What Jobs Learned Making Toy Story
blog.banast.as
I just watched a newly released 1996 interview with Steve Jobs about building Pixar. Right after Toy Story came out. After 10 years of losing $50 million on Ed Catmull's dream of making the first computer-animated feature film.
The most important lesson: "No amount of technology can turn a bad story into a good story." That became Pixar's mantra. Coming from the guy who revolutionized personal computing, that's a hell of a statement.
But here's what hit hardest. Jobs talked about the difference between technology and stories. Apple IIs are gone. Macs might not boot up in five years. Disney made Snow White in 1937. Sixty years later they sold 28 million copies on video and made a quarter billion in profit. His son watched it 30 or 40 times.
"People are going to be watching Toy Story in 60 years. Not because of the computer graphics, but because of the story about friendship."
Software has a shelf life measured in years. Stories have a shelf life measured in generations. That's why he switched from tech to content.
Pixar's magic formula: art, technology, business. Need all three. Most people quit way before ten years. Jobs didn't quit and was smart enough to know what he didn't know and hire people who did.
Ten years. Fifty million dollars. One dream.