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Inside Look at Pixar HQ 308

Posted by CmdrTaco from the my-chair-has-spikes-in-the-seat dept.
LittleGuernica writes "Aintitcool's moriarty has taken a tour of Pixar's Headquarters in Emeryville, California and it just looks astounding. It instantly makes you wanna work there, or at least pimp up your cubicle... Which they don't have at Pixar, no they have cottages! Looks like Pixar created the optimal work condition for such a creative company, which leaves you no choice but to enjoy your job at Pixar every damn minute you work there."
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Inside Look at Pixar HQ More

Inside Look at Pixar HQ

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  • great (Score:4, Funny)

    by R.D.Olivaw ( 826349 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:17AM (#12011228)
    as if I didn't hate my workplace enough already.

    • They've come a LONG way (Score:5, Interesting)

      by sgant ( 178166 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:36AM (#12011398) Homepage Journal
      I remember years ago going to SIGGRAPH and Pixar had this little booth off in the back. Ed Catmull was there manning the cash-box to where you could buy a videotape of their few animated shorts they had made up to that point.

      Ed freaking Catmull was taking my bucks and sticking a videotape into a bag for me. I know, geek worship here, but this is Ed Catmull we're talking about.

      Now look at Pixar!

      • Ditto AOL (Score:3, Interesting)

        by jpellino ( 202698 )
        When AppleLink Personal Edition morphed into America Online, some of us making the switch were beta-testers - we got a special disk with the client SW on it, and were to use it for a few months at half price as their way of thanking us, after which we'd get the real disk with the full release / full price client. Another few months went by, then I got a call from the main office, Steve Case called to let me know that the 'full' client was NG and had been still charging us the beta rate, and could I please

    • Re:great (Score:2, Funny)

      by Alien54 ( 180860 )
      I can remember a similar story from when I was in the navy.

      Ship's captain had a policy that as long as the work for the day was done, the dept head could let folks leave for the day. Of course people on watch had to stay overnight, etc. but that was routine.

      One day, when I was on watch, a guy comes over right after lunch, from another ship, looking to speak with someone about some parts. He was told that the guy he was looking for was gone for the day. The poor bloke was puzzled as to why the guy was gon

    • Re:great (Score:2, Informative)

      by pentalive ( 449155 )
      At least you have a job :^\

      Anyone need a linux / novell admin?

  • isn't the (Score:2, Insightful)

    by bugsmalli ( 638337 )
    CEO position open or something. Maybe they can use some new overlords now that disney is no longer in the animation...

  • Treating employees like human beings? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by FlyByPC ( 841016 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:19AM (#12011243) Homepage
    What a concept! Wow!

    • Re:Treating employees like human beings? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by tomstdenis ( 446163 ) <tomstdenis.gmail@com> on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:25AM (#12011299) Homepage
      Hey, common you can treat people like crap, they'll do a good job in return and not just the absolute minimum! Honest!

      Keep in mind during the dotcom boom many actually creative/innovative/perhaps not business worthy companies actually had things like real break areas, creative cubicles, music, gaming time, gyms, etc...

      Now all those things are "anti-productive" and evil again...

      Tom

    • Re:Treating employees like human beings? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ScentCone ( 795499 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:44AM (#12011453)
      What a concept! Wow!

      Of course, if the average people employed (or employable) by the average business could ever, ever come close to being as smart, inspired, productive, and profitable as the army of PhDs and 140+ IQ types at Pixar, then we'd have more reason to wonder why the average employer doesn't look more like Pixar. But every company cannot have Pixar's capital (intellectual or financial) - there just aren't that many people of that caliber adrift looking for (and able) to do that sort of work. Hell, there isn't really even a market for more than a couple more Pixars, per se.

      So, the uncomfortable truth: most of us (myself very definately included) are way, way too mediocre to demand the costs (which are way higher than the paycheck) that Pixar has to cover to keep a body around, productive, and happy. It's like looking at the New York Yankees and wondering why your farm-league team's locker room isn't just as nice, and why it's take-the-bus instead of take-the-Gulfstream.

