Many Pixar movies reference 'A113,' an allusion to the classroom where many of the studio's founders took animation classes.

Watch 4-plus decades of Pixar's opening logos.

Pixar's earliest days began with a handful of academics developing the technologies they thought might make fully animated movies possible.

Check out a fan list of the best Pixar movies.

Pixar relies on a 'brain trust,' a candid group of the company's minds that works collectively to shepherd creative productions.

Pixar's first animated film was 1986's short 'Luxo Jr.,' featuring characters still used by the studio today.

Pixar's films follow a standard narrative structure, which the company calls a 'story spine.'

'Tin Toy,' the predecessor to 'Toy Story,' was the first fully computer-generated film to win an Academy Award

Before it was acquired by Disney, Pixar was a small studio exploring the possibilities of computer animation. "Tin Toy," a 1988 short film that would inspire 1995's "Toy Story," was one of its most successful experiments, earning Pixar's first Academy Award for best animated short film and becoming the first fully computer-generated film to win an Oscar. Although you won't find Woody or Buzz, it's fascinating to observe the seeds for what would come later.

Steve Jobs revolutionized animated filmmaking

Steve Jobs left his mark beyond Apple with Pixar, the animated studio he acquired in 1986. In addition to pushing Pixar to focus on storytelling, Jobs led the studio to revolutionize animation via computer-generated imagery.

'Tin Toy,' Pixar's 'Toy Story' predecessor, was the first fully computer-generated film to win an Academy Award.

Disney initially pushed Pixar to make 'Toy Story' an edgy comedy that could appeal to adults.

Pixar's RenderMan software, which turned code into graphics, changed the way Hollywood produced special effects.

Tesla has incorporated several Easter eggs into its electric vehicles

After a customer complained that the car's sounds woke up his baby, Tesla implemented "Joe Mode," which quiets sounds, in his honor. Autopilot can be used to engage a depiction of Rainbow Road from Mario Kart on the navigation screen.

Walt Disney’s Laugh-O-Gram Studio featured his earliest innovations in animation

Before he founded his iconic film company, Walt Disney was a young animator in Kansas City, Missouri. After scoring a contract to create animated newsreels for local movie theaters, Disney formed Laugh-O-Gram Studio, where he created innovative animated shorts that set the path for his later work.

Steve Jobs changed the world with Apple and Pixar

The devices Jobs introduced during his time at Apple, including the iPad and iPhone, were imitated by competitors, ultimately helping to create the numerous options consumers have today. In addition to leading Apple, Jobs also helped turn Pixar and the software startup NeXT into success stories.

Why the Linux Foundation partnered with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

In founding the Academy Software Foundation in 2018, the Linux Foundation spread its open-source philosophy to the cinema by establishing a neutral forum for sharing animation, visual effects, and audio technologies across projects. Its founding members include DreamWorks Animation, Epic Games, Google Cloud, Intel, and Walt Disney Studios.

Disney was originally called the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio

In 1923, brothers Walt and Roy formed what would later become The Walt Disney Co. They began by continuing to produce Walt's "Alice Comedies" and a series based on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a precursor to Mickey Mouse.

Steven Spielberg submitted his films 'Schindler's List' and 'Jurassic Park' for college credit when he reenrolled in school as an adult.

The sophisticated math jokes of 'The Simpsons'

"The Simpsons" has always been a slyly sophisticated show and has featured more than a few references to complex mathematical concepts. That's largely due to its writers' room, which has featured more than one writer who studied math before transitioning to comedy.

Hitchcock regularly made cameos in his own films

Long before Tarantino was born, Hitchcock was casting himself in his movies’ bit parts, allowing careful audience members to find the director walking through the fictional world he’d created. The history behind that decision was an accident.

Richard Hamilton's iconic pop art collage inspired the set of 'Barbie' (2023)

Ken's Mojo Dojo Casa House in Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" was inspired by Hamilton's jumbled vision of a home in "Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?" Set designers cited the work as inspiring the mishmash of Americana imagery in the man cave.

Disney purchased a street near its studios and keeps it pristine year-round so it's always ready for films that need suburban settings.

A stolen Norman Rockwell painting was found in Stephen Spielberg's collection

In 1989, the famed director purchased "Russian Schoolroom" from a legitimate dealer. He remained unaware that it was looted years prior from a gallery in Missouri until his staff spotted the painting on an FBI list of stolen works of art. In 2007, the FBI confirmed its authenticity.

Walt Disney's visit to a Ford factory helped inspire the layout for Disneyland

Walt Disney visited Henry Ford's Greenfield Village and the Ford Motor Company's River Rouge manufacturing plant on a trip to the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair. The layout of Greenfield Village inspired the different, distinctly themed sections of Disneyland in Anaheim, CA.

There are several theories for how the Oscar got its name

Several different people claim to have bestowed the famous nickname, including a librarian who thought the knight resembled her uncle Oscar and a gossip columnist who was poking fun at a local theater owner.

Explore Anthropic Academy, which provides courses on using Claude

The online courses include Claude Code in Action, which teaches software developers how to integrate Claude Code into existing workflows; Claude 101, to learn how Claude can be used to complete everyday tasks; and an AI Fluency series to help educators, instructional designers, and students learn to apply AI in academic settings.

Read a 1971 magazine feature on Lucas' debut film, the sci-fi 'THX 1138'

Almost a decade before the arrival of "Star Wars," George Lucas directed "THX 1138," a grim science fiction film about a dystopian future in the vein of George Orwell's "1984." This article from the October 1971 issue of American Cinematographer features a young George Lucas, who developed the film from a short he worked on while a student at the University of Southern California just a few years earlier.

