DISNEY/PIXAR
"Monsters, Inc." is an example of Pete Docter's work.
Animator explains
the making of
movie magic
From "Toy Story" and up to "Finding Nemo," audiences around the world have enjoyed the movies from the creative minds at Pixar Animation Studios.
One of the men who make up the "brain trust," Pete Docter, will be at Leeward Community College tomorrow and Friday for workshops and public presentations, sharing his experiences working at Pixar and in the animation industry in general, and about his movie, "Monsters, Inc.," in particular.
Meet Pixar's Pete Docter
Free presentation: 7 p.m. tomorrow
Place: Leeward Community College Theatre
Call: 455-0513
More workshops: "The Story Process, Script and Storyboards," 10 a.m. Friday. For UH students only, "The Computer Animated Film Production Process," 4 p.m. tomorrow; "Animation and Performance," 1 p.m. Friday; "Portfolios and Demo Reels," 3 p.m. Friday. All held at the college's Digital Media Computer Lab.
At the public talk at the college's theater, Docter says he'll tell "how we made 'Monsters, Inc.,' from the very beginning to its final steps, and show the process of making the movie, from recording the actors' voices, working with the animators and building the models and sets. I'll also show a recently done video tour of Pixar, made around the time of 'Finding Nemo'."
Along with writers John Lassiter and Andrew Stanton, Docter has lived and worked through Pixar's development into one of the most in-demand CGI studios in Hollywood. And even though its working relationship with Disney has ended, the "brain trust" continues to develop new, still hush-hush projects, and is overseeing the development of two upcoming movies that will conclude its Disney contract.
Out this Thanksgiving will be "The Incredibles," about a family of super-heroes, directed by Brad Bird ("The Iron Giant"), and next year, "Cars," directed by Lassiter.
"The key to all these films," Docter said, "is to have a great group of interested filmmakers always willing to help out each other. That's the way it's been since the beginning, even when John was the only director. He's always welcomed suggestions all along the way of a movie's making, and encourages creative input."
Docter joined Pixar with experience only as an animator, nothing computer-related. But his strengths as a storyteller were especially crucial. It was only by combining good storytelling with the scientific backgrounds of computer animators that an animated-feature quality could be brought to the projects. Starting as the studios' supervising animator, Docter also helped write the two "Toy Story" features.
"As time goes on, everyone picks up what's going on with each other," he said. "We even have in-house classes, a 'Pixar University,' that's open to everyone inside the company, with classes in life drawing, painting, lighting and storytelling." Docter says the staff now numbers close to 750.
With the help of co-director Lee Unkrich, "Monsters, Inc." became another in a line of critical and box-office hits for Pixar. "Whenever I travel," Docter said, "I'm always touched by how people have told me they love it. It's been translated into something like 33 languages."
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