How Steve Jobs changed movies
Steve Jobs, who died on October 5 aged 56, was the visionary co-founder, and later chief executive, of Apple, makers of the Macintosh computer, the iMac, the iPod, iPad, and iPhone, and the man behind the astonishing success of the computer animation firm Pixar, makers of Toy Story and Finding Nemo; in consequence he did more to determine what films we watch, how we listen to music, and how we work and play than any other person on the planet.
Jobs never designed a computer in his life, but it was because of him that Apple products, even when they do largely what other products do, are perceived to be different and infinitely more cool. The Macintosh introduced the world to the computer mouse; the iPod became famous for its click wheel, and the iPhone for its "user-interface" – a sophisticated touch-screen that responds to the flick of a finger.
Jobs emphasised the difference between Macs and the PCs that ran Microsoft software, managing to preserve Apple's image as a plucky, creative, insurgent against the bland Microsoft behemoth even as Apple itself became the biggest company on the planet. "I wish Bill Gates well," he once claimed. "I only wish that at some time in his life he had dropped acid or spent time at an ashram."
It was a marketing trick that Jobs worked on consumers too, convincing them that purchasing Apple products somehow conferred membership of an exclusive and visionary club, even when it was transparently obvious that the company's devices were utterly ubiquitous. This corporate reputation for seer-like trailblazing lay completely with Jobs. "I skate to where the puck is going to be," he explained, using an ice hockey metaphor, "not where it has been."
This inspired almost evangelical devotion among techno-geeks. Jobs was not just the brains behind Apple, he was high-priest of the "Mac" religion. His eagerly anticipated "MacWorld" shows were adulatory affairs akin to revivalist rallies, with Jobs, in black turtleneck, jeans and trainers, preaching the message that salvation lay in Apple's latest gadget.
The Jobs story – humble birth, rise and fall, miraculous comeback – was even likened by Apple fanatics to the life of Christ. For the less blasphemously-inclined it proved that the American Dream is alive and well.
Steve Jobs, who has died aged 56, will go down in history as the mastermind behind the iPhone, iMac, iTunes and countless other ground-breaking Apple products.
He was not just a personal computer pioneer however: he also helped changed the movie business forever.
Back in 1986 Jobs acquired The Graphics Group - a team specialising in cutting edge CGI animation - from George Lucas's Lucasfilm shortly after leaving Apple for the first time.
Apparently it cost him just £3.2 million ($5 million), plus the same again which he put in as capital.
The company became animation powerhouse Pixar, who created ‘Toy Story’, ‘Finding Nemo’, ‘The Incredibles’ and many more. All their films have been hits, all critical successes.
Jobs helped steer the company away from making high-end computer hardware and into animation.
In 1986, the same year he joined, Pixar employee John Lasseter made the short film ‘Luxo Jr.’ to show off the company’s technology. It earned rave reviews at Siggraph, a computer graphics convention and a year later was nominated for an Oscar.
In the next decade they made more shorts and adverts but still didn’t make a profit. That changed when with the release of ‘Toy Story’ in 1995, with Jobs as Executive Producer. Disney distributed the film and it went on to make £228 million ($350 million).
In an interview in 1996 on 'The Charlie Rose Show', Jobs explained why he got involved in Pixar: “I heard about this incredible group of computer graphics specialist that George Lucas had assembled at Lucasfilm that he wanted to sell.
“I met (future president) Ed Catmull. His dream was to make the first computer animated film. He showed me what they had been working on and they blew me away… it was way beyond anything I’d ever seen. I bought into that dream both spiritually and financially.
“I got into the business because of the technology at the beginning. It excited me, it blew me away. We had more PHDs working on ‘Toy Story’ than any film in history. But John (Lasseter) educated me that what we are really about is storytelling.”
After ‘Toy Story’ Pixar, became a hit factory and in 2006 Jobs helped sell the company to Disney for around £4.9 billion ($7.4 billion). Jobs, who owned 50.1 per cent of Pixar’s stock, immediately became Disney’s largest shareholder and nabbed a seat on their board of directors. Not bad for a $10 million investment.
Disney and Pixar Animation Studios chief creative officer John Lasseter and president Ed Catmull paid tribute to Jobs’ role in the creation of Pixar. In a statement on Facebook, they said: "Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend and the guiding light of the Pixar family.”
"He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined. Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer animated films; the one thing he always said was to simply 'make it great.'
"He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength, integrity and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be a part of Pixar's DNA. Our hearts go out to his wife Laurene and their children during this incredibly difficult time."
Besides his work with Pixar, Jobs’ Apple products like iTunes, the iPhone and iPad have also helped change the way films are watched and distributed.
His vision and creativity will be sorely missed in the movie business.