Early in 1988 I attended a conference where Steve Jobs was the keynote speaker. He screened two 16mm films created by Pixar: Luxo Jr and Red’s Dream. It blew me away. I always dreamed about using computers to do animation, and here was a company that had successfully created two computer-animated films! Afterwards, I joined a group of conference attendees to chat with Steve. He was smartly dressed in a designer suit (yes!) and answered our questions very courteously. That day was the first time I took notice of Pixar. In my wildest dreams, I couldn’t have imagined that I would be working for Pixar some day.
More than any other Pixar short, La Luna feels like a personal vision. It feels familiar but not derivative. It’s funny but not comedic. It’s heartfelt but not schmaltzy. This type of poetic storytelling is something we don’t get to see much of in American mainstream animation. It’s a visually stunning piece that takes its time and isn’t burdened with a busy story line and visual gags.
This past Wednesday, Steve Jobs resigned as Apple CEO. He is a remarkable person and was instrumental in creating the company I work for, Pixar. Below is Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address, which I find incredibly inspirational:
I am astonished by what Salmon Kahn is creating. This will surely revolutionize education around the world! Here’s a video of Salman Khan talking at TED 2011 (from ted.com):
Leandro Copperfield from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, spent 11 days re-watching all 11 Pixar feature films. He picked 500 shots and created this amazing 7 minute tribute: The Beauty of Pixar.
Leandro originally posted the tribute on Vimeo, believing, like many, that his use of the copyrighted Pixar material in this way constitutes fair use. Vimeo disagreed and deleted his tribute from their site. So only the YouTube version, of lower quality, remains.
Synopsis:La Luna is the timeless fable of a young boy who is coming of age in the most peculiar of circumstances. Tonight is the very first time his Papa and Grandpa are taking him to work. In an old wooden boat they row far out to sea, and with no land in sight, they stop and wait. A big surprise awaits the little boy as he discovers his family’s most unusual line of work. Should he follow the example of his Papa, or his Grandpa? Will he be able to find his own way in the midst of their conflicting opinions and time-worn traditions?
Following is an e-mail I wrote many years ago because people continued to misspell my name.
From:
Ferdi Scheepers
To:
ALL SAC
Date:
30 October 1997 10:17am
Subject:
Letter bags…
The universe has a bag for each letter of the alphabet. There is a finite number of letters in each bag. Each time we use (write, say, think of, …) a letter, that letter disappears from the corresponding bag. Continue reading →
Last night Toy Story 3won 2 Oscars at the Academy Awards! Receiving the award for best animated feature film, director Lee Unkrich thanked “audiences all over the world who came out in historic numbers and embraced a movie about talking toys that hopefully had something very human to say.” The win is Pixar’s fourth consecutive win in this category, following wins for Ratatouille (2008), Wall-E (2009), and Up (2010). Pixar also won the category in 2004 with Finding Nemo and in 2005 with The Incredibles.
Randy Newman, who had been nominated 20 times and only won once before, received the Oscar for the best original song, We Belong Together.
Toy Story 3 was nominated in 3 other categories:
Sound Editing – Inception won.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) – The Social Network won.
Best Picture – The King’s Speech won.
Another Pixar nominee was Teddy Newton’s Day & Night, for best animated short film. The winner in this category was The Lost Thing.
Ferdi's Musings 