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Edwin Earl Catmull (born March 31, 1945) is an American computer scientist and animator who served as the co-founder of Pixar and the President of Walt Disney Animation Studios. [3][4][5] He has been honored for his contributions to 3D computer graphics, including the 2019 ACM Turing Award.
From an early age, he dreamed of a career with the Walt Disney Company, the world's leading feature–film animation studio for much of the twentieth century, but realized as he came of age that perhaps he lacked the artistic ability to land a job with the prestigious Disney corps of animators.
- Early Years
- New York Institute of Technology
- Industrial Light and Magic
- Pixar
When Catmull was young, he wanted to become an animator for Disney. But in high school he realized he wasn't good at drawing, so he began to focus on computers. He felt that the newly emerging field of computer graphics could be used to create a full-length animated film. After high school he attended the University of Utah and received bachelor de...
After receiving his Ph.D., Catmull took a programming job at a small CAD software company. But he knew this was not what he was interested in. Fortunately, a short while later he was invited to become the head of the Computer Graphics Lab at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), which was founded by Alexander Schure. Schure wanted the lab de...
Catmull and his team eventually left 2D animation and started to concentrate on 3D computer graphics, moving into the field of motion picture production. By the end of the 70's, the Computer Graphics Lab had attracted the attention of George Lucas, who wanted to create his own computer group with Industrial Light and Magic. Lucas contacted Catmull ...
In 1986, Steve Jobs bought ILM's digital division and founded Pixar, where Catmull became Preseident and Chief Technical Officer, positions he retained until the Disney acquisition in 2006. At Pixar, he was the key developer of the RenderMan rendering system used in all Pixar films. After Disney acquired Pixar in January 2006, Disney Chief Executiv...
When Catmull was young, he wanted to become an animator for Disney. But in high school, he realized he wasn't good at drawing, so he began to focus on computers. He felt that the newly emerging field of computer graphics could be used to create a full-length animated film.
- 3 min
Oct 17, 2024 · Dr. Catmull founded three of the leading centers of computer graphics research - the computer graphics laboratory at the New York Institute of Technology, the computer division of Lucasfilm Ltd. and Pixar Animation Studios.
Jul 25, 2023 · An expanded edition of Creativity, Inc just came out, and it's filled with new stories and insights. Pete Docter is the Chief Creative Officer at Pixar, and an accomplished director, producer, screenwriter, animator, and voice actor. The first film he both wrote and directed was Monsters, Inc.
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In 1979, Catmull moved west to take a job with Lucasfilm Ltd. in northern California. Named after its founder, noted Star Wars director George Lucas, the studio was also interested in creating an entirely computer–animated feature film, and Catmull was hired to set up this division.
