Interview With Head of Pixar Animation Ed Catmull

CowboyRobot writes "Stanford professor Pat Hanrahan discusses graphics with Pixar Animation Studios President Ed Catmull. Hanrahan and Catmull share an Oscar award for developing RenderMan. 'Among the many things that are inspiring about Pixar, and one way you've had a huge impact on the world, is that you changed many people's views of what computing is all about. A lot of people think of computing as number crunching whose main application is business and engineering. Pixar added an artistic side to computing. I've talked to many students who realize that art can be part of computing; that creativity can be part of computing; that they can merge their interests in art and science. They think of computing as a very fulfilling pursuit.'" I liked this, and not just because I spent the last week watching Toy Story 3 multiple times with my kid. Catmull talks a lot about the intersection of science & art and the time before Pixar. Anyone else think Pixar might be the geek Mecca? Do they do tours?

geek mecca?

[martas]

I can think of much better candidates for "geek mecca": Alan Turing memorial statue in Sackville Park, Manchester; the HP garage in Palo Alto, California; the first Department of Computer Sciences -- Purdue University; the list goes on.

Re:Always been there

[immakiku]

It's art in a different form than the fine art that this article refers to. It's the art of simplicity and elegance, similar to a nice mathematical proof. But I think the article is relating computing to the art developed for the prime purpose of aesthetics.