In Bolt, "Paul Felix, our brilliant art director, had the idea of giving the backgrounds a painterly look to soften it," says Howard. "CG is great in a lot of ways, but the thing that it does best is create perfectly straight lines and perfectly curved, smooth surfaces. There can be a tendency for things to look too hard- or clean-edged. So Paul and a bunch of geniuses actually created software to put brushstrokes onto the edges of objects and backgrounds throughout the entire film. It gives the film a warm, lived-in look, and it makes it much more comfortable to watch."

In addition to bringing back the classic Disney princess in its 2009 The Princess and the Frog, under Lasseter's direction, the film's visual look will also be incorporating the classic 2-D animation of early Disney films with its CGI.

In the Pursuit of Quality

Whether it be Bolt or any other feature yet to be created at Disney/Pixar, "Quality is the best business plan," says Lasseter. "If you put out a bad movie, it's not going to go anywhere. It'll go for a little bit, but if you do a really good movie, then it starts giving it legs, and people will like to watch it again. My wife always said, 'Make sure you make your movies not for the first time someone sees it, but for the 100th time a parent has to suffer through it on DVD.' And it's so true, because it's about the depth of the characters and the storytelling, and finding that true emotion. Walt Disney always said, 'For every laugh there should be a tear.' It's about making things funny and having the humor come from the characters, but also it's about the heart&ellips; I hate the movies where I feel like the filmmaker's saying, 'Okay be sad now. These are all the tricks I've learned, be sad now.' You don't feel it. But if you get people invested in the characters and the journey that these characters go through where you really like these characters and then you get them into true situations, then that's where those emotions come from."

"I believe you need three things done really well to make a successful movie—especially an animated film," continues Lasseter. "You have to tell a compelling story that keeps people on the edge of their seats. You have to populate that story with appealing characters that are memorable. And 'appealing' is the key word there; even the bad guys should be appealing. And then you have to put that story and those characters in a believable world, not realistic, but believable, for the movie and the story that you're telling. It's very important that those three things work closely together. You also need to make a connection with the audience—I call it a foundation—which means you need to show them something that they're familiar with on one level, but then show it to them in a way that they've never seen it before. Bolt is a perfect example of this approach."

And in the same way that Bolt recognizes the value of relationships, authenticity, and the melding innovation with tradition, it seems that so does the Lasseter-era Disney Animation Studio. More so than in the past, collaboration has taken over the production processes. In its halls, longtime story developers and animators are poised to be the next directors, and long-running behind-the-scenes talent to be the next voice to hit the big screen. And if Bolt and its entire creative process are any indication of what the still young Disney/Pixar partnership holds, drawing from both the best of their collective pasts and the most innovative of the ever evolving present, the future at Disney/Pixar looks to be a bright one

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