      Native talent. Raw brain horsepower. Big up-front financial investment. Hugely lucrative actual results. That's what enables that tech Valhalla you see at Pixar. Sure, you could have all of those things, treat people like crap, and then chase off all of that talent in about 6 months... but they're smarter than that. But what about all of the folks who try to get jobs at Pixar and just don't cut it? They, like me, toil in less idyllic environments, for less cash, with less cool office lighting, and with fewer Mr. Fusion-powered robo-scooters bringing them cardemom-enhanced lattes for "free." Oh well! It would all fall down if they didn't use their one-in-million people to make exceptional products. The other 999,999 of us per million get to have regular jobs, sometimes managed by average people without a large budget (because the average workers don't generally produce the above-average revenue that make fantasy office environments an asset rather than a liability).

      If we only had a foosball table for every average office worker that deserved better... oh, wait.. we did! And we financed them with crashed dot-com stocks! There's a reason that didn't work out except for a handful of Pixars and their equivalents in other areas (Google, et al).
      • I've worked at places with "army's of Phd's" and they most certainly did not resemble Pixar's headquarters in the least!

        At any "normal" office, only the executives get perks. Period.

      • Re:Treating employees like human beings? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by JWW ( 79176 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @10:06AM (#12011661)
        I think you're giving Pixar too much credit. Sure they hire smart, talented, people. But one difference is that they're not all exactly IT people, they're artists, IT folks, directors, voice actors, etc. Just some of the jobs are IT and Technology related, everyone else works with technology.

        The really appear to have setup a great culture to create great movies. The work environment is part of that. However, there are many people who would like to see movies more often from Pixar and maybe see TV cartoons from Pixar with their characters. But they don't do that, they have a commitment to quality that goes beyond most other movie studios and in fact most other companies. And they know that to get that quality they have to trust their people and have to work collaboratively. It just amazes me watching their making of and listening to their commentaries on their DVD's how much of a team effort it is to bring their movies to life.

        Its all about culture. The difference here is that pixar looks like it does because it hasen't succumbed to that "gotta make a profit this quarter" culture that currently pervades American business. Thats what makes other jobs suck, everybody says they hire the best people, Pixar just appears to treat them better.

        • Re:Treating employees like human beings? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Loco3KGT ( 141999 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @10:32AM (#12011960)
          You make a greater point than your parent in this thread. The reality is Pixar has an environment like that because you need an environment like that to do the things they do.

          I work for a defense contractor. I couldn't imagine what our office would be like if it were like Pixars. In our office everyone wants their own office, they want a hardwood desk, book shelf, maybe an extra table. Everyone is allowed to bring in their own decorations but what you see are diplomas, family pictures, awards, certifications, some books, and a whole lot of business materials.

          It's quite possibly the most dull and sedated atmosphere I've ever been in, but it's what works. We're not looking for creativity as much as "by the numbers". They work at work and they play at home.

          An acquaintance of mine has a small startup of ~20 people (mostly part-timers) and it's dependent on creativity. So despite their small budget their office is set up to foster an amazingly different environment than ours.
        • I think you hit on the biggest point here and that is that Pixar isn't trying to define success as profitability this quarter. American and in many cases global businesses are too concerned with the immediate future the current quarter. No heed is paid to the future and as a result we have less than idea work conditions where companies are often understaffed because adding that extra body will blow the budget, so the end result is 1 person doing the job of 2 but in reality giving as much real productivity a
          • I'd say you're mostly right... and what it takes is a company that's willing to operate at a huge loss for some period of time. And that takes investors with very deep pockets who have some sense of longer-term vision. Those people are definately out there, else we wouldn't have Googles or Pixars. But that's exactly what a market economy is all about. People with good ideas (like, seeing past this quarter) can be bigger risk takers (like gambling that losing money for two years straight is OK), and can ulti
        • I think you're giving Pixar too much credit.

          Probably not enough, actually.

          But one difference is that they're not all exactly IT people, they're artists, IT folks, directors, voice actors, etc. Just some of the jobs are IT and Technology related, everyone else works with technology.

