W5 Assignment "Disney Animation - John Lasseter"

Organizational Behavior Disney Animation - John Lasseter The case focuses on John Lasseter, who currently is the creative head of Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, both of which are owned by The Walt Disney Company. The case chronicles Lasseter’s in" rel="nofollow">interests in" rel="nofollow">in animation from a young age, the relationship he developed with the Disney organization, his developin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">interest in" rel="nofollow">in computer-animation and consequent demise at Disney Studios, his subsequent award-win" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">ing success with computer animation at Pixar Studios, and his recent ascension to creative head of Disney’s Animation Studio as part of the Pixar-Disney merger. The case provides a marvelous illustration of the many types of in" rel="nofollow">interpersonal power ¾ reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert that exist within" rel="nofollow">in an organization. The case also shows how power can be used to promote the well-bein" rel="nofollow">ing of the organization and its members or to benefit specific people’s in" rel="nofollow">interests at the expense of others’ in" rel="nofollow">interests. Herein" rel="nofollow">in, the two faces of power positive and negative come in" rel="nofollow">into play. Another lin" rel="nofollow">inkage between the chapter material and the case occurs in" rel="nofollow">in the form of concerns about the ethical versus unethical use of power. Fin" rel="nofollow">inally, the case can be used to explore the concepts of organizational politics and political behavior in" rel="nofollow">in organizations. Organizational politics often has a negative connotation, and some of the case facts lend themselves to rein" rel="nofollow">inforcin" rel="nofollow">ing this negative connotation. Power and Politics in" rel="nofollow">in the Fall and Rise of John Lasseter John Lasseter grew up in" rel="nofollow">in a family heavily in" rel="nofollow">involved in" rel="nofollow">in artistic expression. Lasseter was drawn to cartoons as a youngster. As a freshman in" rel="nofollow">in high school he read a book entitled The Art of Animation. The book, about the makin" rel="nofollow">ing of the Disney animated film Sleepin" rel="nofollow">ing Beauty, proved to be a revelation for Lasseter. He discovered that people could earn a livin" rel="nofollow">ing by developin" rel="nofollow">ing cartoons. He started writin" rel="nofollow">ing letters to The Walt Disney Company Studios regardin" rel="nofollow">ing his in" rel="nofollow">interest in" rel="nofollow">in creatin" rel="nofollow">ing cartoons. Studio representatives, who corresponded with Lasseter many times, told him to get a great art education, after which they would teach him animation. When Disney started a Character Animation Program at the California Institute of Arts film school, Lasseter enrolled in" rel="nofollow">in the program after encouragement from the studio. Classes were taught by extremely talented Disney animators who also shared stories about workin" rel="nofollow">ing with Walt Disney himself. Durin" rel="nofollow">ing summer breaks, jobs at Disneyland further fueled Lasseter’s passion for workin" rel="nofollow">ing as an animator for Disney Studios. Full of excitement, Lasseter join" rel="nofollow">ined the Disney animation staff in" rel="nofollow">in 1979 after graduation. However, he soon met with disappoin" rel="nofollow">intment. Accordin" rel="nofollow">ing to Lasseter, “[t]he animation studio wasn’t bein" rel="nofollow">ing run by these great Disney artists like our teachers at Cal Arts, but by lesser artists and busin" rel="nofollow">inesspeople who rose through attrition as the grand old men retired.” Lasseter was told, “[y]ou put in" rel="nofollow">in your time for 20 years and do what you’re told, and then you can be in" rel="nofollow">in charge.” Lasseter contin" rel="nofollow">inues, “I didn’t realize it then, but I was begin" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">ing to be perceived as a loose cannon. All I was tryin" rel="nofollow">ing to do was make thin" rel="nofollow">ings great, but I was begin" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">ing to make some enemies.” In the early 1980s, Lasseter became enthralled with the potential of usin" rel="nofollow">ing computer graphics technology for animation but found little in" rel="nofollow">interest among Disney Studio executives for the concept. Nonetheless, a young Disney executive, Tom Willhite, eventually allowed Lasseter and a colleague to develop a thirty-second test film that combin" rel="nofollow">ined “hand-drawn, two-dimensional Disney-style character animation with three-dimensional computer-generated backgrounds.” Lasseter found a story that would fit the test and could be developed in" rel="nofollow">into a full movie. When Lasseter presented the test clip and feature-length movie idea to the Disney Studio head, the only question the studio head asked was about the cost of production. Lasseter told him the cost of production with computer animation would be about the same as a regular animated feature. The studio head in" rel="nofollow">informed Lasseter, “I’m only in" rel="nofollow">interested in" rel="nofollow">in computer animation if it saves money or time.” Lasseter subsequently discovered that his idea was doomed before he ever presented it. Says Lasseter, “[w]e found out later that others poked holes in" rel="nofollow">in my idea before I had even pitched it. In our enthusiasm, we had gone around some of my direct superiors, and I didn’t realize how much of an enemy I had made of one of them. I mean, the studio head had made up his min" rel="nofollow">ind before we walked in" rel="nofollow">in. We could have shown him anythin" rel="nofollow">ing and he would have said the same thin" rel="nofollow">ing.” Shortly after the studio head left the room, Lasseter received a call from the superior who didn’t like him, in" rel="nofollow">informin" rel="nofollow">ing Lasseter that his employment at Disney was bein" rel="nofollow">ing termin" rel="nofollow">inated immediately. Despite bein" rel="nofollow">ing fired, Lasseter did not speak negatively of the Disney organization, nor did he let others know anythin" rel="nofollow">ing other than the project on which he was workin" rel="nofollow">ing had ended. His personal admiration and respect for Walt Disney and animation were too great to allow him to do so. Lasseter was recruited to Lucasfilm by Ed Catmull to work on a project that “turned out to be the very first character-animation cartoon done with a computer.” Not too long afterwards, Steve Jobs bought the animation busin" rel="nofollow">iness from George Lucas for $10 million and Pixar Animation Studios was born. Lasseter became the chief creative genius behin" rel="nofollow">ind Pixar’s subsequent animated feature film successes like Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, and The Incredibles, among others. In 2006, Disney CEO Robert Iger and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs consummated a deal for Pixar to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney. Iger poin" rel="nofollow">ints out that, in" rel="nofollow">in makin" rel="nofollow">ing the Pixar acquisition, Disney wanted to protect Pixar’s culture while givin" rel="nofollow">ing it “a much broader canvas to pain" rel="nofollow">int on.” Instead of Disney absorbin" rel="nofollow">ing Pixar in" rel="nofollow">into its culture, Iger gave Pixar executives “Ed Catmull and John Lasseter control of Disney’s animation operations, with the mission to get the old studio’s computer-generated efforts up to par.” Iger wanted to rein" rel="nofollow">invigorate animation at Disney, and as the top creative executive at Pixar, John Lasseter was viewed a key figure in" rel="nofollow">in achievin" rel="nofollow">ing this objective. Lasseter “is regarded by Hollywood executives as the modern Walt [Disney] himself [with capabilities] ¼ that have made Pixar a sure thin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in the high stakes animated world.” Former Disney Studios head, Peter Schneider, says Lasseter “is a kid who has never grown up and contin" rel="nofollow">inues to show the wonder and joy that you need in" rel="nofollow">in this busin" rel="nofollow">iness.” Current Disney Studio chief, Dick Cook, says that Lasseter is like the famous professional basketball player, Michael Jordan. “He makes all the players around him better.” Accordin" rel="nofollow">ing to Iger, “[t]here’s no question that animation is a great wavemaker for the company. We believe we have a very vibrant creative engin" rel="nofollow">ine there, mostly driven by Pixar, and we hope that Disney Animation will once again" rel="nofollow">in experience glory days too. We believe we’re on the right track.” Cook notes that Disney was the kin" rel="nofollow">ing of animation for a decade from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Cook contin" rel="nofollow">inues, “[b]ut I thin" rel="nofollow">ink the biggest challenge in" rel="nofollow">in any mature organization is how do you contin" rel="nofollow">inue to evolve and press the edges of the envelope, and I thin" rel="nofollow">ink it’s fair to say we stopped doin" rel="nofollow">ing that.” He also observes that gettin" rel="nofollow">ing Catmull and Lasseter “was like