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Steve Jobs Talks Pixar in 'Never-Before-Seen' Interview as 'Toy Story' Turns 30

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Just ahead of the 30th anniversary of Toy Story, The Steve Jobs Archive has shared a "never-before-seen" video of Steve Jobs discussing Pixar.

Steve-Jobs-Toy-Story.jpg

The interview is from November 22, 1996 — exactly one year after Toy Story debuted in theaters, as the world's first entirely computer-animated feature-length film. In the video, Jobs reflects on Pixar's early success, business model, and more.

For those unaware, Pixar was born after Jobs purchased the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm, and spun it into an independent company. He remained Pixar's majority shareholder until the company was sold to Disney in 2006.


Fun fact: Jobs appears in Toy Story's opening credits.

The Steve Jobs Archive was launched in 2022 by Laurene Powell Jobs, Tim Cook, and Jony Ive. The website features a collection of quotes, photos, videos, and emails from Jobs, and offers fellowships to young creators looking to follow in his footsteps.

Article Link: Steve Jobs Talks Pixar in 'Never-Before-Seen' Interview as 'Toy Story' Turns 30
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/18/steve-jobs-pixar-interview/
3D animation is cool but it really sucks that it’s basically replaced 2D animation entirely, especially in movies. Nothing is worse than seeing a great technology dumped for another technology that isn’t better, just different

There really should be no reason we can’t have plenty of both
 
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"I think that people are going to be watching Toy Story in 60 years, not because of computer graphics, but because of the story, about friendship. That's something really amazing to me."

Abso-freaking-lutely. Hit the nail on the head. Thirty years later, I still watch Toy Story. The graphics look a little dated today, but the story is indeed what holds up.

On the flip side, the graphics for Toy Story 4 looked phenomenal, but the story didn't hold my interest.
 
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In the first 45 seconds, Jobs uses the word "spiritually," a word that wouldn't come out of the mouth of any tech leader today.
 
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I feel like this may have actually been on a Toy Story Collector's Box Set (DVD) many years ago. That box set had a ton of extra behind the scenes footage and commentary like this. multiple discs
 
Mazda 3s said:
"I think that people are going to be watching Toy Story in 60 years, not because of computer graphics, but because of the story, about friendship. That's something really amazing to me."

Abso-freaking-lutely. Hit the nail on the head. Thirty years later, I still watch Toy Story. The graphics look a little dated today, but the story is indeed what holds up.

On the flip side, the graphics for Toy Story 4 looked phenomenal, but the story didn't hold my interest.
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And it was Ed Catmull /John Lasseter who taught Steve Jobs this lesson.
 
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Mazda 3s said:
"I think that people are going to be watching Toy Story in 60 years, not because of computer graphics, but because of the story, about friendship. That's something really amazing to me."

Abso-freaking-lutely. Hit the nail on the head. Thirty years later, I still watch Toy Story. The graphics look a little dated today, but the story is indeed what holds up.

On the flip side, the graphics for Toy Story 4 looked phenomenal, but the story didn't hold my interest.
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100%. He bought a computer animation company that wanted to make films, and I just know he would absolutely hate the community over at /r/filmmaking—ironically, a community of computer users who talk about filmmaking—at least they think that’s what they want to talk about. Films are built upon two things—story and passion—without both of those things the film will never be good. No amount of money or technical know-how will make it genuinely good.
 
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Mac Fly (film) said:
100%. He bought a computer animation company that wanted to make films, and I just know he would absolutely hate the community over at /r/filmmaking—ironically, a community of computer users who talk about filmmaking—at least they think that’s what they want to talk about. Films are built upon two things—story and passion—without both of those things the film will never be good. No amount of money or technical know-how will make it genuinely good.
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Yep. Someone can go out and buy the most expensive Mac available, max out the memory and storage, spend another $10,000+ on other equipment, buy Logic (or any other DAW), it doesn't mean they'll be able to make good music.

Tools without skills and motivation to put the work in are just paperweights.
 
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One thing most people fail to mention is how Jobs effortlessly jumps from talking about the business/money side to the artistic side.

Apple WAS Steve Jobs. His death left Apple with an imbalance that he KNEW would happen and did his best to mitigate this before passing.

To this day, this imbalance is the driver for every "Apple has lost its soul" discussion. Because it did.
 
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Mazda 3s said:
"I think that people are going to be watching Toy Story in 60 years, not because of computer graphics, but because of the story, about friendship. That's something really amazing to me."

Abso-freaking-lutely. Hit the nail on the head. Thirty years later, I still watch Toy Story. The graphics look a little dated today, but the story is indeed what holds up.

On the flip side, the graphics for Toy Story 4 looked phenomenal, but the story didn't hold my interest.
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Nailed it.
 
TomaxXamot said:
I love watching old interviews with him. He takes the time to consider the question and what his response is and the result is always so eloquent, articulate and well informed.
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He was a very good speaker, and he was very good at pausing, it very much conveyed that he was actually saying something he’d bothered to think about, rather than rattling off a bit of marketing copy or something he’d read off a sheet or autocue.
 
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Steve-Jobs-tech-liberal-arts.jpg


Why Jobs is the "gold standard" of "tech bros" and using that modern phrase may be an insult to him. How humans use tech and how they create artistic value was always at the heart of his soul. Dylan, Beatles, music, and then animation. He got it on a deep level. Miss him.
 
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golfstud said:
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Why Jobs is the "gold standard" of "tech bros" and using that modern phrase may be an insult to him. How humans use tech and how they create artistic value was always at the heart of his soul. Dylan, Beatles, music, and then animation. He got it on a deep level. Miss him.
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It’s pretty much an insult, imho. I wouldn’t put Jobs, or Gates or many others in that catagory. “Tech bro” for me is almost synonymous with “manbaby”. I’m not as well-opinioned as you about Jobs, he was not infallible snd he was very very far from bring a saint, but, to his credit, he didn’t get up on stage and publicly present himself as a hormonally-challenged 14 year old.
 
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Plot twist: Apple's recent AI efforts have actually been 99% focused on recreating an AI-version of Steve Jobs using the SJ Archive in addition to a massive secret collection of internal communications and recordings. When Tim Cook steps down, Apple will unveil the world's first posthumous, permanent, and perfect CEO.
 
Misterioso said:
I feel like this may have actually been on a Toy Story Collector's Box Set (DVD) many years ago. That box set had a ton of extra behind the scenes footage and commentary like this. multiple discs
Click to expand...
Not sure but I’ve definitely seen this interview before. I think it was available on the internet archive.
 
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