          Yup, but none of that changes my points about their overall profile or the fact that they've got the cream of the crop working for them (across all disciplines). That's not to say that Weta, or Industrial Light & Magi
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re:Treating employees like human beings? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by ScentCone ( 795499 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @10:59AM (#12012301)
          Are you always so negative?

          Actually, I don't think I was being negative at all - just realistic. Being negative is what I was responding to - the implication that if only the average employee was treated differently he/she'd actually be smarter, more creative, etc. I don't buy that, not in so many words. Truly crappy work environments certainly taint creativity, but truly great environments can only do so much to make a non-creative person a creative rock star (which is to say, not much at all if you're not already that kind of person).

          Most of us are human beings, each with the same built in potential.

          That, I definately don't buy. Even if we were to stipulate that at birth, everyone has the same capacity for the type of work that makes a Pixar shine, by the time that people are in their 20's and 30's, and filling in that job application at Pixar/Google/wherever, life has happened to them. They have (or have not) been intellectually nurtured, have (or have not) had the discipline to polish their critical and creative thinking skills, have (or have not) spent their time in a way that prepared them for a job as challenging as a gig at a top-flight shop. We do not all arrive at the human resources office "equal" in our potential. A prospective employer's choice of decor and office culture will not make up for the substantial differences in experience and intellect that truly do exist, no matter how politically incorrect that may sound.

          Point of interest: I'm going to say that my brother and I are probably equally bright and creative. But our characters, academic histories, and pursuits have been different enough that we've cut ourselves out for different activities. He actually does work at Pixar, and is definately thriving there. I'm more of an IT cowboy, and it brings me to different sorts of work. The specific character traits and skills that work for me in my setting are definately at odds with what's working for him (and thus, for Pixar, too). So, the point is: our potential to be valuable to Pixar is substantially different, just as our potential to be valuable to my customers (a more 1-on-1 consulting type audience) is different. We couldn't switch jobs now, and I don't think we could have switched paths years ago, either. Made of different stuff!

        • Re:Treating employees like human beings? (Score:4, Interesting)

          by Tassach ( 137772 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @12:05PM (#12013056)
          Most of us are human beings, each with the same built in potential
          Nice pep talk, but it's bullshit. Different people have different levels of potential. It takes more than dedication and hard work to excel in a given field -- it takes natural ability, which is not distributed equally.

          I'm a decent engineer; if I was sufficiently motivated I could possibly be a great one. But I could never, no matter how hard I tried, become a professional baseball player, because I just don't have the natural ability in that area. Conversely, I seriously doubt that the average major-league baseball player has the aptitude to become an engineer.

      • Have you considered that maybe you look at yourself as "mediocre" because you have not been given the chance to tap into your potential?
        The people at Pixar, or any other great company are not "better" than you, they are people that push their limits everyday and don't settle for a self fulfilling prophecy of being mediocre which most of us settle with. If every person looked with awe at great achievers there would be no more great achievements! What Pixar does, as a company, is that it realizes that the

    • Re:Treating employees like human beings? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Skater ( 41976 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @10:01AM (#12011596) Homepage Journal
      My employer recently had a "human capital" survey to get our opinions on work conditions. I wanted to tell them that calling us "employees" or even "human beings" would be a good step in the right direction. Even the term "resources" is slightly better than "capital". Unfortunately, I wasn't in the survey.
      • That's one of my biggest pet peeves in the workplace -- being referred to as a "resource". Just like other resources, such as raw materials and electricity. I find it about as disrespectful as can be. And then they have the audacity to say that "our people are our most important asset".

        • Resource - Dilbert (Score:5, Funny)

          by Embedded Geek ( 532893 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @01:18PM (#12013835) Homepage
          Reminds me of the Dilbert where the pointy haired boss is talking about the latest study from HQ:


          PHB: We've been saying that our people are our most important asset for years, but our recent inventory shows that's not true.
          Dilbert: Really? Where do we rank?
          PHB: 17th.
          Dilbert: 17th!?
          PHB: Yes. Just below carbon paper.

