It would appear that another name has been drawn to be blamed for inappropriate advances and gestures, and that name is John Lasseter. The Chief Creative Officer for Pixar and Disney Animation Studios has effectively taken himself out of the equation as of late thanks to a series of missteps, or in other words, allegations that might have been inappropriate with those working beneath him at one time or another. It’s been reported that women who have left Pixar might have been involved in these missteps, but two at least have reported that the reason they left was creative differences and nothing else. At this point Lasseter is going on sabbatical, which is entirely supported by Disney.
Lasseter is at least attempting to apologize and remove himself so that he can assess and alleviate the situation.
5. He was fired from Disney.
A lot of this had to do with the fact that Lasseter believed that they were limiting themselves in terms of how far they could go with animation. He wanted to push forth with CGI a lot quicker than Disney wanted to go and kind of stepped on a lot of toes when he took on his own project. When Disney found out about this they let him go without hesitation.
4. He’s loved animation from an early age.
As a kid he was fascinated with animation and would draw while at church and anywhere else where he could get the time. His mother was an art teacher and fully supported his interests as well, which continued to push him as he read every book he could get his hands on and kept moving towards a career in animation. Obviously he had the dedication for the job.
3. He was one of the founders of Pixar.
It started out as Lucasfilm Computer Graphics and then was renamed Pixar Graphics Group. Steve Jobs was the main shareholder at one time. It used to be that Pixar was a computer company that did animation work on the side, but eventually it would become it’s own animation studio with Lasseter as the executive producer that oversaw every film that went out the door.
2. Disney rehired him when they bought Pixar.
Disney acquired Pixar in 2006 and picked up Lasseter along with the deal. Despite being fired 22 years ago from the same company they were willing to give him another shot based on his success at Pixar. He came in and assumed a great deal of control over Pixar and the Disney Animation studios, answering only to the CEO of Disney. That’s a lot of influence over a lot of people.
1. Apparently Lasseter has a history of misconduct with employees.
It’s hard to know just what he’s done over the years that has been seen as inappropriate or counts as unwanted contact. This means there’s no way to dispute that it was done either. One thing is for sure, he has found a way to take himself out of the equation for right or wrong, and will take a six-month sabbatical to sort things out.
Whether that means he’s running from guilt or just waiting for the storm to blow over is not yet known.
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