Pete Docter: “What If Monsters Really Do Exist?” (Update)

People I (Mostly) Admire

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Society & Culture

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

He’s the chief creative officer of Pixar, and the Academy Award-winning director of "Soul, Inside Out, Up, and Monsters, Inc." Pete Docter and Steve talk about Pixar’s scrappy beginnings, why wrong turns are essential, and the movie moment that changed Steve’s life.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today's episode is an encore presentation of a conversation I had with Pete Doctor,
0:09.5	chief creative officer at Pixar.
0:11.8	It might surprise you, but I absolutely love Pixar movies.
0:16.3	I wouldn't say I have a lot of kids just so that I have an excuse to watch Pixar movies over and over,
0:22.8	but I would say that being a parent is a lot more fun because of Pixar.
0:27.9	It's an early episode. It originally aired three and a half years ago, not long after the movie Soul was released.
0:34.1	A lot of things have changed since then. My son Lucas was born, giving me one more
0:38.6	excuse to rewatch the movies. And Pixar went through some hard times with a series of movies
0:44.1	that were not box office hits. But with the smash success this summer of Inside Out 2,
0:49.8	it's by far the highest grossing film of 2024 and the highest grossing animated film of all time.
0:56.5	Things are looking up for Pete Doctor and Pixar.
1:05.0	Monsters Inc. Up, Inside Out, and Soul.
1:09.8	All four of these movies, critically-claimed box office smashes,
1:13.2	are the brainchild of Pete Doctor.
1:15.7	Fresh out of college, you took a job as an animator
1:17.7	at a small, struggling firm that built computer hardware
1:20.4	and made TV commercials.
1:22.2	30 years later, that same firm, Pixar
1:24.0	is one of the most successful film studios on the planet,
1:27.4	and Pete Doctor is its chief
1:29.0	creative officer.
1:32.6	Welcome to people I mostly admire with Steve Levitt.
	...

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