Pixar had its start back in the 70’s after George Lucas (Yes, the George Lucas of Star Wars fame!) wanted to expand his Lucasfilm division and start a computer graphics (CGI) program. Lucas hired the head of computer graphics at the New York Institute of Technology, Ed Catmull and an animator who had worked at Disney, John Lasseter. After Lucas ran into some money troubles during his divorce, he had to find a buyer for his new corporation, so Steve Jobs stepped up to the plate and invested in this new company named Pixar. With the release of Toy Story, Pixar became a household name, and in 2006, Disney bought Pixar for $7.4 billion. After the deal, Steve Jobs became the single largest shareholder in Disney’s history. The first film that was made after the Disney purchase was Ratatouille, and the rest is history; Pixar has created 25 films since 1995. The next Pixar film to hit the box office is Lightyear, which hits theaters June 17th 2022.
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