, just like "Beauty and the Beast", get a Best Pic nomination if the Academy so votes.

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