          Man, it almost makes you wish they'd just come out and say the truth:

          • "People are our 17th most important asset"
          • "Quality is job 36!"
          • "Turning a quarterly profit at our company's long term expense - that's what we're all about.'

  • Not to mention... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Reignking ( 832642 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:20AM (#12011251) Journal
    Not to mention the beautiful effigy of a hanging Mickey Mouse statue in the courtyard...

  • Pimp my cubicle? (Score:4, Funny)

    by chrishillman ( 852550 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:21AM (#12011256) Homepage Journal
    I am working the grill today at McDonalds, I hung up some napkins and drink covers to personalize my space. My boss is real mad, he lacks the creative spark that Steve Jobs has...

    • Re:Pimp my cubicle? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Walterk ( 124748 ) <slashdot AT dublet DOT org> on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:41AM (#12011432) Homepage Journal
      Napkins and drink covers? Call that pimping your cubicle? Dude, you need 20" chrome drink covers, and 42" plasma widescreen connected to a surround sound speaker system and entertainment centre powered by a Playstation 2 in your napkins, at least!

    • Re:Pimp my cubicle? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Alien Being ( 18488 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:52AM (#12011516)
      "I am working the grill today at McDonalds"

      Not exactly a rare job.

      "I hung up some napkins and drink covers to personalize my space."

      Trying to ketchup to the pixar guys, eh?

      "My boss is real mad"

      Flipping mad?

      "he lacks the creative spark that Steve Jobs has..."

      Mustard been his training at Hamburger U. It seems you're in a pickle, but there's no need to get cheesed off. Grow some mcnuggets, take off the funny hat, and tell him you deserve a break today.

    • Re:Pimp my cubicle? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Gulthek ( 12570 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:52AM (#12011518) Homepage Journal
      No kidding. I now have a bottom tier desk job at a University coming from 1.5 years of working retail.

      What...I have a...a...chair? And little fake walls upon which to hang items of personal interest???

      *tears*

      And...health insurance? ... *FREE* health insurance?

      *opening weeping for joy*

  • Macs (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BWJones ( 18351 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:21AM (#12011261) Homepage Journal
    It's nice to see the Macs, but Yo Steve! When are you gonna replace the rendering farm with Xserves? We want our films rendered even faster!

    Seriously though, given that one can easily approach #3 on the supercomputing list with a bunch of out of the box Xserves, one would expect this to happen at some point after the initial render farm has paid for itself.

  • Colour me Jealous... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Arbin ( 570266 ) * on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:21AM (#12011262) Journal
    ..but sitting here in my cubicle of an office measuring no more than 80 Square feet, with plane white walls and no window, I'm jealous. No wonder they come up with off the wall creative stuff and I sometimes struggle whilst attempting to get the creative juices flowing.

  • Google Cache Version (Score:4, Funny)

    by anonicon ( 215837 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:23AM (#12011274)
    Here's the article cache. [64.233.167.104]
    • What's up with the Google 'cache' anyway? Half the time when the original site is down, the cache won't work either. Some cache...

      • Re:Google Cache Version (Score:5, Informative)

        by Jugalator ( 259273 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:43AM (#12011447) Journal
        Google only cache text, not images.

        So when using the Google cache link, your browser will often start waiting for images to load before displaying the text. And since these images are Slashdotted, it can take a while. :-p

        However, you can make it work much faster by clicking the "view cached text only" link in the Google cache header. Here's that page [64.233.167.104] showing text only. It should load much faster, as it doesn't even try to load the images.

  • Coral link works (Score:5, Informative)

    by ++CaChElInKeR++ ( 837077 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:23AM (#12011280)
    Coral seems to have the file: http://aintitcool.com.nyud.net:8090/display.cgi?id =19658#1 [nyud.net]

  • One bathroom in the whole building (Score:5, Interesting)

    by xylix ( 447915 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:27AM (#12011309)
    As the article mentioned, when the building was being constructed Steve Jobs wanted to have one bathroom (I assume one for each sex) in the entire building. I used to teach business in a college and used to have an article about Pixar that I got my students to read that mentioned this fact. I would then try to get them to decide why Jobs wanted this. (The linked article doesn't give an explanation.) Apparently, his thinking was that it would facilitate communication and creativity. If everyone had to walk THROUGH everyone else's space and all gather in the same place there would be more interaction and cross-pollination of ideas. (I included this reading in a unit on "synergy" in business!)

