Posted: May 13th, 2018

W5 Assignment BA420

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W5 Assignment “Disney Animation – JohnLasseter”DisneyAnimation – John LasseterThecase focuses on John Lasseter, who currently is the creative head of DisneyAnimation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, both of which are owned by The WaltDisney Company. The case chronicles Lasseter’s interests in animation from ayoung age, the relationship he developed with the Disney organization, hisdeveloping interest in computer-animation and consequent demise at DisneyStudios, his subsequent award-winning success with computer animation at PixarStudios, and his recent ascension to creative head of Disney’s Animation Studioas part of the Pixar-Disney merger.Thecase provides a marvelous illustration of the many types of interpersonal power¾ reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert that exist within anorganization. The case also shows how power can be used to promote thewell-being of the organization and its members or to benefit specific people’sinterests at the expense of others’ interests. Herein, the two faces ofpower  positive and negative come into play. Another linkage betweenthe chapter material and the case occurs in the form of concerns about theethical versus unethical use of power. Finally, the case can be used to explorethe concepts of organizational politics and political behavior inorganizations. Organizational politics often has a negative connotation, andsome of the case facts lend themselves to reinforcing this negativeconnotation.Power and Politics in the Fall and Rise of John LasseterJohnLasseter grew up in a family heavily involved in artistic expression. Lasseterwas drawn to cartoons as a youngster. As a freshman in high school he read abook entitled The Art of Animation. The book, about the making of the Disneyanimated film Sleeping Beauty, proved to be a revelation for Lasseter. Hediscovered that people could earn a living by developing cartoons. He startedwriting letters to The Walt Disney Company Studios regarding his interest increating cartoons. Studio representatives, who corresponded with Lasseter manytimes, told him to get a great art education, after which they would teach himanimation.WhenDisney started a Character Animation Program at the California Institute ofArts film school, Lasseter enrolled in the program after encouragement from thestudio. Classes were taught by extremely talented Disney animators who alsoshared stories about working with Walt Disney himself. During summer breaks,jobs at Disneyland further fueled Lasseter’s passion for working as an animatorfor Disney Studios. Full of excitement, Lasseter joined the Disney animation staffin 1979 after graduation. However, he soon met with disappointment.Accordingto Lasseter, “[t]he animation studio wasn’t being run by these great Disneyartists like our teachers at Cal Arts, but by lesser artists and businesspeoplewho 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 canbe in charge.” Lasseter continues, “I didn’t realize it then, but I wasbeginning to be perceived as a loose cannon. All I was trying to do was makethings great, but I was beginning to make some enemies.”Inthe early 1980s, Lasseter became enthralled with the potential of usingcomputer graphics technology for animation but found little interest amongDisney Studio executives for the concept. Nonetheless, a young Disneyexecutive, Tom Willhite, eventually allowed Lasseter and a colleague to developa thirty-second test film that combined “hand-drawn, two-dimensionalDisney-style character animation with three-dimensional computer-generatedbackgrounds.” Lasseter found a story that would fit the test and could bedeveloped into a full movie. When Lasseter presented the test clip andfeature-length movie idea to the Disney Studio head, the only question thestudio head asked was about the cost of production. Lasseter told him the costof production with computer animation would be about the same as a regularanimated feature. The studio head informed Lasseter, “I’m only interested incomputer animation if it saves money or time.”Lassetersubsequently 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 beforeI had even pitched it. In our enthusiasm, we had gone around some of my directsuperiors, 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 haveshown him anything and he would have said the same thing.” Shortly after thestudio head left the room, Lasseter received a call from the superior whodidn’t like him, informing Lasseter that his employment at Disney was beingterminated immediately.Despitebeing fired, Lasseter did not speak negatively of the Disney organization, nordid he let others know anything other than the project on which he was workinghad ended. His personal admiration and respect for Walt Disney and animationwere too great to allow him to do so.Lasseterwas recruited to Lucasfilm by Ed Catmull to work on a project that “turned outto be the very first character-animation cartoon done with a computer.” Not toolong afterwards, Steve Jobs bought the animation business from George Lucas for$10 million and Pixar Animation Studios was born. Lasseter became the