Pixar's first 25 years, a look back

Posted Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 11:13 AM Central

by John Couture

I have no idea who Nick McDonalds is, but I wish I did so I could shake his hand and personally thank him for putting together this touching Pixar retrospective. Pixar was founded in 1986 and over the last 25 years, they have released 12 feature films and 20 shorts, with many more scheduled to release in the future.

I've never been a big animation fan, although I grew up on the Disney classics. With no children of my own, I haven't had the "pleasure" of watching Pixar's movies over and over again. My colleague Tim has two children and he's as of a Pixar supporter that you will find.

However, I've seen each of the feature films and I can honestly say that I agree with filmmaker Kevin Smith that they represent some of the most human movies made in the last two decades, despite not featuring a single live human on screen. That's the beauty of Pixar, their rich storytelling captures our imaginations and pulls at our heartstrings.

This Summer, Pixar returns with Cars 2 and with it, they will usher in the next wave of Pixar's releases in which sequels to established favorites will dominate the landscape. In fact, just this week, we learned that Monsters, Inc. 2 will officially be known as Monsters University and it will release on November 2, 2012.

As has been the case for the last 30 years and then some, sequels are the rule in Hollywood and now, they are about to take off big time for Pixar. One can only hope that Pixar will maintain the high attention to story that has made the originals so cherished and beloved.

For now, we've got this little video that will surely leave you with misty eyes. Just like the old Bo Jackson commercials, Pixar knows animation... and human emotion.