Long before Finding Nemo or The Incredibles, Pixar was a tiny little division of Lucasfilm struggling to find it’s place in the world. When Steve Jobs bought Pixar from George Lucas in 1986 computer generated graphics were still in their infancy and computer animation was little more than a gimmick. It took more powerful computers, skilled artists and Pixar’s dedication to evolving the art form to turn computer animation into what it is today.
This Pixar marketing video from the 1990’s shows a little of what computer graphics were like 30 years ago. It’s a far cry from what is possible today, but it’s a pretty fascinating look into how things have changed in such a short amount of time.
