Pixar, by generous reckoning, is thirty years old though the company's official website marks their year zero as the day in 1984 when John Lasseter (driving force behind Pixar's creative identity, and now Disney's as well) took a job with the Lucas Film computer animation division which two years later was bought by Steve Jobs for 10 million and founded as the independent company Pixar. By steady progression, the company forged its way through technical breakthroughs, building a reputation as a primo hardware provider of imaging solutions for government contracts and medical facilities. Then, in an attempt to boost sales of their stupendously expensive core product, the Pixar Image Computer, employee John Lasseter began heading production of animated shorts like "Luxo Jr.," to drive up interest by showing what their product could do.

Pixar debuted their features at the computer graphics industry's premiere conference, SIGGRAHP (Special Interest Group on GRAPHics), and what they sold, rather than equipment, was their own ability to produce fully realized computer animation. Pixar took jobs from Tropicana, Listerine and Lifesavers, creating some of those companies' most memorable campaigns (conga dancing Gummy-Savers, bottles of mouthwash swinging through the jungle on vines, etc.). Fast forward to 2006: after an 11 year partnership, Pixar was acquired by Disney for $7.4 billion. Having won four Oscars for Best Animated Feature, an honorary special achievement Oscar for "Toy Story" and endless accolades, nominations and notices along with total domestic grosses over two billion (and counting), one looks at the continued and maturing freshness of Pixar's films and has to wonder when someone will step up and really deal with their legacy: No live action productions match their sense of whimsy, paired with depth, and no other animation company seems mature enough to build worlds so sturdy and supportive of fully-realized characters.

For a company based on technical invention, with a well deserved reputation in that field, to continually embarrass the rest of the industry with its in-house productions, means they must either be treated as example or anomaly, trend setters or renegades. Sadly, no one seems up to the challenge of emulating their reliable production pyramid: imagination, invention, emotion. No matter which element in the formula takes priority at a given moment it is firmly supported by its even connection with the other two. And as non-Pixar related Disney productions have to work to earn anticipation – hoping its rabid base of pre-teen spenders, milking their parents for the price of Miley Cyrus tickets, can offset misfires by their other divisions – no one dares miss the next release from the logo with that iconic hopping lamp. Because, so far, the worlds and characters have only become deeper and richer with every new release. It's a quality and consistency that defies market research and cynical demography; now, if only the exception could become the rule.

Note: Next Summer the project that nearly ended the Disney/Pixar alliance hits theaters: "Toy Story 3" represents Hollywood's attempt to bring Pixar down to its level (superfluous sequel) and Pixar's attempt to once again hurdle gracefully over convention and land on its feet, head and shoulders above the competition – we'll see if they succeed.

Feature Retrospective:

Up (2009), WALL•E (2008), Ratatouille (2007), Cars (2005), The Incredibles (2004), Finding Nemo (2003), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Toy Story 2 (1999), A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story (1995)