Why Andrew Stanton Dedicated ‘John Carter’ To Steve Jobs

By

carter

Despite being known mostly for his monumental impact on the tech world, Steve Jobs also played a huge role in the movie industry. Not only did iTunes change the way movies are distributed, but Steve’s dedication to Pixar changed the way visual stories are told. Pixar stands as one of the most admired movie studios in the industry thanks in large part to Jobs’ assistance in isolating the company from Hollywood and his trust in the talent of his young directors.

John Carter, directed by one of Pixar’s most prolific directors, Andrew Stanton, comes out next week and though it’s not a Pixar film, it is dedicated to the memory of the legendary Steve Jobs. During the credits, a card reads:

Dedicated to the Memory of Steve Jobs, an Inspiration to Us All

At a recent press junket, Stanton was asked why he decided to dedicated Carter to Jobs and his answer was both logisically sound and beautifully poignant.


When asked why the film was dedicated to Steve, Stanton said:

We just happened to be, sadly, the first production up that was Disney that wanted to give [a dedication]. And I personally wanted to. I talked to John [Lasseter] about it because I didn’t want to steal any thunder from Pixar’s dedication because that’s really the real family member for Steve. But it felt right just cause I didn’t want too much time to pass without giving him some sort of permanent acknowledgement. And I talked to his wife.
It was kind of eerie because on the set I would get asked all the time, from all these people, ‘What Pixar was like?’ And it was fascinating to talk to all these movie people that knew all the films, but some of them didn’t even know Pixar was in San Francisco. It was funny. They knew of us, they knew of these movies and knew there was something different but they didn’t get it to the point [where they knew] where we were and stuff. And it would be such a long explanation to them about, trying to tell them why it ran differently and why the movie came out the way they did, that I ended up just simplifying my answer down to ‘Steve. Steve’s why.’

And I did really realize how much, because I was now living it. I was now pregnant with the dysfunction of Hollywood to make this movie and how this all works, the good and the bad, and it was amazing to see how much he had firewalled us from. Like we knew he had, but he had truly firewalled us and protected us from all the bad influences of the outside world and we had just been raised in this little eden in San Francisco and had no clue how bad it could be. And so I really have to give so much more credit to him than I ever was, even though I always was, of how much he was a major factor for Pixar.

John Carter,  a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom, will be released on March 9th.

 

[via SlashFilm]

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.