Price does a nice job tracing Pixar from the initial birth of computer graphics at the University of Utah through Pixar's acquisition by Disney. He does well with both the business history (including interesting detail on Steve Jobs and the hard bargains he drives) and the creative history, as the Pixar team builds up to feature films and then delivers again and again.

I was glued to this book about Pixar's humble beginnings and inspiring ascension into the firmament. In true Cinderella fashion, the company starts with nothing, gets no respect, but eventually its dreams come true. It's a thought-provoking journey.

Pixar's story interweaves with that of the Walt Disney Company throughout its history. Founding CEO Ed Catmull's college dissertation involved creating a texture map projecting Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh onto undulating surfaces. When Disney decided to replace its ink-and-paint process with computers, it had Pixar test the system with a scene from The Little Mermaid. In 1991, Disney agreed to finance Pixar's first full-length feature film, Toy Story, but production was shut down in late 1993 because the plot dictated that Woody be mean and petty. Disney rewrote the script to make the toy cowboy more sympathetic. And in January 2006, Disney agreed to acquire Pixar for 287.5 million shares of Disney stock.

The story works in the biographies of some fascinating men. Catmull turned down Disney when it approached him to help design the Walt Disney World attraction Space Mountain. Steve Jobs, newly thrown out of Apple Computer, bought Pixar for just $5 million, only to discover he had to spend twice that to keep it afloat. You read how John Lasseter advances from a skipper on Disneyland's Jungle Cruise to the principal creative advisor of Disney and Pixar animation.

The book includes a handful of black and white photos, and eight glossy, full-color pages with images from Pixar movies Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille.

Here's the chapter list:

1. Anaheim
2. In the Garage
3. Lucasfilm
4. Steve Jobs
5. Pixar, Inc.
6. Making it Fly 1
7. Making it Fly 2
8. "It Seemed Like an All-Out War"
9. Crisis in Monstropolis
10. Emeryville
11. Homecoming

Appendix 1: Pixar Academy Awards and nominations
Appendix 2: Pixar Filmography

This book proves that the story behind the amazingly successful animation studio is as interesting as anything they have created for the big screen. Definitely a must read for anyone who considers themselves a Disney or Pixar fanatic.

I saw this book in the bookstore and was excited to see if a Kindle version was available. It wasn't for a couple of weeks. I now see it is available but at a price entirely inconsistent with what I've come to expect. Troubling development for new Kindle owners . . .