John Lasseter, creative genius and one of the co-founders of Pixar, will very soon get his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The brilliant mind behind nearly all of Pixar’s hits will be honored next Tuesday morning in front of the famous El Capitan Theatre (6834 Hollywood Boulevard to you locals) where John will receive the 2,453th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Category of Motion Pictures.
This event will be in conjunction with the DVD/Blu Ray release of Cars 2 and it should be a fantastic tribute to such a master of the imagination. For those of you in the area it might not be impossible to even get near the place but something like this would be worth the congestion and traffic. More on the event after the jump…
Here’s a small bio on John from the official press release in case you forgot just how amazing he is:
John Lasseter is a two-time Academy Award®-winning director and creatively oversees all films and associated projects from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios (celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2011). Lasseter made his feature directorial debut in 1995 with “Toy Story,” the first-ever feature-length computeranimated film and, since then, has gone on to direct “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2” and “Cars.” He returned to the driver’s seat this year, directing “Cars 2.”
His executive-producing credits include “Monsters, Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille,” “WALL•E,” “Bolt” and last year’s critically acclaimed “Up,” the first animated film ever to open the Cannes Film Festival and the recipient of two Academy Awards® for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. Lasseter also served as executive producer for Disney’s Oscar®-nominated films “The Princess and the Frog” and “Tangled” as well as Pixar’s most recent Academy Award-winner for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, “Toy Story 3,” which is based on a story written by Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich.
Lasseter wrote, directed and animated Pixar’s first short films, including “Luxo Jr.,” “Red’s Dream,” “Tin Toy” and “Knick Knack.” “Luxo Jr.” was the first three-dimensional computer-animated film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award® when it was nominated for Best Animated Short Film in 1986; “Tin Toy” was the first three-dimensional computer-animated film ever to win an Academy Award® when it was named Best Animated Short Film in 1988. Lasseter has executive-produced all of the studio’s subsequent shorts,
including “Boundin’,” “One Man Band,” “Lifted,” “Presto,” “Partly Cloudy,” “Day & Night” and the Academy Award®-winning “Geri’s Game” (1997) and “For the Birds” (2000).Under Lasseter’s supervision, Pixar’s animated feature and short films have earned a multitude of critical accolades and film-industry honors. Lasseter himself received a Special Achievement Oscar® in 1995 for his inspired leadership of the “Toy Story” team. He and the rest of the screenwriting team of “Toy Story” also earned an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Screenplay, the first time an animated feature had ever been recognized in that category.
In 2009, Lasseter was honored at the 66th Venice International Film Festival with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The following year, he became the first producer of animated films to receive the Producers Guild of America’s David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Motion Pictures. Lasseter’s other recognitions include the 2004 Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery award from the Art Directors Guild, an honorary degree from the American Film Institute, and the 2008 Winsor McCay Award from ASIFAHollywood for career achievement and contribution to the art of animation.
Prior to the formation of Pixar in 1986, Lasseter was a member of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm Ltd., where he designed and animated “The Adventures of Andre and Wally B,” the first-ever piece of characterbased three-dimensional computer animation, and the computer-generated Stained Glass Knight character in the 1985 Steven Spielberg-produced film “Young Sherlock Holmes.”
Lasseter was part of the inaugural class of the Character Animation program at California Institute of the Arts and received his B.F.A. in film in 1979. Lasseter is the only two-time winner of the Student Academy Award for Animation, for his CalArts student films “Lady and the Lamp” (1979) and “Nitemare” (1980). His very first award came at the age of 5, when he won $15 from the Model Grocery Market in Whittier, Calif., for a crayon drawing of the Headless Horseman.
Gosh, sure seems like he should have gotten a Star years ago huh? Well this is a fine recognition to a man who, like Walt before him, has delighted and enchanted hearts and imaginations of people the world over. The event is set to start next week on November 1, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. The ceremony will be moderated by Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Leron Gubler and guest speaker/darling Pixar actress Bonnie Hunt.
Man, I sure wish I could go to the Star ceremony. But since I can’t I think the best I can offer you Pixar fans (since G-S-T coverage is out of the question) is to suggest you check out The Pixar Story. If you’re a fan it is one heckuva nostalgic trip down memory lane. Anyone G-S-T fans in California live close to the El Capitan? If so, we’d LOVE to see some pictures from the event!!
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Here’s some shots from the event featured on the Pixar Facebook page. Aside from John I see Pete Docter (the tall guy in the back with the camera), Cheech Marin, Randy Newman, Don Rickles, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt and Patton Oswalt…who else can you spot??
