In the world of animation, few names evoke such admiration as the name of John Lasseter. Throughout his illustrious career, John Lasseter has been the creative genius behind many of the world’s most beloved animated films of all time. Mr. Lasseter’s association with Pixar and Disney yielded huge returns on blockbuster movies like Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., and so many more. Today, Lasseter is weaving his movie magic at Skydance Animation, a relatively new movie studio poised for transformation under his leadership.
Lasseter’s Arrival at Skydance Animation
John Lasseter is already playing a pivotal role in Skydance Animation’s creative direction, innovation, and storytelling process. The profound influence of Lasseter’s vision on Skydance Animation’s evolution has already resounded throughout the studio’s animation projects and the entire animation industry. Some of the film projects already in production at Skydance, such as “Spellbound,” have been pre-screened by critics, industry insiders and select members of the public, who have responded with overwhelming and incredible enthusiasm. There’s a lot of excitement over what Skydance Animation is bringing to the animation industry and the heights to which it is capable of ascending, now that John Lasseter is in the driver’s seat.
Streaming Success
Two of Skydance Animation’s creations are already streaming via a strategic partnership with AppleTV+. They have already each received critical acclaim across the board. Apart from the stellar graphics and production quality that make them an absolute joy for adults and children to enjoy, these films demonstrate a mastery of storytelling that is evocative of Lasseter’s creative vision.
“Blush” is a 10-minute animated short about an astronaut who crash lands on the moon. It’s a visually stunning animation driven entirely by the animation and the music. There are no words. The original music score was written by Joy Ngiaw, and it was written and directed by Joe Mateo, in memory of Ann R. Mateo. In just those brief 600 seconds, the film manages to tell an entire story of a life, with love found, lost, and found again. This kind of emotional storytelling is typical of John Lasseter, and even though he’s not the writer or director (he served as one of three executive producers on the film), he’s the one who found the story and knew it would translate so well onto the “big screen.”
“Luck” is another animation out of the studios of Skydance Animation, available for streaming on AppleTV+. With a running time of one hour and 45 minutes, this full-length movie animation has already been deemed a home run for Skydance and John Lasseter. Big-name stars like Simon Pegg, Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, and others provide the voices for the likable animated characters. The story is about a teenager who accidentally stumbles into the world of luck, where luck is carefully controlled by some enterprising little animals. She must find her way back to her world and somehow find the power to transform her bad luck into good luck and save a little girl in the process. Created by John Lasseter and directed by Peggy Holmes and Javier Abad, this movie is a top-quality video production that formally heralded the introduction of Skydance into the animation industry.
While Skydance Animation was already a growing name in the industry, Lasseter’s arrival supercharged its creative engines. His expertise in storytelling, character development, and technological innovation has been a catalyst for the studio. Under Lasseter’s guidance, Skydance has embarked on impressive projects already refining animation storytelling to higher levels.
