The Pixar Story is a 2007 documentary directed by Leslie Iwerks retracing the growing success of the famous company, now partnered with Disney – and when I say the word success, I mean it: the film blatantly solely focuses on the ups of the company, reducing the downs to the harsh début any company has to face when starting up. Fair, Pixar has been an example in terms of animation technology, stepping ahead and imposing themselves as leader of the game since the first installment of Toy Story (1995) but surely, there must be more beyond the polished surface of their blockbuster machinery.
Challenges exposed rely on expected family issues when working in a big company and every other problem terminates by another grandiose box-office and creative success (Toy Story 2, better than the first one, really?). Behind these constant ‘happily-ever-after’ descriptions is undoubtedly the code of silence at the core of their partner’s policy; the first rule of Disney is: you do not talk (unacceptably) about Disney. As a result, the documentary loses consistence.
As Pixar’s business grows, the feature keeps focusing on the co-founders of the company, not only muting the other employees but also failing in depicting them. Of course, there are mentions of moving out to bigger and better buildings, but numbers of employees are kept silent, and so are the human consequences of their relationship with Disney: did they have to fire people when momentarily breaking up with the major animation company? Giving the impression of investigating one of the most fascinating companies in the world of entertainment, the documentary actually just lies on the surface of things, lacking a realistic approach that might have hurt the image of the biggest dream factory in the world.
The Pixar Story (2007), directed by Leslie Iwerks, is available in the UK on VOD only, on Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.
