CGI maestro John Lasseter talks shorts and wild shirts
The groundbreaking director of 'Toy Story' and other computer-generated movies tells Sarah Lazarus about what got him started on film animation
John Lasseter is wearing a Hawaiian shirt and looks as colourful as a cartoon.
A two-time Oscar winner, and creative head of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, he's the mastermind behind an astonishing roll call of family favourites. He is in Hong Kong to unveil Pixar and Disney's animation slate for the next two years.
"Isn't it awesome?" he says, in a suite in the InterContinental hotel, in Tsim Sha Tsui. "I've got over 1,000 Hawaiian shirts with about 370 in what I call 'active rotation'."
Some years ago, Lasseter's wife, Nancy, suggested that every morning he choose a shirt to complement the work planned for that day.
"So I started filing my shirts in my closet by subject matter. I have a section on automobiles, general tropical, mid-century modern, holiday, Disney, Pixar. I love them!"