John LasseSTAR

by Chris October 27, 2011

John Lasseter will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a ceremony featuring guest speaker Bonnie Hunt, on November 1 at 11:30 a.m. in front of the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California.

D23 reports that John Lasseter, the two-time Academy AwardÂ®-winning director who creatively oversees all films and associated projects from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios (celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2011), will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a ceremony featuring guest speaker Bonnie Hunt, on November 1 at 11:30 a.m. in front of the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. John made his feature directorial debut in 1995 with Toy Story, the first-ever feature-length computer-animated film and, since then, has gone on to direct A Bugâ€™s Life, Toy Story 2, and Cars. He returned to the driverâ€™s seat this year, directing Cars 2.

His executive-producing credits include Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALLâ€¢E, Bolt, and Up, the first animated film ever to open the Cannes Film Festival and the recipient of two Academy AwardsÂ®â€”for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. John also served as executive producer for Disneyâ€™s OscarÂ®-nominated films The Princess and the Frog and Tangled as well as Pixarâ€™s Academy Award-winner for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for Toy Story 3, based on a story written by John, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich.

John wrote, directed, and animated Pixarâ€™s first short films, including Luxo Jr., Redâ€™s Dream, Tin Toy, and Knick Knack. Luxo Jr. was the first three-dimensional computer-animated film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award when it was nominated for Best Animated Short Film in 1986; Tin Toy was the first 3D computer-animated film ever to win an Academy Award when it was named Best Animated Short Film in 1988. John has executive-produced all of the studioâ€™s subsequent shorts, including Boundinâ€™, One Man Band, Lifted, Presto, Partly Cloudy, Day & Night and the Academy Award-winning Geriâ€™s Game and For the Birds.

Under Johnâ€™s supervision, Pixarâ€™s animated features and short films have earned numerous critical accolades and film-industry honors. John himself received a Special Achievement Oscar in 1995 for his inspired leadership of the Toy Story team. He and the rest of the Toy Story screenwriting team also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, the first time an animated feature had ever been recognized in that category.

In 2009, John was honored at the 66th Venice International Film Festival with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The following year, he became the first producer of animated films to receive the Producers Guild of Americaâ€™s David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Motion Pictures. Johnâ€™s other recognitions include the 2004 Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery award from the Art Directors Guild, an honorary degree from the American Film Institute, and the 2008 Winsor McCay Award from ASIFA-Hollywood for career achievement and contribution to the art of animation.

Prior to the formation of Pixar in 1986, John was a member of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm Ltd., where he designed and animated The Adventures of AndrÃ© & Wally B, the first-ever example of character-based 3D computer animation; and the computer-generated Stained Glass Knight character in the 1985 Steven Spielberg-produced film Young Sherlock Holmes.

John was part of the inaugural class of the Character Animation program at California Institute of the Arts, and he received his B.F.A. in film in 1979. He is the only two-time winner of the Student Academy Award for Animation, for his CalArts student films Lady and the Lamp (1979) and Nitemare (1980). His very first award came at the age of 5, when he won $15 from the Model Grocery Market in Whittier, California, for a crayon drawing of the Headless Horseman.