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Pixar's Catmull, Carpenter and Cook Receive Academy Award Of Merit®
EMERYVILLE, CA - March 5, 2001 - Pixar Animation Studios (Nasdaq: PIXR)
today announced that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences'
Board of Governors® has honored Ed Catmull, President, Loren Carpenter,
Senior Scientist, and Rob Cook, Senior Scientist, with an Academy Award
of Merit (Oscar)® "for significant advancements to the field
of motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar's RenderManTM."
The award was presented as part of the 73rd Scientific and
Technical Academy Awards® ceremony presentation on March 3, 2001.
This award recognizes them
for contributions that have propelled computer graphics into the mainstream
of movie-making. Their pioneering work has enabled computer-generated
images to go beyond their previous artificial look and become rich and
expressive enough to blend in seamlessly with live-action scenes. In addition
to Pixar's films -- Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Toy
Story 2 -- RenderMan has been used to create other critically acclaimed
box-office hits such as Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, Terminator
2, Jurassic Park, Titanic, The Phantom Menace, The Matrix, Perfect Storm and Gladiator.
"The original motivation
to do the research that led to these technological discoveries was to
expand the range of possibilities for storytellers," said Ed Catmull.
"We thank the Academy for bestowing us with this special honor."
In 1982 and 1983, Catmull, Carpenter
and Cook worked together to develop a new approach to rendering that led
to the RenderMan software. This software incorporated the technologies of
texture mapping, programmable shading and procedural modeling which were
previously invented by Catmull, Cook and Carpenter respectively. The internal
design of RenderMan was a breakthrough in being able to handle the extremely
complex scenes needed by the film industry. This design was built upon by
other developers who were later recognized with an Academy Award® for
their efforts. RenderMan remains the "gold" standard tool for
creating computer special effects.
About Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar Animation Studios (Nasdaq: PIXR) combines creative and technical artistry
to create original characters and stories in the medium of computer animation.
Under its partnership with Disney, Pixar has created and produced the first
computer-animated feature film, the Academy Award®-winning Toy Story,
released in 1995; A Bug's Life, the highest grossing animated film
released in 1998; and Golden Globe-winner Toy Story 2, the highest
grossing animated film released in 1999. The Northern California studio
is currently in production on Monsters, Inc., scheduled for release
November 2, 2001, and Finding Nemo, scheduled for a summer 2003 release.
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