John Lasseter- Net Worth, Personal Life, Career, Awards, Etc.

John Lasseter is a $100 million net worth American animator, film director, screenwriter, and producer. Skydance Animation is led by Lasseter, who formerly worked as the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios. He was also the Principal Creative Advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering. John directed the Pixar films “Toy Story” (1995), “Toy Story 2” (1999), “A Bug’s Life” (1998), “Cars” (2006), and “Cars 2” (2011), and he produced over 100 projects, including “Toy Story 3” (2010), “Frozen” (2013), “Zootopia” (2016), “Finding Dory” (2016), and “Incredibles 2” (2018). Lasseter left Disney in November 2017 after being accused of sexual misconduct against employees.

In June 2018, Disney announced that John would “assume a consulting role at The Walt Disney Company until December 31, 2018, at which time he will be leaving the company.” In January 2019, he was hired by Skydance Animation, becoming the head of the company.

Early Life

John Alan Lasseter was born on January 12, 1957, in Hollywood, California. His father, Paul, was a car dealership parts manager, and his mother, Jewell, was a high school art teacher. John and his fraternal twin, Johanna, grew raised in Whittier, California, and his mother’s career sparked his interest in animation at a young age.

Lasseter became interested in animation after reading Bob Thomas’ book “The Art of Animation.” In 1975, he enrolled in the California Institute of the Arts, where he was just the second student to enroll in the school’s new Character Animation department, founded by two Disney animators, T. Hee and Jack Hannah.

Veteran Disney animators Eric Larson, Ollie Johnston, and Frank Thomas taught the course. During his stay at CalArts, John created the short films “Lady and the Lamp” (1979) and “Nitemare” (1980), both of which earned Student Academy Awards for Animation. During his summer vacations, Lasseter worked for the Walt Disney Company as a captain on the Jungle Cruise.

Career

Lasseter was employed as an animator at Walt Disney Productions after graduating from CalArts. In the early 1980s, he viewed some movies from computer-graphics conferences that piqued his interest in the future of computer animation, and he subsequently collaborated with Glen Keane on a computer animated short test film of “Where the Wild Things Are.” Their immediate supervisors were not pleased and canceled the project, telling Lasseter, “Well, John, your project is now complete, thus your job with the Disney Studios is now ended.”

Later, he freelanced for Ed Catmull of Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Group on the company’s first computer animated short, “The Adventures of André & Wally B.” Lasseter joined Lucasfilm as a full-time employee in October 1984, and he later collaborated with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) on the special effects for “Young Sherlock Holmes,” developing the first-ever “entirely computer-generated photorealistic animated figure.” Lasseter and Catmull went on to create the first computer-animated feature picture, “Toy Story,” in 1995.

Following his divorce, George Lucas sold Lucasfilm Computer Graphics, which was then known as Pixar Graphics Group. Pixar formed a distinct firm in 1986, with Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, as the largest stakeholder. As an executive producer, Lasseter oversaw every Pixar picture throughout his tenure at the business.

In 2006, Disney acquired Pixar and made John the chief creative officer of both Walt Disney Feature Animation (later renamed Walt Disney Animation Studios) and Pixar. He also became Walt Disney Imagineering’s primary creative consultant and assisted in the creation of Disney theme park attractions. From 2006 through 2018, Lasseter executive produced every film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. In June 2007, Lasseter and Catmull took over Disneytoon Studios. John is acquainted with Hayao Miyazaki (of “My Neighbor Totoro” fame), and he executive produced numerous of Miyazaki’s films for their U.S. releases, as well as managed the dubbing and translations of the English language soundtracks.

Lasseter was on the Academy of Motion Picture.

e Arts and Sciences board of governors from 2005 to 2014, with first vice president being his final post before resigning due to term constraints. Following his departure from Disney at the end of 2018, John was hired by Skydance Animation, and in April 2020, legendary composer Alan Menken (known for Disney films such as “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast”) revealed that he was partnering with Lasseter on a Skydance project. In addition to his work as an animator, director, and producer, Lasseter has over 20 writing credits, including “story by” honors on all four “Toy Story” films, as well as “A Bug’s Life,” “Cars,” and “Cars 2.”

Personal Life

John married Nancy Ann Tague in 1988, three years after meeting her at a computer graphics conference in San Francisco. They have six sons: Sam, Paul, Jackson, Bennett, and Joey, as well as Nancy’s kid from a prior relationship. The pair has operated the Lasseter Family Winery in Glen Ellen, California, since 2002. John has over 1,000 Hawaiian shirts in his collection, as well as a collection of old automobiles, including a 1952 Jaguar XK120. In May 2009, he delivered the graduation address at Pepperdine University and was awarded an honorary degree.

Awards and Nominations

Lasseter has received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Short Film, Animated for “Tin Toy” in 1989 and a Special Achievement Award for “Toy Story.” Other nominations included Best Animated Short Film for “Luxo Jr.” (1987), Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for “Toy Story” (1996), Best Animated Feature for “Monsters, Inc.” (2002), Best Animated Feature Film of the Year for “Cars” (2007), and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay for “Toy Story 3.” (2011). John was nominated for two Primetime Emmys: Outstanding Animated Program for “Prep & Landing” (2010) and Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program for “Prep & Landing Stocking Stuffer: Operation: Secret Santa” (2011).

Lasseter has received career achievement awards from the 3D Creative Arts Awards (Sir Charles Wheatstone Award), the Annie Awards (Winsor McCay Award), the Art Directors Guild (Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award), the BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards (Contributions to Worldwide Entertainment), the Publicists Guild of America (Showmanship Award), the ShoWest Convention (Pioneer of Animation award and Outstanding Achievement award), the Venice Film Festival (Career Golden Lion)

John has also received honors from the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the Awards Circuit Community Awards (“Toy Story”), the Berlin International Film Festival , the Christopher Awards, the Hiroshima International Animation Festival (“Luxo Jr.”), the Hollywood Film Awards (“Cars”), the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (“Toy Story” and ” (“For the Birds”). Lasseter was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.

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