FAQ 

When was Pixar incorporated? 

Pixar was incorporated in the state of California on February 3rd, 1986 

When was Pixar's initial public offering (IPO)?

Pixar's initial public offering was on November 29th 1995. Pixar common stock was initally priced at $22 per
share (pre-split).

When was Pixar acquired by The Walt Disney Company?

On January 24, 2006, both companies entered into an agreement to merge Pixar with The Walt Disney
Company. The deal was approved by Pixar shareholders and the merger became effective on May 5, 2006.
Pixar is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.

Can the public tour the Pixar facility?

Due to production demands and confidentiality issues, we are a closed studio and do not offer tours.

I am a journalist seeking to interview a Pixar employee. Who can I contact regarding my request?

Please send an email message containing all pertinent details (the nature of the story, the person with whom you
wish to speak, the deadline, information regarding your publication or outlet, etc.) to publicity@pixar.com.

I am working on a school project. Can I interview someone from Pixar or will you please send me materials that
I can use as part of a presentation?

We receive a large number of requests for information in connection with student projects, and unfortunately
are not able to respond to each one individually. This web site, however, contains answers to many of the most
commonly asked questions about Pixar, our employees, the work that is done at our studio, and information
about the animation industry as a whole.

What is Pixar's policy or practice with respect to donations, scholarships or charities?

Pixar's charitable giving focuses most often on local organizations that benefit children. We receive many
requests for donations that meet these criteria and take a great deal of care in determining which initiatives to
support. Regrettably, we are not able to accommodate all of the worthy requests we receive.

Pixar does not have a scholarship program at this time.

How do I request a screening of a pixar film, use of Pixar's characters or other intellectual property for a book,
film, research paper, etc.?

Please send an email message containing the pertinent details (the materials you wish to use, the manner in
which you wish to use it/them, etc.) to licensing@pixar.com.
Now that Pixar is a part of The Walt Disney Company, what has happened to my Pixar shares as a result of the
merger?

As a result of the merger, each of your Pixar shares has been converted into the right to receive 2.3 shares of
The Walt Disney Company common stock. Your Disney shares will either be credited to your brokerage
account or, if you hold your Pixar stock in certificate form, you will be issued Disney stock provided that you
complete a Letter of Transmittal. These are expected to be mailed to Pixar shareholders on or about May 15.
Please allow approximately 10 days for delivery within the United States. After this period of time, if you have
not received a Letter of Transmittal, please contact Disney Shareholder Services at:

The Walt Disney Company

Shareholder Services
500 South Buena Vista MC 9722
Burbank, CA 91521-9722

When will I receive my Disney shares?

The Disney shares resulting from the exchange of your Pixar shares should be confirmed by the mailing of an
account statement or a stock certificate within two weeks of receipt by Disney Shareholder Services of your
Pixar shares or certificates and a properly completed Transmittal Form.

Am I required to return my Pixar stock certificates to receive Disney shares?

Yes. When the merger became effective, Pixar became a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney
Company and Pixar shares ceased trading. In order to receive your shares of Disney common stock, you must
surrender your Pixar common stock certificates to Disney Shareholder Services along with the properly
executed Transmittal Form.

Introduction

Pixar Animation Studios is an Academy Award ®-winning computer animation studio with the technical,
creative and production capabilities to create a new generation of animated feature films, merchandise and other
related products. Pixar's objective is to combine proprietary technology and world-class creative talent to
develop computer-animated feature films with memorable characters and heartwarming stories that appeal to
audiences of all ages.

Feature Films

On November 22, 1995, Pixar Animation Studios forever impacted the future of filmmaking, storytelling and
the medium of animation with the release of its first feature film, Disney·Pixar's Toy Story. Released nine years
after the founding of Pixar, Toy Story exhibited years of creative and technical achievements from a small
group of passionate computer scientists and animators, led by present day President Ed Catmull and Chief
Creative Officer John Lasseter. The film, marking the birth of the new medium of computer animation, went on
to become the highest grossing film of 1995 with $362 million in worldwide box office receipts. Lasseter,
director of Toy Story, was honored with a Special Achievement Academy Award® for his "inspired leadership
of the Pixar Toy Story team resulting in the first feature-length computer animated film."

Since Toy Story's release in 1995, Pixar Animation Studios, in partnership with Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures, has also created and produced A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding
Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009) and most
recently Toy Story 3 (2010). The 11 feature films have resulted in an unprecedented streak of both critical and
box office successes, and combined to gross more than $6 billion at the worldwide box office. The first 10
feature films, through Up, have garnered 35 Academy Award® nominations, nine Oscars®, six Golden
Globes® and numerous other accolades.