The film ‘Coco’ sparked global interest in the Day of the Dead

The holiday figures prominently in the 2017 Disney film, which inspired an uptick in Day of the Dead merchandise being carried by national chains like Target and Michaels, sold alongside Halloween merchandise.

The Oscar statuette represents the original 5 branches—producers, directors, writers, actors, and technicians—that comprised the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Watch Walt Disney's early innovative film, 'Alice's Wonderland,' which innovated the use of animated characters in the real world.

Disney fans categorize the company's films into specific eras

Superfans break the company's animated films into chronological eras: the Golden Age, the Transitional Era, the Disney Renaissance, the Modern Era, and the Revival Era.

A Disney architect designed Epic's headquarters

Epic Systems provides electronic medical records in the US—but its offices are far from bland. The HQ has five different campuses that are inspired by "Harry Potter," "The Wizard of Oz," and "Alice in Wonderland."

Biggest moments that defined Disney

Walt Disney’s first studio went bankrupt, but he and his brother Roy started over in 1923, eventually building an entertainment empire. From "Snow White" to "The Little Mermaid," Disney shaped animation and expanded into TV, theme parks, and major acquisitions like Pixar and Marvel.

An animation illustrating the enormity of the universe

Look around you. Where are you? Where is this place you are occupying? Somewhere in a room, maybe in a city on a continent on a planet orbiting a star in a galaxy among billions. But… where is all of that?

An ‘auteur’ is another name for the chief creative mind of a film

“Auteur” is French for author. In film studies, the word refers to a film director who is considered the principal creative mind, or author, behind a film. Directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, Steven Spielberg, and Greta Gerwig are often considered auteurs.

The Walt Disney Co. has existed for over 100 years

October 16, 2023, marked the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Co. In that time, it has evolved from a modest animation studio called the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio to a massive, billion-dollar conglomerate.

See a web of circular investments among major AI industry players like Nvidia and OpenAI, as many top AI companies provide significant investments to one another.

In 'Lord of the Rings,' the 'palantír' is a magical stone that allows one to see virtually anything

The company Palantir's name was inspired by this J. R. R. Tolkien reference. In fact, it's one of several Peter Thiel-cofounded companies that have a nod to The Lord of the Rings for a name, including Valar Ventures and Mithril Capital.

The art of miniature sets in Hollywood

Many films utilize meticulously designed miniature sets to produce scenes that would otherwise be too big to film. While artsy filmmaker Wes Anderson is well-known for reviving this technique in an idiosyncratic style, more mainstream films like "Star Wars" and "Inception" rely heavily on small-scale sets filmed in such a way as to make them appear normal-sized. This nine-minute video breaks down how it all works.

See Walt Disney's corporate strategy document from 1957, complete with a plethora of Mickey Mouse illustrations.

Many of Spielberg's films were inspired by childhood experiences

Steven Spielberg was inspired to make “Saving Private Ryan” after seeing the toll war took on his father’s generation. Similarly, he felt called to direct “Schindler’s List” by the Holocaust survivors he met when he was only three years old.

Steven Spielberg’s movies have a unique style

Despite their distinct genres, Spielberg films often have much in common with one another. For example, supernatural phenomena, middle-class values, and camera techniques—including long, uninterrupted shots and a dolly-zoom method called the "Spielberg Face.”

The people behind the indie film studio A24

The movie "Everything Everywhere All At Once" has dominated at the box office and in awards shows, the latest in indie film studio A24's string of cult favorites. This absorbing piece reports on what makes A24's executives distinct from other...

A 1927 map shows where Paramount shot its many productions

The skeleton key of California identified in-state locations that would substitute for shooting films abroad. It includes some interesting choices, like establishing Wales along the Los Angeles coast.

John Steinbeck often drew a pig with wings next to his signature, a character he affectionately called 'Pigasus.'

A catalog of every film with a post-credits scene

A crowd-maintained database spanning film, TV, and games, the site flags whether any given title has a "stinger"—hidden sequel teasers, outtakes, or jokes. "Stinger" is the fan shorthand; you'll also hear "credit cookie" or "post-credits scene."

'Steamboat Willie' was the first film to feature Mickey Mouse

This short film introduced Mickey Mouse, the character who would define the Disney brand, to the world. It might be almost 100 years old, but you'll be surprised at how much humor still holds up.

A fact about every best picture Oscar winner

Beginning with “Wings,” the best picture winner from the very first Academy Awards in 1927, discover facts about all 96 of the winning pictures leading up to the “Oppenheimer” win in 2024. Find interesting tidbits about each of these movies, including the troublesome making of “Gone with the Wind” and the landmark achievements of the foreign film “Parasite.”

Watch 'I'm Just a Bill' explain how a law gets made

First aired in 1976, "I'm Just a Bill" became a defining civics lesson for generations, using animation and humor to trace the legislative process and cement itself as a lasting piece of US political culture.

Disney's IP problem, according to industry experts

Disney seems to be an unstoppable force in the entertainment industry, but after an unprecedented high point in 2019, the company began losing money. In this podcast, two industry veterans discuss what they see as Disney's existential problems: an overreliance on preexisting material and an inability to innovate as it once did.

In 2026, a pilot program introduced two AI-powered humanoid robots to a San Diego charter school to increase engagement and academic gains, though some criticized the $500k purchase.