With 'Cars', Pixar Stands To Surpass Disney As Hitmaker

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With 'Cars,' Pixar Revs Up to Outpace Walt Disney Himself

IF the pre-show jitters are more than usually apparent in the bayside town Emeryville, Calif., it's because Pixar Animation Studios, the little movie factory that recently sold itself to the Walt Disney Company, stands on the verge of pushing its unbroken string of critical and box-office hits to seven. Its record is already unmatched in American animation history, even by Walt Disney himself.

"It's really scary for all of us," said Darla K. Anderson, producer of "Cars," the film that is reaching for that record with its release on June 9. As Ms. Anderson tells it, the filmmakers behind each Pixar hit — "Monsters, Inc.," "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," et al. — have just made things tougher for the next in line.

"After each film's opening weekend, we pass the pressure on to the next director," she said. "Pete Docter did it to Andrew Stanton, Andrew did it to Brad Bird and Brad passed it to us. It's almost like we should deliberately put out something that isn't good, just to get it over with."

This time around, the director in the hot seat is none other than John Lasseter, who already has "A Bug's Life" and the "Toy Story" movies to his credit, and, with the merger, has been designated creative leader of both Pixar and Disney Feature Animation.

Read Charles Soloman's full article here:

Source: NY Times

[Shawn]

Moral learned from Bill. If you can't beat them, buy them.