Artifact Details

Description

Edwin Catmull’s career began at an important stage in the development of computer graphics, when declining costs of memory and computing power allowed for experimentation with new graphical techniques. After graduating from the University of Utah with a PhD in 1974 (in physics and computer science), Catmulll worked at graphics workstation vendor Applicon for a brief period. He then led the computer graphics group at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) where he worked with Alvy Ray Smith and others on computer animation techniques, culminating in the experimental film “Sunstone” by Smith and Ed Emshwiller.

Invited by Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, Catmull, Smith and others then formed the computer graphics group at Lucasfilm. The group spun out, creating Pixar, in 1986, which attracted financing from Apple Computer, Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs. Pixar was sold to Walt Disney Studios in 2006 where Catmull was made CEO of the newly-formed Walt Disney Animation Studios.

In this oral history, Catmulll describes his long career and accomplishments in an interview with Computer History Museum CEO John Hollar.

Date

2013-03-01

Contributor

Catmull, Edwin, Interviewee

Hollar, John C., Interviewer

Plutte, Jon, Videographer

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Place of Publication

Emeryville, California

Extent

31 p.

Copyright Holder

Computer History Museum

Category

Transcription

Subject

Einstein, Albert; Disney, Walt; Fellow Award Honoree; University of Utah; Sutherland, Ivan; Realism; FORTRAN; Stockton, Tom; Evans, Dave; Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA); Evans and Sutherland Computer Corporation; Clark, Jim; SketchPad; Computer animation; Applicon; New York Institute of Technology (NYIT); Schure, Alexander; Smith, Alvy Ray; DiFrancesco, David; SIGGRAPH; Industrial Light and Magic (ILM); Star Wars; Lucasfilm; Moorer, Andy; Guggenheim, Ralph; REYES (Render Everything You’ve Ever Seen); Carpenter, Loren; Cook, Rob; Pixar Animation Studios; Pixar Image Computer; Luxo Jr.; Tin Toy; Toy Story

Collection Title

Oral history collection

Lot Number

X6771.2013

Related Records

102746613

Catmull, Ed (Edwin) oral history : 2013 fellow