FROM 2007
ANDREW JIMENEZ, RALPH EGGLESTON, KATHERINE SARAFIAN
talk about Pixar's short films

by Scott Wolf

When Andrew Jimenez, Ralph Eggleston, and Katherine Sarafian from Pixar were together at Comic-Con, it gave me the opportunity to talk to them collectively about how Pixar works and a bit about their own careers as well.

Each have worked on many of Pixar's films and also Andrew directed "One Man Band," Ralph directed, "For the Birds," and Katherine produced "Lifted."

Scott Wolf: Ralph, how did you get your start with Pixar?

Ralph: At the end of 1992, John Lasseter and my friend Andrew Stanton called me up. I actually directed him on a project. Movie titles for National Lampoon’s "Christmas Vacation." We had gone to school together and I got a call from him, “Hey, are you doing anything? We’re going to be down there pitching something at Disney. Can you meet with us?” So I met with him and John Lasseter and the late Joe Ranft at Bombay Bicycle Club on First Street.

They looked at my portfolio and John said, “You’re hired! Can you drive us to the airport?” (we all laugh) So I drove to the airport and I thought it would be like a month or two because I just signed a new lease. Bonnie Arnold, the Producer of "Toy Story" called me up and said, “How about next week?” So somebody shows up at my house, packs up my house, moves me up North and suddenly I’m there, so that’s how I got started there.

I worked on a couple of smaller projects and then one feature film. I think John responded to my pastel drawings I did that he seemed to like.

Katherine: He seemed to like? He LOVED those pastel drawings!

Ralph: I was terrified because I didn’t know… I knew Andrew, I didn’t know anybody else. When I got up there, I just was terrified. I still don’t know anything about computers. I really don’t.

SW: Are you serious?

Ralph: I’m serious. I sat in a room with Tom Porter and Bill Reeves, two of the nicest, smartest people you’ll ever meet and they explained to me the computer animation. “This is a cube” and “this is a sphere,” and “this is a cone, “ and blah blah blah blah blah.

I’m writing it all down and I remember I was with Tia Kratter and Bob Pauley and we walk out of there and our heads were spinning like, “What are we going to do?” “How are we going to learn to do all this computer stuff?” “This is terrifying!” Right?

John Lasseter saw us and started laughing because I think he must have recognized what we were going through and he just came and said, “You know, they can do what you can’t, but they can’t do what you can do which is give us a picture. What do you want it to look like? And we will figure out how to make it.” And I’ve never looked back and it’s like, “Oh, well, that’s quite simple.” That’s how I got started.

SW: Andy, how did you get your start with Pixar?

Andrew: In ’97 I started working with Brad Bird on “Iron Giant.” This whole thing with story reels… Brad back then was always very frustrated. He had this film to pitch and it was kind of like, “We’re not going to make it.” He wanted a way to make the story reels really clear so that basically they would…

Ralph: So the executives would understand it.

Andrew: They could understand it. Even if they passed on it, they would know why. Like, “We don’t like this.” Instead of, “Well, the third act has a lot of arrows…”

Ralph: “It’s different than the script.” (Chuckles)

Katherine: (Chuckles) Yeah, different than the script.

Andrew: So I started working for Brad, doing storyboards and story reels. That was one of the most important experiences for me because this little core group of people, we now all work at Pixar together. We knew that no matter how great a project is, it was working with the right people that was the goal there because we could help each other. There was nothing better than that. So after the “Iron Giant” we all kind of migrated around different projects but we were all sort of gravitating towards one another. Then I get a call one day from Brad Bird and it was kind of like he was planning a bank robbery. (We all laugh)

I was at work and he said, “(whispering) Meet me at the Starbucks.” (We all laugh) I said, “Brad, how are you doing? What’s going on?” He said, “(whispering) I can’t talk right now.” So I met him at the Starbucks, he had a little satchel with him. (We all laugh)

It was like, “Whoa, Brad. After ‘Iron Giant’ you’ve flipped out.” But he pulls out this painting that Lou Romano had done and it was this really fat guy in a superhero suit fighting this lava… just this crazy thing. He said, “This is my next movie. I’m doing it at Pixar. Would you like to come up and do it?” I went, “Yes!”

Then again it was like, (quietly) “Call this number if you want to do it.” (We laugh)

I thought, “What’s the things I liked and not liked about this experience working on these other films?” The thing that’s been the best is finding great people for all our different skills. So I said I have to do it. So I moved up to Pixar. Mark Andrews was part of that move, John Walker, Tony Fucile, Lou Romano, Teddy Newton. A lot of the key people that are at Pixar now as part of that move. So that’s how I got there.

After “The Incredibles” but before “One Man Band” I thought at first maybe I’m going to come back (and leave Pixar) but then I thought, “No way. I don’t care if I’m just doing storyboards or this or this… I have to stay here.”

More from Pixar's Andy, Ralph and Katherine:
About Pixar's short films
How Pixar's different from other studios
Katherine's start with Pixar

See other interviews

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