Animator, John Lasseter

John Lasseter

Chief Creative Officer, John Lasseter of Disney his works has both inspired and entertained many. Starting off at Disney John was new to the industry of design. His title at the time was an animator where he helped develop films such as Fox and Hound and Dalmatians to name a few. At that point and time of his career it is clear to say he was a motivated artist. Assembling a team of designers he sought off to go above and beyond animation standards and expectations at the time. After loosing his job at Disney he soon found himself at Lucas Films now known as Pixar, where he would change animation standards for years to come. After only a few years of work his animations began to take fame, winning Academy Awards as well as a Special Achievement Award.

Of his works the one I found most inspirational for me was Toy Story, which was developed in 1995. The art invalid in this animation is stunning. During the time I was an artist who thought only in 2 dimensional plane, a pen and paper. To see someone break the plane of space and expand design into a different realm in such an artistic way that was highly detailed was very inspiring for me. The use of lines on a piece of paper was redefined. The creation I had the most appreciation for was and of course Buzz Light Year. The color scheme of this design was original the use of purples and greens invited artists to see a form of excitement and the way the character was introduced in the story line was a sense of "new and improved"; I believe most artists had that feeling about the overall design and concept.

John Lasseter continued to inspire artists through making a number of animations his technique only improved. His attention to detail in his animation Up, developed in 2009 set new standards for artists. The quality of his work had began to evolve this was mostly due to his teaching nature after becoming Chief Creative Officer of both Pixar and Disney John, sponsored the teaching of his animation techniques at an animation school. This school gave young artists an understanding of animation from his perspective.

Another one of his works that I also favored was Monsters Inc., this animation developed in 2001. I felt this animation challenged him to use shapes in a whole new dimension. The characters in which he animated took very sporadic shapes. This animation demanded him to think in a totally different realm. Overall John Lasseter is a very inspirational artist he challenged the standard and introduced a new expectation that all can appreciate.