chiefcreative genius behind Pixar’s subsequent animated feature film successes likeToy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, and The Incredibles, among others.In2006, Disney CEO Robert Iger and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs consummated a deal forPixar to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney. Iger points out that, inmaking the Pixar acquisition, Disney wanted to protect Pixar’s culture whilegiving it “a much broader canvas to paint on.” Instead of Disney absorbingPixar into its culture, Iger gave Pixar executives “Ed Catmull and JohnLasseter control of Disney’s animation operations, with the mission to get theold studio’s computer-generated efforts up to par.”Igerwanted to reinvigorate animation at Disney, and as the top creative executive atPixar, John Lasseter was viewed a key figure in achieving this objective.Lasseter “is regarded by Hollywood executives as the modern Walt [Disney]himself [with capabilities] ¼ that have made Pixar a sure thing in the highstakes animated world.” Former Disney Studios head, Peter Schneider, saysLasseter “is a kid who has never grown up and continues to show the wonder andjoy that you need in this business.” Current Disney Studio chief, Dick Cook,says that Lasseter is like the famous professional basketball player, MichaelJordan. “He makes all the players around him better.”Accordingto Iger, “[t]here’s no question that animation is a great wavemaker for thecompany. We believe we have a very vibrant creative engine there, mostly drivenby Pixar, and we hope that Disney Animation will once again experience glorydays too. We believe we’re on the right track.” Cook notes that Disney was theking of animation for a decade from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Cookcontinues, “[b]ut I think the biggest challenge in any mature organization ishow do you continue to evolve and press the edges of the envelope, and I thinkit’s fair to say we stopped doing that.” He also observes that getting Catmulland Lasseter “was like a giant shot of adrenaline to the system.”Lasseternow oversees development of movies at both Pixar’s and Disney’s animationstudios. Says Lasseter, “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have all thesenew roles. I do what I do in life because of Walt Disney—his films and histheme park and his characters and his joy in entertaining. The emotionalfeeling that his creations gave me is something that I want to turn around andgive to others.”Withouta doubt, Lasseter is realizing his dream, and very successfully to boot. Bolt,a recent production of Disney Animation Studios, received a Golden globenomination in late 2008 for best animated feature film. And Wall-E, a PixarStudios production, was nominated for the same award as well. Jennie Yabroof, areporter for Newsweek, writes that “Lasseter himself has played perhaps thebiggest role in the elevation of the lowly cartoon” to the animated featurefilm.Lasseter’sinfluence at Disney extends well beyond the animation studios. Thereconstitution of the Disney theme parks’ submarine ride is a great example.Refurbished as a take-off on the animated film Finding Nemo, “the rideresurfaced with whiz-bang video and audio effects that allow the animated seacreatures from Finding Nemo to seemingly swim and talk in the water.”“Disneyland’s Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is emblematic of Disney’s effortsto keep its parks relevant in a digital age.” Two other projects, based on thehit movies Cars and Bolt, would not have been possible without Lasseter and hisPixar colleagues’ hands-on input, says Bob Iger.Whata professional journey. Being fired by Disney Animation Studios for trying tobe too creative, then ultimately becoming the chief creative animation geniusfor both Disney and Pixar!Thiscase was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chairof Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Get research paper samples and course-specific study resources under   homework for you course hero writing service – Manage ment, College of BusinessAdministration, Valparaiso University.Write a 2-3 page paper.  In yourpaper answer the following with concepts from the reading:1. What forms of interpersonal power are evident in the case and why?2. In what ways do the two faces of power appear in this case? Pleaseexplain your answer.3. Does the firing of John Lasseter from Disney Studios and theevents leading up to his firing demonstrate the ethical use of power? Explainyour answer.4. Did the firing of John Lasseter indicate the existence ofpolitical behavior in the Disney organization? Why or why not?5. Write a page paper – Describe a situation, from your experience, where politicalbehavior in an organization contributed to benefit or detriment to you orsomeone else.Includea title page and 3-5 references.  Only one reference may be fromthe internet (not Wikipedia). The other references must be fromthe Grantham University online library.  Please adhere to the PublicationManual of the American Psychological Association (APA), (6th ed., 2ndprinting) when writing and submitting assignments and papers. 

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