Pixar

In 1979, George Lucas recruited Ed CatmullEd CatmullEd Catmull is an American computer scientist, a pioneer of computer graphics, and a co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios. He devised foundational methods including the display of curved surfaces, texture mapping, and Z-buffering, and took part in developing the rendering software RenderMan; Pixar released the first fully computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, in 1995. After Disney acquired Pixar in 2006, he led both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios until stepping down at the end of 2018, and he received the 2019 Turing Award.Open the full entry from the New York Institute of Technology to head Lucasfilm’s Computer Division, the forerunner of Pixar.⁠[1]

From 1981, the Lucasfilm graphics team developed several technologies later underlying RenderMan: Loren Carpenter originated micropolygons and the Reyes rendering architecture, and Rob Cook turned stochastic sampling into an algorithm, with motion blur and depth of field developed around 1983.⁠[2]

In 1986, Steve JobsSteve JobsSteve Jobs (1955–2011) was a technology entrepreneur, Apple co-founder, NeXT founder, and investor and former CEO of Pixar. His career spanned personal computing, digital music, smartphones and animated films, with an emphasis on product design, user experience and multidisciplinary teams.Open the full entry bought the Computer Division from George Lucas and set it up as an independent company, Pixar.⁠[1][3]

In 1987–1988, Pat Hanrahan and Jim Lawson designed a new shading language; in 1988 Hanrahan wrote the RenderMan Interface Specification, and Reyes evolved into RenderMan, which was introduced that year and later widely adopted for film visual effects.⁠[2]

At the 61st Academy Awards in 1989, Pixar’s Tin Toy won the award for Short Film (Animated), credited to John Lasseter and William Reeves.⁠[4]

In May 1991, Pixar entered into a feature film agreement with Disney, under which the two would make and distribute at least one computer-animated film.⁠[3][1]

On November 22, 1995, Toy Story, made by Pixar with Disney, was released in theaters; Pixar describes it as the world’s first computer-animated feature film.⁠[1]

On November 29, 1995, Pixar listed on Nasdaq under the symbol PIXR, pricing shares at $22 to raise $132 million; the stock closed its first day at $39 after reaching $49.50. The offering represented about 20% of the company, with Steve Jobs owning the remaining 80%.⁠[5]

The offering became the largest IPO of 1995.⁠[6]

In 1997, Pixar and Disney signed a Co-Production Agreement extending their relationship, with plans to jointly produce five films over 10 years.⁠[3][1]

In January 2001, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced an Oscar statuette for Pixar’s Rob Cook, Loren Carpenter and Ed Catmull for developing the RenderMan software, the first Oscar given specifically for developing a software package.⁠[7][8]

On January 24, 2006, Disney announced an all-stock acquisition of Pixar at 2.3 Disney shares per Pixar share, a transaction value of $7.4 billion ($6.3 billion net of Pixar’s cash of just over $1 billion). Under the plan, Ed Catmull would become president of the Pixar and Disney animation studios, and John Lasseter chief creative officer.⁠[9]

In its annual report filed in March 2006, Pixar said it had about 850 employees and contractors at the end of 2005 and was headquartered in Emeryville, California; its six released films had grossed more than $3.2 billion worldwide; it had sold RenderMan for nearly 18 years; and it used its in-house Marionette system for articulating, animating and lighting.⁠[3]

On May 5, 2006, Disney completed its acquisition of Pixar, which became a wholly owned Disney subsidiary. Steve Jobs, previously Pixar’s chairman and CEO, joined Disney’s board as a non-independent director.⁠[10][11]

In November 2014, Jim Morris, previously Pixar’s general manager and executive vice president of production, was promoted to president of Pixar, continuing to report to Ed Catmull.⁠[12]

On July 26, 2016, Pixar officially open-sourced Universal Scene Description (USD), a technology for exchanging 3D data between content creation tools, together with the Hydra preview renderer and plugins for Autodesk MayaMayaMaya is a 3D modeling, animation, effects and rendering application now developed by Autodesk; first released by Alias|Wavefront in 1998, it is widely used by film, television and game studios.Open the full entry and Katana. USD is also used in Pixar’s proprietary Presto animation system.⁠[13][14]

On November 21, 2017, John Lasseter announced a six-month leave. In a memo to staff he acknowledged his “missteps” and apologized to anyone who had received an unwanted hug or other gesture that crossed the line.⁠[15]

In June 2018, Pete Docter, director of Monsters, Inc., Up and Inside Out, was named Pixar’s chief creative officer, succeeding John Lasseter, who left both studios and stayed on as a creative consultant through the end of the year.⁠[16]

In October 2018, Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull announced he would retire at the end of the year and then serve as a consultant through the end of July the following year.⁠[17]

Between 2020 and 2025, Pixar’s feature releases included Onward and Soul (2020), Luca (2021), Turning Red and Lightyear (2022), Elemental (2023), Inside Out 2 (2024) and Elio (2025).⁠[18]

Elio, with directors including Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian, follows Elio, a boy obsessed with space. In 2025, Pixar’s first original long-form animated series, Win or Lose, launched on Disney+.⁠[19][20]

On August 1, 2023, Pixar, AdobeAdobeAdobe (Adobe Inc.) is a software company headquartered in San Jose, California, founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke. Known for PostScript, PDF and creative software such as Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and After Effects, it moved its main creative products to Creative Cloud subscriptions from 2013 and expanded into digital marketing and generative AI; it is listed on Nasdaq under the ticker ADBE.Open the full entry, Apple, Autodesk and NVIDIA formed the Alliance for OpenUSD, hosted by the Joint Development Foundation, an affiliate of the Linux Foundation, with Pixar chief technology officer Steve May as chair.⁠[21]

In 2026, Pixar released Hoppers and Toy Story 5, bringing its total to 31 feature films.⁠[18]

Hoppers, directed by Daniel Chong, follows Mabel, who uses a new technology to “hop” her consciousness into a robotic beaver; Toy Story 5, directed by Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris, has the toys facing a new tablet called Lilypad.⁠[22][23]

As of October 2026, Pixar’s website lists upcoming features including Gatto, directed by Enrico Casarosa (March 5, 2027), Incredibles 3, directed by Peter Sohn (June 16, 2028), and Coco 2, directed by Lee Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina (November 2029).⁠[24][25][26]

Pixar uses RenderMan for all of its production rendering, with RenderMan 27 the current version; the studio also maintains open-source projects including OpenUSD, OpenSubdiv and OpenTimelineIO.⁠[8][27]

Pixar Animation Studios: Official website: https://www.pixar.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[1]

The Walt Disney Company: Official website: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[10]

RenderMan: Official website: https://renderman.pixar.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[8]

OpenUSD: Official website: https://openusd.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[13]

X: Official account: https://x.com/pixar (opens in a new window)⁠[1]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Official account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pixar-animation-studios (opens in a new window)⁠[1]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Official account: https://www.youtube.com/pixar (opens in a new window)⁠[1]