From toys, bugs, monsters, fish and superheroes to cars, rats, robots and septuagenarians, Pixary's talented
creative and technical teams have given audiences of all ages some of the most beloved characters in film.
Pairing these unique, relatable characters with compelling stories and immersive, believable worlds, Pixar
continually delivers on its promise to truly entertain audiences all over the world.

Short Films

Pixar Animation Studios has long believed in making short films. In 1986, Pixar's first-ever short, Luxo Jr.,
launched a new direction in animated filmmaking, using three-dimensional computer animation to tell a story.
Since then, nearly every feature film that Pixar has released has included a short beforehand, bringing back a
tradition that was once an expected pleasure for filmgoers.

Pixar's shorts have helped foster and develop technologies and talent at the studio, but they are mostly made for
one simple reason: love of the art form. From Tin Toy's (1989) toy-tormenting baby to Partly Cloudy's (2009)
adorable storks, Pixar's shorts have delighted audiences and earned critical praise, garnering nine Academy
Award® nominations and three Best Animated Short Film Academy Awards®. Day & Night, the studio's most
recent short, debuted in theaters with Toy Story 3.

Technology

Since its incorporation, Pixar has been responsible for many important breakthroughs in the application of
computer graphics (CG) for filmmaking. Consequently, the company has attracted some of the world's finest
talent in this area. Pixar's technical and creative teams have collaborated since 1986 to develop a wealth of
production software used in-house to create its movies and further the state of the art in CG movie making. This
proprietary technology allows the production of animated images of a quality, richness and vibrancy that are
unique in the industry, and above all, allows the director to precisely control the end results in a way that is
exactly right for the story. Pixar continues to invest heavily in its software systems and believes that further
advancements will lead to additional productivity and quality improvements in the making of its computer
animated films.

Pixar also has a long standing tradition of sharing its advances within the broader CG community, through
technical papers, technology partnerships, and most notably through its publicly available RenderMan product
for the highest-quality, photo-realistic images currently available. RenderMan remains the standard in CG film
visual effects and feature animation and has been honored with an Academy Award for technical achievement.

In 2001, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Board of Governors® honored Ed Catmull, president
of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, Loren Carpenter, senior scientist, and Rob Cook, vice president of
software engineering, with an Academy Award of Merit (Oscar®) "for significant advancements to the field of
motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar's RenderMan." In 2002, the Producer's Guild of America
honored Pixar with the Guild's inaugural Vanguard Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in new
media and technology.

Creative Team

Pixar's creative department is led by Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, an Academy Award®-winning
director and animator. Under the guidance of Lasseter, Pixar has built a creative team that includes a department
of highly skilled animators, a story department and an art department. This team is responsible for creating,
writing and animating all of Pixar's films. Pixar strives to hire animators who have superior acting ability - those
able to bring characters and inanimate objects to life, as though they have their own thought processes. In order
to attract and retain quality animators, the company founded Pixar University, which conducts three-month long
courses for new and existing animators. Pixar also has a complete production team that gives the company the
capability to control all elements of production of its films. Pixar has successfully expanded the production
team so projects may be worked on simultaneously.

Disney Relationship

Since the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Disney in 1937, animated films have become one of
the most universally enjoyed forms of entertainment. Disney has a long history of developing, producing, and
distributing films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The stories and characters of these
popular animated feature films have become part of our modern mythology, enjoyed generation after generation.
Traditionally, these popular animated feature films have been created using the time-consuming and labor-
intensive process of two-dimensional, hand-drawn cel animation.

In May 1991, Pixar entered into an agreement with Walt Disney Pictures for the development and production of
up to three computer animated feature films to be marketed and distributed by Disney. It was pursuant to this
agreement that Toy Story was developed, produced, and distributed. In February 1997, Pixar entered into a new
Co-Production Agreement with Disney pursuant to which Pixar, on an exclusive basis, agreed to produce five
original computer-animated feature-length theatrical motion pictures for distribution by Disney. The five
original Pictures under the Co-Production Agreement were A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The
Incredibles, and Cars. Toy Story 2, the theatrical sequel to Toy Story, was released in November 1999, and is
also included in the Co-Production Agreement. Ratatouille was subsequently added to the terms of the Co-
Production Agreement in January 2006.

On January 24, 2006, Pixar entered into an agreement with The Walt Disney Company to merge the two
companies. The deal was approved by shareholders of both companies and the merger became effective on May
5, 2006. Pixar is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.

Dr. Ed Catmull: President Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios

Dr. Ed Catmull is president and co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Walt
Disney Animation Studios.

