John Lasseter: the best animation visionary since Disney

A key moment in animator John Lasseter's career was being fired by Disney. 20-odd years and 22 Oscars later, the co-founder of Pixar is back at the Magic Kingdom. But now he's in charge.

Many parents will have blessed the name of John Lasseter this week, says The Sunday Times. "The sorcerer-in-chief of Disney and Pixar can be counted on to keep their children spellbound through some of the longueurs of the school half-term." His latest animation triumph, Up, hasn't disappointed. As appealing to adults as to children, it is the tenth in an extraordinary roll of blockbusters for Lasseter, starting with his 1995 debut Toy Story the first ever computer-animated feature film.

Most producers would be fortunate to achieve half that strike-rate, says Variety. "A perfect 10-for-10 winning streak [is] a feat unheard of in Hollywood, where a 1-in-10 hit ratio keeps most companies in business." But the chubby 52-year-old Los Angelino takes it all in his stride. The key to his success, he claims, is "failure".

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