Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the
Computer Division of Lucasfilm before it was acquired by Apple
co-founder Steve Jobs in 1986. The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar
in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion; the transaction made Jobs
the largest shareholder in Disney.
Pixar has produced twelve feature films, beginning with Toy
Story in 1995. It was followed by A Bug''s Life in 1998, Toy Story 2
in 1999, Monsters, Inc. in 2001, Finding Nemo in 2003, The
Incredibles in 2004, Cars in 2006, Ratatouille in 2007, WALL-E in
2008, Up in 2009, Toy Story 3 to date, the highest-grossing
animated film of all-time, grossing over $1 billion worldwide in
2010, and Cars 2 in 2011. Eleven of the films have received
critical and financial success, with the notable exception being
Cars 2, which received substantially less praise than Pixar''s
previous films.[2] The $602 million average gross of their films is
by far the highest of any studio in the industry.
All the films produced by Pixar are among the fifty highest
grossing animated films of all time. Finding Nemo, Up and Toy Story
3 made it to the top 50 list of highest-grossing films of all time,
with Toy Story 3 at #7, Finding Nemo at #25, and Up at #43.
All eight Pixar films released since the inauguration of the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001 have been nominated
for that award, commencing with Monsters, Inc.. Six of the eight
have won the award: Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille,
WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3. Up and Toy Story 3 are among the only
three animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best
Picture.
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