Blog 01

Toy Story made animation history by being the first computer-animated feature film. Animation previously was hand-drawn. Pixar paved the way by implementing toys and human characters into a detailed world with attention to light rigging and texture. Disney and Pixar collaborated on this film with Pixar receiving $26 million. The company at the time was also chaired by Steve Jobs. Software engineer Ed Catmull and other computer scientists built a new software called RenderMan to design the characters. RenderMan combines all the 3D assets of a frame and converts it into a realistic image. Because of the software’s limitations to perfectly geometric objects, the plastic look gave way to toy characters. Toy Story received a Special Achievement Academy Award for the attention it brought to CGI. Pixar has continued to refine its technology to make animation movement incredibly realistic as seen in the recent film, Soul.