    From what I understand Jobs didn't get his single washroom for the whole building. But I *think* I heard that there is one washroom PER FLOOR instead for the same reason.

    • "...all gather in the same place there would be more interaction and cross-pollination of ideas..."

      I dunno about you, but your use of "cross-pollination" when refering to reasons behind a single bathroom gives me the heebie-jeebies.

    • Man, I'd hate to have the cubicles around that bathroom! And you thought the seats near bathrooms on the plane could be bad...
      • I dunno, with a cubicle near the bathroom, you'd at least get the amusement value of watching the folks from the top floor running for the john. And think of the fun you'd have with an "Out of Order" sign on beer-bash Fridays.

    • Re:One bathroom in the whole building (Score:5, Interesting)

      by LocoMan ( 744414 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:41AM (#12011435) Homepage
      I think the building wasn't built by them.. or at least not entirely (maybe it was redesigned or expanded later, though). Not too long ago there was a 3D related event here in Venezuela and two of the people invited were from Pixar, one of them was talking about how is life there, and one of the things he mentioned was the "love lounge".

      Basically he said that when Pixar was starting and they moved in, there was a "missing space" in the building next to John Lassetter's office. As it Turns out, that missing space was a 2 by 2 meters (or so) room where they had the huge (and very old) air conditioning unit that wasn't being used anymore, so they removed it and had a small door (about a meter tall) cut in the wall, and then they pimped out the place with a nice sound system, a disco ball and lots of other stuff, and most celebrities that visit Pixar are invited to have a drink and sign the wall there. They also show it on the second DVD of Finding Nemo.

    • Actually, it says exactly that, in the section on the atrium.

      It is one beautiful set of offices, and must have cost a mint. Since the company's coining money, there is of course absolutely nothing wrong with that. I hear Pixar salaries aren't that great, but with this as what they get in compensation, I suspect there are few complaints.

      D
      • "I hear Pixar salaries aren't that great, but with this as what they get in compensation, I suspect there are few complaints."

        Except swanky offices and cushy cubes and bathrooms doesn't pay mortgages and rent or put food on the table or buy clothes for your kids. All it does it make you spend more time at work and away from family.

    • Re:One bathroom in the whole building (Score:5, Funny)

      by vjmurphy ( 190266 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:45AM (#12011460) Homepage
      Perhaps that's where they got ideas for the Incredibles?

      In the Pixar Restroom:

      Employee 1: Yeah, the wife calls it "Mr Incredible"

      Employe2: Really? My wife has nicknamed mine "Dash" for some reason.
    • Isn't one washroom per floor kind of typical of most large buildings? I work in a 40 story downtown tower and our building only has one per floor per gender.

      I'd imagine that buildings with a larger footprint might have two per floor, but I can't say I've been in too many buildings that have more than that.
    • Isn't the minimum number of bathrooms for a new building determined by building code? Having a single bathroom might allow for 'cross pollination' and all, but that's not really the point of bathrooms.

      Having a single /breakroom/ would seem a better choice, and one that wouldn't potentially leave employees crossing their legs and hopping around 'synergizing' with their fellow desperados.
      • Isn't the minimum number of bathrooms for a new building determined by building code?

        Actually, I think the building codes specify the number of toilets/urinals (as well as number of handicapped accessible and maybe even by gender). It just takes up less space (and plumbing effort) to site all of those in the same location.
    • What is stupid is that I've worked in several government buildings that only had one washroom per floor or sometimes even less. I don't think they did this for creative or communication reasons, but let me tell you, it didn't help with communication or anything like that.

      There are larger problems to tackle in an organisation than how many bathrooms there are. Good leadership makes the most difference. Working conditions come way later.

