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 interests in animation from a young age, the relationship he developed with the Disney organization, his developing interest in computer-animation and consequent demise at Disney Studios, his subsequent award-winning 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 interpersonal power ¾ reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert that exist within an organization. The case also shows how power can be used to promote the well-being of the organization and its members or to benefit specific people’s interests at the expense of others’ interests. Herein, the two faces of power  positive and negative come into play. Another linkage between the chapter material and the case occurs in the form of concerns about the ethical versus unethical use of power. Finally, the case can be used to explore the concepts of organizational politics and political behavior in organizations. Organizational politics often has a negative connotation, and some of the case facts lend themselves to reinforcing this negative connotation. Power and Politics in the Fall and Rise of John Lasseter John Lasseter grew up in a family heavily involved in artistic expression. Lasseter was drawn to cartoons as a youngster. As a freshman in high school he read a book entitled The Art of Animation. The book, about the making of the Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty, proved to be a revelation for Lasseter. He discovered that people could earn a living by developing cartoons. He started writing letters to The Walt Disney Company Studios regarding his interest in creating 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 the program after encouragement from the studio. Classes were taught by extremely talented Disney animators who also shared stories about working with Walt Disney himself. During summer breaks, jobs at Disneyland further fueled Lasseter’s passion for working as an animator for Disney Studios. Full of excitement, Lasseter joined the Disney animation staff in 1979 after graduation. However, he soon met with disappointment. According to Lasseter, “[t]he animation studio wasn’t being run by these great Disney artists like our teachers at Cal Arts, but by lesser artists and businesspeople who rose through attrition as the grand old men retired.” Lasseter was told, “[y]ou put in your time for 20 years and do what you’re told, and then.

1. 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 interests in animation from a young
age, the relationship he developed with the Disney organization,
his developing interest in computer-animation and consequent
demise at Disney Studios, his subsequent award-winning
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
interpersonal power ¾ reward, coercive, legitimate, referent,
and expert that exist within an organization. The case also
shows how power can be used to promote the well-being of the
organization and its members or to benefit specific people’s
interests at the expense of others’ interests. Herein, the two
faces of power positive and negative come into play. Another
linkage between the chapter material and the case occurs in the
form of concerns about the ethical versus unethical use of
power. Finally, the case can be used to explore the concepts of
organizational politics and political behavior in organizations.
Organizational politics often has a negative connotation, and
some of the case facts lend themselves to reinforcing this
negative connotation.
Power and Politics in the Fall and Rise of John Lasseter
John Lasseter grew up in a family heavily involved in artistic
expression. Lasseter was drawn to cartoons as a youngster. As a
freshman in high school he read a book entitled The Art of
Animation. The book, about the making of the Disney animated
film Sleeping Beauty, proved to be a revelation for Lasseter. He
discovered that people could earn a living by developing
cartoons. He started writing letters to The Walt Disney
Company Studios regarding his interest in creating cartoons.
Studio representatives, who corresponded with Lasseter many

2. 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 the
program after encouragement from the studio. Classes were
taught by extremely talented Disney animators who also shared
stories about working with Walt Disney himself. During
summer breaks, jobs at Disneyland further fueled Lasseter’s
passion for working as an animator for Disney Studios. Full of
excitement, Lasseter joined the Disney animation staff in 1979
after graduation. However, he soon met with disappointment.
According to Lasseter, “[t]he animation studio wasn’t being run
by these great Disney artists like our teachers at Cal Arts, but
by lesser artists and businesspeople who rose through attrition
as the grand old men retired.” Lasseter was told, “[y]ou put in
your time for 20 years and do what you’re told, and then you
can be in charge.” Lasseter continues, “I didn’t realize it then,
but I was beginning to be perceived as a loose cannon. All I was
trying to do was make things great, but I was beginning to make
some enemies.”
In the early 1980s, Lasseter became enthralled with the
potential of using computer graphics technology for animation
but found little 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 combined “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 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
informed Lasseter, “I’m only interested in computer animation
if it saves money or time.”

3. 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 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
mind before we walked in. We could have shown him anything
and he would have said the same thing.” Shortly after the studio
head left the room, Lasseter received a call from the superior
who didn’t like him, informing Lasseter that his employment at
Disney was being terminated immediately.
Despite being fired, Lasseter did not speak negatively of the
Disney organization, nor did he let others know anything other
than the project on which he was working 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 business from George Lucas for $10
million and Pixar Animation Studios was born. Lasseter became
the chief creative genius behind 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 points out that, in making the Pixar
acquisition, Disney wanted to protect Pixar’s culture while
giving it “a much broader canvas to paint on.” Instead of Disney
absorbing Pixar 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 reinvigorate animation at Disney, and as the top
creative executive at Pixar, John Lasseter was viewed a key
figure in achieving this objective. Lasseter “is regarded by

4. Hollywood executives as the modern Walt [Disney] himself
[with capabilities] ¼ that have made Pixar a sure thing in the
high stakes animated world.” Former Disney Studios head, Peter
Schneider, says Lasseter “is a kid who has never grown up and
continues to show the wonder and joy that you need in this
business.” 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.”
According to Iger, “[t]here’s no question that animation is a
great wavemaker for the company. We believe we have a very
vibrant creative engine there, mostly driven by Pixar, and we
hope that Disney Animation will once again experience glory
days too. We believe we’re on the right track.” Cook notes that
Disney was the king of animation for a decade from the mid-
1980s to the mid-1990s. Cook continues, “[b]ut I think the
biggest challenge in any mature organization is how do you
continue to evolve and press the edges of the envelope, and I
think it’s fair to say we stopped doing that.” He also observes
that getting Catmull and Lasseter “was like a giant shot of
adrenaline 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
life because of Walt Disney—his films and his theme park and
his characters and his joy in entertaining. The emotional feeling
that his creations gave me is something that I want to turn
around and give to others.”
Without a doubt, Lasseter is realizing his dream, and very
successfully to boot. Bolt, a recent production of Disney
Animation Studios, received a Golden globe nomination in late
2008 for best animated feature film. And Wall-E, a Pixar
Studios production, was nominated for the same award as well.
Jennie Yabroof, a reporter for Newsweek, writes that “Lasseter
himself has played perhaps the biggest role in the elevation of
the lowly cartoon” to the animated feature film.
Lasseter’s influence at Disney extends well beyond the

5. animation studios. The reconstitution of the Disney theme
parks’ submarine ride is a great example. Refurbished as a take-
off on the animated film Finding Nemo, “the ride resurfaced
with whiz-bang video and audio effects that allow the animated
sea creatures from Finding Nemo to seemingly swim and talk in
the water.” “Disneyland’s Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is
emblematic of Disney’s efforts to keep its parks relevant 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 input, says Bob Iger.
What a professional journey. Being fired by Disney Animation
Studios for trying to be too creative, then ultimately becoming
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 Business Ethics and
Professor of Management, College of Business Administration,
Valparaiso University.
Write a 2-3 page paper.
In your paper answer the following with concepts from the
reading:
What forms of interpersonal power are evident in the case and
why?
In what ways do the two faces of power appear in this case?
Please explain your answer.
Does the firing of John Lasseter from Disney Studios and the
events leading up to his firing demonstrate the ethical use of
power? Explain your answer.
Did the firing of John Lasseter indicate the existence of
political behavior in the Disney organization? Why or why not?
Describe a situation, from your experience, where political
behavior in an organization contributed to benefit or detriment
to you or someone else.