TOY STORY TRENDSETTER CHAPTER 1 A cowboy and a spaceman are strapped to a blazing rocket They soar high into the sky as the fuse burns down Seconds before explosion the spaceman spreads his wings to escape This thrilling scene is from Toy Story the first full-length computer-animated film Toy Story amazed viewers at its 1995 release That was thanks to writer and director John Lasseter Lasseter is creative chief and executive producer for both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios He oversees the creativity and quality of each film Under his direction Toy Story’s characters came to life Toy Story was just the beginning Lasseter wrote and directed a sequel Toy Story 2 premiering in 1999 The film was another hit Lasseter was also a writer for 2010’s award-winning Toy Story 3 4
John Lasseter poses with action figures of characters Buzz left and Woody right at the world premiere of Toy Story 3 in Hollywood California Lasseter never outgrew his love of toys and great stories In 2015 he announced that he would be directing Toy Story 4 The film is set to premiere in 2017 In one interview Lasseter said I am very excited to be directing again The story is a brand new chapter in the Toy Story world 5
CARTOON KID CHAPTER 2 John Alan Lasseter was born in Hollywood California on January 12 1957 He arrived six minutes after his twin sister Johanna Their parents were Paul and Jewell Lasseter Paul worked at a car dealership Jewell was an art teacher Both parents would influence and inspire John While growing up in Whittier California John loved drawing His mother gave him plenty of art supplies She even brought drawing paper to church to keep John busy When he ran out of paper he drew in the church songbooks He made moving pictures with the page corners John’s parents only learned they were having twins a week before their birth John’s dad called John the bonus baby 6
John loved Disney’s Dumbo as a child It remains his favorite film of all time Although he loved drawing John’s favorite activity was watching cartoons He woke up at 6 30 a m every Saturday and watched cartoons for hours All of that time was well spent His passion for cartoons would combine with his love for drawing Together they would inspire him to become an animator 7
