Apple, Disney and Pixar Innovator Steve Jobs Dies, Aged 56

Apple has announced the death of Steve Jobs at the age of 56. His passing comes one day after the company heralded the launch of it’s follow-up to the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S.
Although Jobs, who was born in 1955, is probably associated in the public consciousness primarily with his innovative work with Apple and its products, he also has historic ties to Lucasfilm, The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Animation Studios.
Jobs acquired The Graphics Group from Lucasfilm in 1986. The company would go on to become Pixar, probably the most respected computer animation studio in the world. Under Jobs’ ownership, the company moved into animated films when that looked like being more profitable that the production of hardware like the high-end Pixar Image Computer.
Like many of Jobs’ decisions, that proved to be a wise one. Thanks to a partnership with Disney, it resulted in such Pixar hits as Toy Story, A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, WALL-E,Cars and Toy Story 3. The association with Disney started before the Pixar days, though, as Jobs explained in an interview with Animation Magazine.
“Our relationship with Disney started in 1986 or 7, the first year we were a company,” Jobs is quoted as saying. “When Disney ran into some rough times and hired Michael Eisner to turn the company around, there was talk of shutting animation down. Roy Disney decided that the way out of this was to automate some of the animation, so it could be more affordable, and so they could get some new capabilities. So Roy had a team do a worldwide search for technology which could help their 2-D cel animation process, and guess who they picked? Pixar. Roy was the first person from Disney ever to visit Pixar. We did a deal with them to create all the graphics that became a 2-D paint system called CAPS [Computer Animation Production System].”
Disney subsequently bought Pixar in 2006 in a deal reportedly worth $7.4 billion. Jobs thereafter became a major shareholder on Disney’s Board of Directors.
Steve Jobs influence over media extended not only to his work on Apple’s computing products and his involvement with Disney and Pixar. Apple’s iTunes download service, together with the app revolution driven by the introduction of iOS devices such as the iPad, are helping to revolutionize the delivery of digital and conventional broadcast entertainment (see here).
Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple in August presumably because of his failing health. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant in 2009.
Everyone at CinemaSpy extends their condolences to Steve Jobs’ family. His influence will be greatly missed in the technology and entertainment industries.