      I once worked in a freezing cold building with paper thin walls whil
    • I don't know about you...but I don't want somebody who is "Touching cotton" to be passing (Hey! It's a pun!) by my cube.....
    • The idea of having one bathroom in the whole office was originally popularised by the animators at Disney who believed this would mean everyone would meet little and often and thus have even better ideas.

  • Thanks (Score:4, Funny)

    by N8F8 ( 4562 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:27AM (#12011318)
    I needed my nose rubbed in the fact that I have a shitass job.

  • Some more pics of Pixar (Score:5, Informative)

    by LocoMan ( 744414 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:28AM (#12011324) Homepage
    Can't get on the site (slashdotted already)... but if you want some more pics of what's it like to work there (note that I don't, except in my dreams, that is), some pics (taken by Victor Navone, he made the alien song short some of you migth have seen).. :)

    link [navone.org]

    There's also some great stuff about that in the second DVD of Finding Nemo.. :)

  • Ain't It Cool News hasn't been cool in years ..... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Luscious868 ( 679143 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:30AM (#12011340)
    I remember a time, 4 or 5 years ago, when they used to get all of the scoops. It was really the only site you had to go to get the latest news and spoilers about all kinds of cool movies. Today they are a joke. They are the last to report on most stories, if they report on them at all, and I can't remeber the last time they had a really interesting exclusive about any of the movies I really care about. You haven't been able to register for the talkback for almost a year. McWeeny's latest X-Men 3 "scoop" was something to the effect of "I know who will direct X-Men 3 but I can't tell you". It's nothing like it used to be, which is a shame, because I used to love that site.

  • Steve Jobs (Score:4, Funny)

    by Magnusite ( 526038 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:32AM (#12011360)
    ...no choice but to enjoy every damn minute that you work there.

    Well, with Steve Jobs, you better, becuase you'll be working there every damn minute of your waking life.

    Apple T-shirts: working 90 hours a week and loving it!

  • cottages? (Score:3, Funny)

    by cheezemonkhai ( 638797 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:32AM (#12011364) Homepage
    "your cubicle... Which they don't have at Pixar, no they have cottages"

    Are those like cubicals with a roof? Doesnt that mean that when they run out of space they can just turn them into houses and high rises, by stacking them :p

  • Sigh, and so history repeats. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Icarus1919 ( 802533 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:40AM (#12011422)
    "I talked with a couple of guys who were also waiting there in the lobby, guys working with Pixar on an ancillary project. They sounded just as excited talking about the company as I'm sure I did, and it struck me: for hardcore animation fans, Pixar plays the same role that the Beatles must have for music fans in the '60s. We are living in a golden age, watching true giants in their primes, and each new film they put out is a joy because of the incredibly high genre defining standards that they hold themselves to."

    Nothing's worse than hearing a line like this and knowing that it's only a relatively few years down the line before the wrong type of management takes over, and the public ends up with just another Disney that churns out the same type of rehashed stories to make a quick buck, and marry it with hurried animation carried on the backs of the overworked "Cottage" dwellers. Pixar is certainly a fine example of a company with more on their mind than the bottom line, and one that understands that happy workers are productive and creative workers, but it won't last. I'm sure we can all think of many companbies offhand that fell from such a height (I believe HP was featured recently on Slashdot.)

    As a bit of an aside, Google may one day fall too. We can all hope that this won't come to pass, as Google symbolizes and displays pretty much every virtue that a techie could want in a company and it would be nice to see the proverbial good guys hold their own, for once. Perhaps their hiring practices will help protect against it. Once again, though, all it will take is a bad, short-sighted management and stock-holders that think only of the coming quarter and not several years down the line. Thinking down the line is how Pixar and Google came to rightfully stand on the pedastals that they now do (and hopefully will for years to come.)
    • As a bit of an aside, Google may one day fall too.

      Yes my son, but there is much power in the dark side.

