John Lasseter is an American animator, screenwriter, film director, producer, voice actor, and currently the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He formerly worked as the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. As an executive producer, Lasseter was in charge of all of Pixar’s animated movies and short films. He directed movies such as Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, Cars, and Cars 2. Lasseter has been nominated for seven Academy Awards and has won two Oscar awards, for Best Short Animated Film for Tin Toy in 1989 and a Special Achievement Oscar for Toy Story in 1995.
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1. Finding Nemo
The Academy Award-winning film for Best Animated Feature, Finding Nemo is one of the most popular animated movies of all time. This 2003 animated movie still sparks nostalgia for many, and it should be no surprise that it is on this list.
The movie is about an overprotective father clownfish, Marlin, who sets out on a journey to find his son Nemo, who is captured and taken by a diver to Sydney. The film has some iconic characters that are part of Marlin’s adventurous journey to finding Nemo. The genius of John Lasseter is in how real-life characteristics of the marine animals were used as part of the characters in the movie. Finding Nemo takes its audience through a roller coaster of emotions and will remain a fan favorite.
2. Up
Up might just be the most wholesome John Lasseter film. This 2009 computer-animated film by Pixar Animation Studios was released by Walt Disney Pictures. This animated movie is about an elderly widower, Carl Fredrickson, who grieves for his late wife, often reminiscing on their moments together.
Scared by the thought of his house being demolished and dreading the nagging wilderness explorer Russell, who wants to earn the “Assistant to the Elderly” Wilderness badge, Carl decides to float his house to the destination he and his late wife Ellie have dreamed of since they were young.
To fulfill his promise to Ellie, Carl not only embarks on an adventure but reluctantly makes a lot of friends on his way to the deserted Paradise Falls. The film is regarded as one of the most touching and funny Pixar films of all time.
3. Inside Out
John Lasseter was the executive producer of the film Inside Out. The film revolves around an 11-year-old girl named Riley being uprooted from her cast into a new one overnight.
The film presents the role of emotions in the most endearing way, demonstrating how Riley’s life is affected when the role of the “Sadness” emotion is subsided. The film Inside Out was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 88th Academy Awards and has won Best Animated Feature, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and a Critic’s Choice Award, among others.
4. A Bug’s Life
The movie is about an ant named Filk, who seems to always be the center of attention when things go wrong. His clumsiness destroys all the food preserved for the grasshoppers. As a punishment, the grasshoppers demand double food and otherwise threaten to annihilate the colony. This starts Filk’s journey to save his colony.
A Bug’s Life, nominated for Best Achievement in Special Visuals Effects, is another masterpiece by John Lasseter.
The story is co-created by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Joe Ranft, which makes it impossible not to be blown away by its originality. The film grossed approximately $33.3 million on its opening weekend.
5. Cars
The movie Cars is a stellar example of John Lasseter’s exemplary work. The plot of Cars revolves around a racecar, Lightning McQueen, who gets lost in Radiator Springs, a small Arizona town.
McQueen befriends the residents of Radiator Springs and learns that there is more to life than just being a champion on the racetrack.
The film animators are said to have created 43,000 sketches for the design of the cars in the movie. It is also the first Pixar film to have ever used ray tracing, which is a type of rendering technique used in films to produce incredibly realistic lighting effects. This 2006 film was the winner of the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film.