a giant shot of adrenalin" rel="nofollow">ine to the system.” Lasseter now oversees development of movies at both Pixar’s and Disney’s animation studios. Says Lasseter, “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have all these new roles. I do what I do in" rel="nofollow">in life because of Walt Disney—his films and his theme park and his characters and his joy in" rel="nofollow">in entertain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing. The emotional feelin" rel="nofollow">ing that his creations gave me is somethin" rel="nofollow">ing that I want to turn around and give to others.” Without a doubt, Lasseter is realizin" rel="nofollow">ing his dream, and very successfully to boot. Bolt, a recent production of Disney Animation Studios, received a Golden globe nomin" rel="nofollow">ination in" rel="nofollow">in late 2008 for best animated feature film. And Wall-E, a Pixar Studios production, was nomin" rel="nofollow">inated for the same award as well. Jennie Yabroof, a reporter for Newsweek, writes that “Lasseter himself has played perhaps the biggest role in" rel="nofollow">in the elevation of the lowly cartoon” to the animated feature film. Lasseter’s in" rel="nofollow">influence at Disney extends well beyond the animation studios. The reconstitution of the Disney theme parks’ submarin" rel="nofollow">ine ride is a great example. Refurbished as a take-off on the animated film Fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ing Nemo, “the ride resurfaced with whiz-bang video and audio effects that allow the animated sea creatures from Fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ing Nemo to seemin" rel="nofollow">ingly swim and talk in" rel="nofollow">in the water.” “Disneyland’s Fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ing Nemo Submarin" rel="nofollow">ine Voyage is emblematic of Disney’s efforts to keep its parks relevant in" rel="nofollow">in a digital age.” Two other projects, based on the hit movies Cars and Bolt, would not have been possible without Lasseter and his Pixar colleagues’ hands-on in" rel="nofollow">input, says Bob Iger. What a professional journey. Bein" rel="nofollow">ing fired by Disney Animation Studios for tryin" rel="nofollow">ing to be too creative, then ultimately becomin" rel="nofollow">ing the chief creative animation genius for both Disney and Pixar! This case was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of Christian Busin" rel="nofollow">iness Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Busin" rel="nofollow">iness Admin" rel="nofollow">inistration, Valparaiso University. In your paper answer the followin" rel="nofollow">ing with concepts from the readin" rel="nofollow">ing: 1. What forms of in" rel="nofollow">interpersonal power are evident in" rel="nofollow">in the case and why? 2. In what ways do the two faces of power appear in" rel="nofollow">in this case? Please explain" rel="nofollow">in your answer. 3. Does the firin" rel="nofollow">ing of John Lasseter from Disney Studios and the events leadin" rel="nofollow">ing up to his firin" rel="nofollow">ing demonstrate the ethical use of power? Explain" rel="nofollow">in your answer. 4. Did the firin" rel="nofollow">ing of John Lasseter in" rel="nofollow">indicate the existence of political behavior in" rel="nofollow">in the Disney organization? Why or why not? 5. Describe a situation, from your experience, where political behavior in" rel="nofollow">in an organization contributed to benefit or detriment to you or someone else. The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded: • Write between 750 – 1,250 words (approximately 3 – 5 pages) usin" rel="nofollow">ing Microsoft Word in" rel="nofollow">in APA style, see example below. • Use font size 12 and 1” margin" rel="nofollow">ins. • Include cover page and reference page. • At least 80% of your paper must be origin" rel="nofollow">inal content/writin" rel="nofollow">ing. • No more than 20% of your content/in" rel="nofollow">information may come from references. • Use at least three references from outside the course material, one reference must be from EBSCOhost. Text book, lectures, and other materials in" rel="nofollow">in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the three reference requirement. • Cite all reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) in" rel="nofollow">in the paper and list on a reference page in" rel="nofollow">in APA style. References must come from sources such as, scholarly journals found in" rel="nofollow">in EBSCOhost, CNN, onlin" rel="nofollow">ine newspapers such as, The Wall Street Journal, government websites, etc. Sources such as, Wikis, Yahoo Answers, eHow, blogs, etc. are not acceptable for academic writin" rel="nofollow">ing.