Chapter 75 - Message to Steve Jobs

John Lasseter explained: "Mr. Williams, the girl's movements do appear slightly stiff. Before the production, I had reminded Mr. Hansen of this problem. Mr. Hansen insisted that we do it and see the effect."

Eric looked at Jeffrey, and Jeffrey nodded.

"Can't you make it a little smoother? Mr. Lasseter, money isn't a problem. This logo will be used for many years, we have to strive for excellence."

John shook his head: "Mr. Williams, I promise, this is currently the highest level of 3D animation. We have started trying human motion modeling since last year. Also compared to the baby in our previous short film 'Tin Toy', the little girl's movements are a lot smoother. No other studios can achieve this level."

When Eric heard the name 'Tin Toy', a thought flashed through his mind, but he didn't catch it, his main focus was still on the Firefly's intro.

Since it was impossible to further improve the LOGO, Eric and Jeffrey started discussing in a low voice.

In the 30 seconds, in addition to the girls opening the cap of the glass jar to release the firefly being slightly flawed, everything else was perfect. And after some editing, the intro logo is going to be about 15 seconds or shorter.

Intro Logos were generally about 15 seconds in length, or shorter. In the Super Bowl trailer, they were going to make, they would perhaps use just five seconds. Therefore, 30 seconds of video material is enough to cut out a more perfect logo.

In this case, Eric did not ask Pixar to remake it. The next thing to do was a lot simpler. He signed some documents and released the final payment to John Lasseter. After everything was done, John refused Eric's invitation to dinner, and was about to leave, but was stopped by Eric.

"Mr. Lasseter, I remember you mentioned a short film, 'Tin Man', was it?"

John Lasseter nodded: "Yes, Mr. Williams, this short film is what we started working on in February last year. It's about five minutes long, it has been nominated for this year's best short film at Oscars."

Eric was completely convinced when he mentioned the Oscars.

"John, you don't mind me addressing like this, do you? You can call me Eric. If you don't have anything urgent, can you stay and chat for a while? I'm very interested in 3D animation."

Looking carefully at Eric's face, he suddenly remembered that Eric would become Hollywood's youngest multimillionaire with Home Alone's box office. Pixar was now at the end of its road and might collapse at any time. Maybe the young man could save Pixar.

With all this in mind, John became eager, "Sure, no problem Eric."

In Firefly's conference room, John explained: "The idea of 'Tin Man' comes from my little nephew. Last Christmas, I saw him crawling into a pile of tidy toys. In just a short time, he upturned that pile of toys making a mess and even broke some of them. After seeing that, I got the idea and the animation was produced. Eric if you're interested, I can call my assistant and bring the video."

Eric also noticed the eagerness in John Lasseter's eyes and confirmed that it was now the best chance to win Pixar. If his memory was right, Pixar would soon attract the attention of the animations giant Disney, and finally sign a contract with Disney for three 3D animated films, because 'Tin Man' won the Oscar for the best animated short film.

Originally, Eric thought there were still five or six years for him to buy it. But if Pixar once again signed a contract with Disney like in his past life, it will be very difficult and very costly to acquire it.

To let John Lasseter know that he was truly interested in 3D animation, Eric agreed with John's proposal: "If it is convenient, then please ask your assistant to make the trip."

John made a phone call, and half an hour later the three of them returned to the screening room.

... ...

The new toy soldier looked curiously at everything in the room when a small baby crawled into the room. The toy soldier was looking forward to his new owner. But the baby's brutal treatment of the other toys made the toy soldier try to flee the baby's clutches. However, the toy soldier had musical instruments attached to its body. So, whenever the toy soldier moved, he made a noise that attracted the attention of the baby. This led to the beginning of a desperate chase...

... ...

John sat on the right side of Eric, and as the animation played, he explained in plain words to Eric the technical difficulties of this seemingly simple picture.

Eric listened carefully, nodding his head from time to time to show his understanding. Although he wanted to ridicule the baby's animation style, on the surface, Eric still praised the animation.

Whether it was animation or a video game, Westerners always try to achieve a realistic look. For an easterner like Eric, all these animations and games looked ugly. By contrast, the animations and games produced by the Orientals, regardless of their intrinsic quality, have beautiful characters. This is even more prominent in the 3D games. As long as the characters are good looking, you can determine the origins of the game.

