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Video: Full presentation of John Lasseter accepting the Disney Legends Award on Steve Jobs' behalf
While Apple will always be remembered by the general public as Steve Jobs' greatest accomplishment, his contribution to film history by helping build Pixar may end up being his unsung legacy. Pixar's cutting edge technology and commitment to exceptional storytelling changed children's films from something parents could enjoy to something adults should seek out. At this year's D23 Expo, a Comic Con of sorts held by Disney for Disney fans, Jobs was posthumously awarded the Disney Legends award for his work in building Pixar into the inspirational source of storytelling magic we know and love today. Jobs' longtime friend and Pixar co-founder John Lasseter (at right above) accepted the award, giving an emotional speech that tells the history of Pixar while providing a thoughtful look at his friend's legendary work ethic. Lasseter is often moved to tears throughout the speech, recalling a thoughtful conversation the two had during a difficult portion of the development of Toy Story. "We were having dinner one day, in the middle of the hardest part of making 'Toy Story', and he started looking off again in the distance and he said: You know John, when we make the computers at Apple. He said the lifespan of that computer is what, three years? He said in five years it's a door stop. Ya know, that's how technology goes. But he said 'if you do your job right what you create and what Pixar creates can last forever." Clips from the speech were published online following the event but now the full presentation has been uploaded, including Lasseter's introduction which highlights Pixar's accomplishments over the years. You can view the full presentation below.
John Lasseter receives star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honors Jobs
Pixar head (and current Disney chief creative officer) John Lasseter recently was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in addition to being honored for all his great work on Pixar's movies and Disney's animations, Lasseter himself passed on some of the honor to Steve Jobs. Jobs famously purchased Lucasfilm's digital animation division back in 1986, and founded Pixar, which was purchased then by Disney in 2006, making Jobs Disney's largest shareholder. And Lasseter honored Jobs' memory at his ceremony, saying that "Without Steve, Pixar wouldn't exist. These films wouldn't exist. I honor him." Pretty touching. Lasseter also said that Jobs's only mandate to him was to "make it great," and obviously with all of his work at Pixar, he's been able to do just that. Jobs is of course best remembered for his work with Apple, but his influence at Pixar was obviously strongly felt, and Pixar returned that love in its movies as well.
