Edwin Catmull Quotes

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Edwin Catmull

Profession : Scientist

Birth : March 31, 1945

When I see a film, I'll remember that there was a time when it wasn't working, and there was some pain and angst in order to get it to work.

Edwin Catmull

I can't look at 'WALL-E' or 'Finding Nemo' or 'Up' and look at in the same way as people outside of the company would look at it. Each one of them had angst.

Edwin Catmull

The need to challenge the status quo is just more obvious when you're failing than when you're succeeding. But it's no less urgent.

Edwin Catmull

The skill of a good creative leader is being comfortable with blowing up an idea and knowing it will get better.

Edwin Catmull

Creative ideas aren't like Jenga blocks, where they fall apart and you've got to start from scratch, though it can feel that way.

Edwin Catmull

We need to remember we're always a lot more wrong than we think.

Edwin Catmull

One of Pixar's key mechanisms is the Braintrust, which we rely on to push us toward excellence and to root out mediocrity. It is our primary delivery system for straight talk.

Edwin Catmull

I've really thought a lot about why other companies fail or succeed. I had to be a student of failure and find out why things went off the rails. I did that at a fairly deep level, and it's still something I do.

Edwin Catmull

The desire to avoid meltdowns actually is one of the things that screws up live-action films.

Edwin Catmull

It doesn't even matter how successful a movie like 'Up' is: you'll never sell a lot of toy walkers. But that's the way we spread out the risk.

Edwin Catmull

In life,you're going to have risk, so you have to say, 'My attitude going forward is how to I fix the problem.' And it's not trying to cling onto the past. When I look around, most problems happen because people are trying to cling onto the past.

Edwin Catmull

My best advice came by examples. A supportive environment at home, school, and grad school. Support at the New York Institute of Technology, then George Lucas, Steve Jobs, and Bob Iger. The examples meant that I should support other people, even when things aren't going well. It will pay off.

Edwin Catmull

If you think you're right 80% of the time, you're deluded.

Edwin Catmull

I've always been surprised at the number of people who think we've got it all figured out. It's incorrect, and it's a real problem.

Edwin Catmull

I use a progressive alarm that makes a soft sound at first and then progressively gets louder. But I usually wake on the first sound, so it doesn't disturb my wife. When I used a loud alarm clock, I was more likely to hit it on the head and go back to sleep.

Edwin Catmull

I exercise in the gym about three times a week. I vary the workout every time, but I'll always do some type of circuit work with weights. It gets my heart rate up without putting too much stress on my knees, which for some reason seem to be older than the rest of my body.

Edwin Catmull

I eagerly await the day when there is a replacement for the meniscus.

Edwin Catmull

Every Pixar movie has its own rules that viewers have to accept, understand, and enjoy understanding. The voices of the toys in the 'Toy Story' films, for example, are never audible to humans.

Edwin Catmull

While problems in a film are fairly easy to identify, the sources of those problems are often extraordinarily difficult to assess. A mystifying plot twist or a less-than-credible change of heart in our main character is often caused by subtle underlying issues elsewhere in the story.

Edwin Catmull

Beware of being blinded by your own success.

Edwin Catmull