    • Nothing's worse than hearing a line like this and knowing that it's only a relatively few years down the line before the wrong type of management takes over, and the public ends up with just another Disney that churns out the same type of rehashed stories to make a quick buck

      Uh, except that Disney, from the beginning, has almost never done anything original. I fail to see any resemblance to any past story with anything Pixar has done outside of the vague reference to the Aesop fable of the ant and the g

    • Nothing's worse than hearing a line like this and knowing that it's only a relatively few years down the line before the wrong type of management takes over,

      What's the big deal? People are important, companies are just a way to organize them. If bad management takes over Pixar, the creative people will just move elsewhere.

      As long as it's possible to move somewhere else where you can be creative, and as long as you really are productive (so somebody will finance you), who cares if this or that company fai

  • Employee satisfaction first (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Pingsmoth ( 249222 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:40AM (#12011423) Homepage
    is a concept that many companies don't understand. They stress, over and over, the idea of customer satisfaction, customer service, and friendly employees. I worked in retail for nine years and we were told day after day to smile, be friendly, be helpful, and care for the customer. But I found, day after day, that my employer was not willing to extend the same courtesies to me and the other employees.

    I believe that if a company's employees enjoy their job, they will gladly serve the customers, help the customers, and extend that sense of friendliness without being prodded and told to do so.
    • Exactly! My Dad had a retail store in Richmond, VA while I was growing up. I always thought that the way he treated his employees was the way *all* employees were treated. (I.e. very well.)

      Then I worked in retail for 1.5 years. Every day it was harder and harder to be cheerful and helpful. The more we gave, they more the company wanted. If we met or exceeded our sales goal for the month, the goal was increased by half the next month. Accomplishments were shortly praised, mistakes lingered for weeks.

      Retail

  • I just lost respect for Pixar (Score:5, Funny)

    by gosand ( 234100 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:41AM (#12011428)
    Wow, what a cool looking place to work, I mean you can make your own space, nice furniture, spacious - OMFG - is that a Garfield doll ?! [aintitcool.com] What kind of mindless idiots do they have working there?
    • OMFG - is that a Garfield doll ?! What kind of mindless idiots do they have working there?

      I am reminded of a Margaret Cho anecdote where she is talking about weighing the pros and cons of getting out of the bed to pee, or just peeing in the bed. "It'll be warm...for a minute."

      That's the kind of humour Garfield is like. It's like pissing on yourself; it might be warm for a minute but then it gets cold and you've got piss on you.

  • 60 MInutes did two stories on Pixar HQ (Score:5, Informative)

    by peter303 ( 12292 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:48AM (#12011483)
    If you catch them in summer repeats, you'll see a fun place to work.

  • OMG DOORS!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by yohan1701 ( 779792 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:50AM (#12011499) Homepage
    There are doors on those cottages. I would kill every single one of my fellow employees for a door.

    To be able to shut out Chatty Kathy who's cell phone rings ten times and plays la-cookaracha and gets louder and louder when she doesn't answer it or Dum and Dummer who need to have a discussion at my desk when Dummer has his own office.

  • Cottages? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Millennium ( 2451 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:55AM (#12011541)
    Do they have thatched roofs? Do you get burninated [homestarrunner.com] instead of fired?

  • Speak for yourself (Score:5, Funny)

    by dfn5 ( 524972 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @09:59AM (#12011578) Journal
    Today my cube has inspired me thusly:
    % ls
    % pwd
    % ls
    % pwd
    % ls
    % pwd

    .oO("What was I doing?")

  • Check our the extras on the DVD (Score:3, Interesting)

    by xRelisH ( 647464 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @10:07AM (#12011675)
    because you see more of how great the company is. I'd love to work there as a developer on Pixar Renderman after I graduate.
    • Yes, I've actually seen those on the Finding Nemo DVD and you can tell just from the video that shot at Pixar HQ that the people that work there are sure having a lot of fun. :)

      I can just see Robert Iger--who will succeed Michael Eisner this Fall--try to go way out of his way to keep Pixar working with Disney, because Iger know what a big moneymaker Pixar is to the Walt Disney Company.

