Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation Studios—into the story meetings, the postmortems, and the “Braintrust” sessions where art is born. It is, at heart, a book about how to build and sustain a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.” For nearly twenty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner twenty-seven Academy Awards. The joyousness of the storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Now, in this book, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques, honed over years, that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable. As a young man, Catmull had a dream: to make the world’s first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream first as a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, where many computer science pioneers got their start, and then forged an early partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later and against all odds, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the thirteen movies that followed, all of which debuted at #1 at the box office—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies that protect the creative process and ideas that defy convention, such as: • Give a good idea to a mediocre team, and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team, and they will either fix it or come up with something better. • If you don’t strive to uncover what is unseen and understand its nature, you will be ill prepared to lead. • It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them. • The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them. • A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody. • Do not assume that general agreement will lead to change—it takes substantial energy to move a group, even when all are on board. Advance praise for Creativity, Inc. “Many have attempted to formulate and categorize inspiration and creativity. What Ed Catmull shares instead is his astute experience that creativity isn’t strictly a well of ideas but an alchemy of people. In Creativity, Inc., Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.”—George Lucas

In 1986, three visionaries - John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, and Steve Jobs - united to form Pixar Animation Studios. Combining their respective abilities in animation, computer graphics, and entrepreneurship, their goal was to create the very first feature length computer animated film. Against all odds and overcoming myriad obstacles, the tiny studio created "Toy Story" and single-handedly changed the course of animation forever. Twenty years later, and after seven groundbreaking, record-setting movies, the team at Pixar celebrates their journey in this full-colour compendium.Over 400 pieces of exquisite concept art, storyboard sketches, and photographs testify to Pixar's wild creativity. Over 50,000 words of text bring to life all the quirky personalities and the unique corporate culture they have fostered. With extensive and never-before-published interviews with John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs, George Lucas, and Leonard Maltin, "To Infinity and Beyond!" functions as a textbook for future animators, as a fascinating business book, and as the art book of the season

Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pixar Animation Studios with film and concept art from every Pixar feature-length and short film to date.

With the sophisticated graphics of Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Toy Story 2 to their credit, Pixar has become the studio to watch for brilliant animation. Their next movie, Monsters, Inc., (releasing on November 2nd) stars John Goodman and Billy Crystal as two working-class monsters whose job it is to scare children. Graphically innovative and wildly imaginative, this book takes a sneak peek behind the scenes at the early developmental stages of this sure-to-be box office hit. Representing the pinnacle of concept art today, The Art of Monsters, Inc. is the only forthcoming title for the adult fan, and it will capture the attention of artists, film-goers, and special effects enthusiasts everywhere.

"The Pixar Treasures" is a scrapbook of instinct and inspiration, experiences readers can touch, and visions that exist only in the imagination. It begins with a group of animators who were inspired by Walt Disney films. In the late 1970s and early '80s, John Lasseter, Brad Bird, and Joe Ranft were hired into an apprenticeship program at Walt Disney Productions. The last of Disney's golden age artists, including animators Eric Larson, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, and Ollie Johnston mentored the young dreamers, and as Pixar later developed, their work would draw heavily from this direct connection with Walt Disney's "Nine Old Men." The tale continues with Pixar's foray into computer animation, and the resulting success of Toy Story. With chapters on A Bug's Life; Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; The Incredibles; Cars; Ratatouille; and WALL*E, Hauser's narrative covers the struggles, growth, and successes of an incredible animation studio. And it gives readers a sneak peak at the newest Disney*Pixar film, Up. Filled with unique removable keepsakes, The Pixar Treasures is an essential collector's item for every Pixar fan.

Pixar Animation Studios, the innovators behind Toy Story, Finding Nemo , and Ratatouille , has again reinvented the genre with WALL E . When a robot searching for a connection finds EVE, a sleek female probe-droid from outer space, he embarks on an adventure-filled journey across the galaxy. Inspired by classic films, and a brave venture in its own right, WALL E is set to awe audiences this summer. The Art of WALL E includes more than 250 imaginative pieces of concept art, including storyboards, full-color pastels, digital and pencil sketches, character studies, color scripts, and more. The astute text—featuring quotes from the director, artists, animators, and production team—unearths the filmmakers' historical inspirations and reveals a studio confidently pushing the limits of animation.