#56: Pixar’s Ed Catmull on Steve Jobs, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Up & Building Creative Teams
Ed Catmull co-founded Pixar and helped build the creative engine behind some of the most beloved films of the last 30 years, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up. Long before Pixar changed animation forever, Ed helped pioneer 3D computer graphics, build RenderMan, and partner with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter to create one of the most influential creative companies in history.
In this episode with Derek Andersen, Ed reveals how Pixar really became Pixar: the 14-year path to making Toy Story possible, why Steve Jobs stayed out of the Braintrust, how Pixar protected creative honesty, and why getting the team right matters more than getting the idea right. He also shares lessons from Creativity Inc. on long-term thinking, failure, leadership, disagreement, and building a culture where the best ideas can survive.
The conversation goes deeper into the stories behind Pixar’s success, from almost losing Toy Story 2 to choosing hard films like Ratatouille and Up when they did not look commercially obvious. Ed shows that Pixar’s real secret was not one perfect idea, one genius leader, or one lucky movie. It was a culture strong enough to turn impossible ideas into stories the world never forgets.
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Episode Partners:
Google for Startups
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Timestamps:
01:39 - Why Great Companies Fail to Think Long-Term
07:35 - Why VR, Oculus, and Tech Hype Got Ahead of Reality
19:13 - The 14-Year Math Behind Toy Story
24:57 - Why the Right Environment Creates Pioneers
37:34 - Why Steve Jobs Let Pixar Publish Everything
42:26 - Steve Jobs’ $54M Bet on Pixar
44:53 - Why Great Teams Create Great Ideas
54:20 - Why Pixar Did Not Call Every Mistake a Failure
59:08 - Why Steve Jobs Stayed Out of Pixar’s Braintrust
01:03:06 - Why Powerful Leaders Should Speak Last
01:15:03 - How Pixar Made Steve Jobs a Billionaire
01:21:15 - The Steve Jobs Transformation Most People Missed
01:24:17 - Why Ed Catmull Believes He Is Wrong Half the Time
01:33:10 - Ed Catmull Was Removed as Pixar President Twice
01:37:27 - Why Creativity Inc. Was Really About Building Great Teams
01:42:26 - How Pixar Almost Lost Toy Story 2
01:46:36 - How Pixar Became a Repeatable Creative Studio
01:47:19 - Why Ratatouille and Up Should Not Have Worked
01:49:13 - How Ed Catmull Measures a Good Life
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