After the animation finished playing, the three of them didn't leave the screening room and continued to talk about 3D animation. Compared to others right now, who had little confidence in 3D technology, Eric was very familiar with the future development prospects of 3D animation. Eric could not help but reveal a little bit of the 'Toy Story' concept to John Lasseter.

"Eric, you must have got this idea from watching 'Tin Man'. I actually had the same idea of making a 3D animated movie too. But, you know, with Pixar's financial situation, it's absolutely impossible to achieve this plan."

Finally, once they started talking about this subject, Eric said: "John, Pixar is having financial problems, right?"

These kinds of news in the business world were not confidential. As long as one is determined, they can easily find this information. Nor did John Lasseter hide it: "Mr. Jobs had just sold the hardware department of Pixar, and now there's only the software animation department. If there is no miracle," as John spoke, he looked at Eric hopefully and continued: "the studio will either be dissolved or sold. But even then, not many people are willing to take over."

"Why is no one willing to take over? Isn't Pixar's technology the most advanced in the industry?" Looking at Eric, this possible source of funds, he hesitated for a few seconds. In the end, he was just a technician, he wasn't accustomed to dealing with businessmen and decided to be honest: "Because 3D animation technology costs too much, and does not have much output. Unless you are one of the big giants such as Microsoft, or a movie special effects company, looking for a small studio to complement your other departments, no one would be willing to take over this money sink of a studio."

Eric was very satisfied with John Lasseter's honesty. Pretending to think for a minute, he said: "John, I am very interested in 3D animation, after 'Home Alone', I have a lot of money to invest. So if possible, I am willing to buy, and invest in making a long 3D movie. The toy idea we talked about just now is good."

John Lasseter originally thought that Eric, after hearing his explanation, would lose interest. He did not expect to hear such words and for a time, did not know what to say.

John had such a good time talking to Eric, that he had a good opinion of the young man. So instinctively, he didn't want Eric to fall into the swamp called Pixar as his boss did, having gone from a multi-millionaire to the edge of bankruptcy. This was because Pixar kept drawing funds from him, but did not create the corresponding economic benefits.

On the other hand, he really loved 3D animation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have repeatedly turned down Disney's olive branch and stayed in a company that no one was optimistic would be staying afloat.

Thinking about it, John decided to put forward a compromising approach: "Eric, I don't think you should buy the studio. If you are interested in 3D animation, you can invest in a 3D movie to be made by Pixar Animation Studios. So it won't cost you too much, and if, if Pixar fails, you can easily withdraw."

Eric was somewhat surprised to see John's attitude. He was able to make such an appropriate suggestion, instead of trying everything he could to fool Eric into investing.

If Eric did follow John's advice, he would be throwing millions of dollars to the wind. In his past life, after the success of 'Toy Story', Pixar's stocks skyrocketed. It went from the edge of bankruptcy straight into the ranks of billionaires.

Eric put on a willful look on his face and said in a tone that matched it: "No, John, you pass a message to Mr. Jobs for me. Tell him I'm willing to buy Pixar for $20 million. If the deal is done, I'll invest $30 million to produce an animated film."

"Eric, I think 20 million dollars isn't enough, Steve Jobs would not agree. Over the past few years, he invested no less than 20 million $ into Pixar."

Eric said: "John, if you do business, sometimes you lose. Just because one invested a lot of money, does not necessarily mean they'll be able to recover more. That's not how businesses work. You give my message to Mr. Jobs, 20 million $, and not a cent more. I am very busy and don't have the time to haggle over the price. If Mr. Jobs is dissatisfied with the price, there is no need to contact me. I believe he will make a wise choice."

"In that case, I will tell Steve what you said."

After sending John away, Eric turned to Jeffrey who had been holding himself back for a long time, "Jeffrey, how did you resist not advising me this time?"

Jeffrey said: "I know it's useless, so why to waste my time. But now that you asked, I'm going to say that buying Pixar is certainly not a wise choice."

Eric laughed and joked with him: "Originally I wanted to place a bet with you. But you do not have anything I am interested in, so I'm letting it go."