Pixar is well known as an absolute hive of creativity. It’s the place that has turned animation back into an art form, beating Disney at its own game.

Disney’s involvement with Pixar is limited to marketing and distribution only. They did have editorial input to earlier works, but Steve Jobs, CEO of both Pixar and Apple doncherknow, is a brutal negotiator. Sadly, Disney does hold the rights to Pixar’s creations though, up to the end of their contract with Pixar after Cars comes out next year, so they do have plans to milk sequels out of pretty much everything Pixar have done with them, which, like Lion King 6 and Aladdin 12, wil probably lack a lot of the charm and spirit of the originals.

While Disney has become a churn factory riding the tail of its own poularity, Pixar maintains a culture of fermenting imagination, and applying yourself to the job at hand with the love of an artist for his craft. Each production is carefully crafted, reviewed, improved, and given the love it deserves as a creative work. Additionally, story and character are given equal footing to effects and spectacle, an art that seems lost these days.

Pixar goes to the extent of having a seperate building devoted to Pixar University, where any Pixar employee can enrol in courses about all aspects of the filmmaking process, so that everybody gets a more holistic view of what they do.

Ain’t it Cool News, a movie/dvd review site, were fortunate enough to enjoy a walkthrough of the amazing Pixar headquarters. There’s a bohemian feel about the place, in keeping with its lowly but creative origins as more of an academic thinktank than Hollywood production house. Rejecting the cubicle mentality, each animator sets up their own workspace however they like. As well as this groovy fellow on the left, there are rows of little cottages, themed lounges and other treats.

I’m guessing they don’t have a lot of staff turnover or morale issues at Pixar. While it’s easy for them to set up an environment like this cos they have unexpectedly huge wads of cash, by the same token the nurturing corporate culture there has to be a significant factor in the unprecedented success of their movies.