Dr. Catmull has been honored with five Academy Awards®, including the Gordon E. Sawyer
Award for his lifetime of technical contributions and leadership in the field of computer graphics
for the motion picture industry, the Academy Award of Merit, two Scientific and Engineering
Awards and a Technical Achievement Award.

Dr. Catmull also received the ACM SIGGRAPH Steven A. Coons Award for his lifetime contributions in the
computer graphics field and the animation industry’s Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancements in the art or
industry of animation, and the Randy Pausch Prize from Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment
Technology Center in 2008. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the National
Academy of Engineering and the Visual Effects Society.
Dr. Catmull earned B.S. degrees in physics and computer science and a Ph.D. in computer science from the
University of Utah. In 2005, the University of Utah presented him with an Honorary Doctoral Degree in
Engineering.

Previously, Dr. Catmull was vice president of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm Ltd., where he managed
development in the areas of computer graphics, video editing, video games and digital audio.

John Lasseter: Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation StudiosPrincipal Creative
Advisor, Walt Disney Imagineering

John Lasseter is a two-time Academy Award®-winning director and oversees all films and
associated projects from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. He directed the
groundbreaking and award-winning films Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2 and
Cars. Additionally, his executive producing credits include Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The
Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL•E, Bolt, and last year’s critically acclaimed Up, which enjoyed the
distinct honor of opening the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded two Academy
Awards® for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. Lasseter also served as executive producer for
Disney's Oscar®-nominated The Princess and the Frog, a musical comedy set in the great city of New Orleans,
as well as Disney•Pixar’s most recent critical and box office hit, Toy Story 3, which is based on a story by
Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich.

Lasseter has written, directed and animated a number of Pixar’s early short films, including Luxo Jr. (1986),
Red’s Dream (1987), Tin Toy (1988) and Knick Knack (1989). He has also been producer or executive producer
on a number of shorts including Geri’s Game, For the Birds, One Man Band, Lifted, Presto, Partly Cloudy and
Day & Night. Pixar’s Tin Toy became the first computer animated film to win an Academy Award® when it
received the 1988 award for Best Animated Short Film. Pixar earned two more Academy Awards® for Geri’s
Game (1997) and For the Birds (2000).

Under Lasseter’s supervision, Pixar’s animated feature and shorts films have earned a multitude of critical
accolades and film industry honors. Lasseter received a Special Achievement Oscar® in 1995 for his inspired
leadership of the Toy Story team. His work on Toy Story also earned an Academy Award® nomination for Best
Original Screenplay, the first time an animated feature had been recognized in that category.

In 2004, Lasseter was honored by the Art Directors Guild with its prestigious “Outstanding Contribution to
Cinematic Imagery” award and he also received an honorary degree from the American Film Institute. Lasseter
received the 2008 Winsor McCay Award from ASIFA-Hollywood for career achievement and contribution to
the art of animation. In 2009, Lasseter and his fellow directors at Pixar were honored at the 66th Venice
International Film Festival with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award. Lasseter was also honored
with the Producers Guild of America’s 2010 David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Motion Pictures,
making him the first producer of animated films to receive this award.

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 computer-generated Stained Glass Knight character in the 1985 Steven
Spielberg-produced film Young Sherlock Holmes.

Lasseter attended the inaugural year of the Character Animation program at California Institute of the Arts and
received his B.F.A. in film in 1979. While attending California Institute of the Arts, Lasseter produced two
animated films, both winners of the Student Academy Award® for Animation - Lady and the Lamp (1979) and
Nitemare (1980). His very first award came at the age of five when he won $15.00 from the Model Grocery
Market in Whittier, California, for a crayon drawing of the Headless Horseman.
 John Lasseter says that it takes three things to make an animated film: world, character and story.
In the simplest sense, that is the heart of this exhibit, the handmade designs for the worlds,
characters and stories of Pixar’s first twenty years of filmmaking.

At Pixar, we realize we are associated, in many people’s experience, with computers. We

do use computers in the making of our films. However, at the center of everything we do is the love of
story and the wonderful pictures that help tell the story. The computer lets us create worlds and
characters that otherwise we could only dream of enjoying. The computer lets us invite you into the
dream to dream along with us. The computer is where we finish our stories.

So where, then, do we start them, enliven them, give them shape? As with all storytelling, we
begin in the imagination, with an idea. Then we turn to traditionally trained artists and sculptors,
who start with blank paper and lumps of clay. Handmade art — made using the same ancient
tools available before writing existed, like drawing and painting and sculpture — brings the
vision of our stories to life.

In this exhibit, we hope you’ll discover the wonder and purpose of the handmade art that is the groundwork
from which our animated stories spring, as you join us in celebrating the art and artists of Pixar.