  • A gilded prison, a happy worker does not make... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Assmasher ( 456699 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @10:32AM (#12011963) Journal
    No offense, and I'm sure that much of the coolness of Pixar emanates from the creativity of the people who work there and the laxity of the 'corporate culture'; however, unless you work there you shouldn't presume that it is 'fun' because of the workplace. It certainly APPEARS to be a fun place to work ;).

    I've worked in startups in old gymnasiums in the Mission District in San Fran and I've worked in plush corporate offices with EVERY amenity (massages, shoe shiners, crazy weird stuff...) and job satisfaction was related to the working space for no one at these two companies.

    That being said, it certainly looks nice :). Makes it easier to empathize with children as an adult if you're not surround by grey cubicle walls, LOL.

  • behind the scenes of "The Incredibles" (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ctrudeau ( 514001 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @10:38AM (#12012015)
    I just watched the extras on "The Incredibles" DVD yesterday and it contains a whole bunch of interviews inside the offices. All the "cottages" are clear along with some interesting insight into the personalities there. Nice stuff around, but it looked to me like some were difficult people to work with. The hazards of genius, I guess.
  • Well if you're already stuck in a 60 hour work week maybe it wouldn't make a difference, but what kind of hours do these people need to put in to get their stuff done? Are they given all of their amenities so they never need to leave? Vacation? Go outside?

    Whenever a potential employer starts racking up the extra 'amenities', I start to wonder what kind of thing they want in exchange.

    I'll just take the money, thank you very much.

  • because when the crunch comes down, they put in some serious hours. Really serious hours. Even pixar has deadlines in the end.

    I'm sure having that sort of work area helps a lot though, as does the masseuse who comes around givng back rubs, etc etc..

  • While I'm sure Pixar is a nice place to work... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Bamafan77 ( 565893 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @11:31AM (#12012675)
    ...I can't help but think some of the stuff they do for their employees is part media sensation. So while I think Pixar would treat their employees very well regardless, I think they go the extra mile because they know the media and their camera crews will be there (in this specific case, moriarty and his digital camera) and they know they'll (along with the public) flip out when they see the atrium with the statues of Pixar characters.

    And while we're on the Steve Jobs praise, don't be so quick [alandeutschman.com] to commend him on developing the great environment at Pixar. The truth is (as you'll see in the link) that Jobs bought the Pixar in 1995, sold it to become a billionaire and left the original technical founders with almost squat (in fact, he ran off co-founder Alvy Ray Smith). Yeah, this is a guy only concerned about the employees.

    The fact is that Pixar had a family atmosphere before Jobs got there and Jobs in fact tried to destroy it. Jobs was the PHB that many so readily (and rightfully) deride, yet for some reason his reality distortion field is such that it allows him to escape much criticism and be hailed as a genius. He may be a genius, but probably not the kind you want to be around if you don't have to be.

    • What are you talking about? Jobs bought Pixar from Lucasfilm in 1986, not 1995. The article is talking about taking stock options that were not given to the other founders (I don't know anything about that).

  • Time Off at Pixar & Production Babies (Score:4, Funny)

    by Slorg ( 789449 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @11:44AM (#12012823)
    The credits of each Pixar film include the names of the babies born to staff families during production.

    So, they must get _some_ time off - or now we know what they do with the cottages.

  • Dreamworks vs Pixar (Score:5, Informative)

    by Danathar ( 267989 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2005 @11:47AM (#12012861) Journal
    I just emailed my buddy back at Dreamworks (identity protected!) and here is what he said about what it's like at Dreamworks... - The pixar tour site is slashdotted, so I don't know what they have. We have: large offices, with doors, with one or two people per office fountains, park-like areas, waterfalls, lagoon area, courtyards, etc. Southern California weather free breakfast free lunch (relatively gormet, with usually two or three entree options) free well-stocked snacks (fruit, chips, candy, ice cream, etc) free tea, coffee, soda, juice, etc. $20/month health insurance for my whole family free movies, about 2-6 per month, often well before public release lots of gaming options around campus (pool, ping pong, darts, foosball, shuffleboard (table version), street hockey, etc. free gifts from time to time (ranging from shirts and DVDs to digital cameras and stock)

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