Behind the Scence of Disney/Pixar's "The Incredibles"

This is a fascinating look at the making of "The Incredibles", based on the extras in the Blu-Ray disc.

Although the roundtable is filled with mirth as they look back on the movie, the animators talk about a “us versus them” mentality that hit the staff, while sketches of Bird reveal his image amongst the workers to be that of a grumpy or angry leader. There was even big staff meeting called by Bird that didn’t go well.
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And by end of the process, certain animators began wearing t-shirts featuring a tube of toothpaste with an Incredible logo that was squeezed out, in a move to show how depleted they were.

So somehow, that diminished the picture of Pixar as "one big happy family".

I am not sure if I'm that surprised at such a revelation. There's a difference between outright animosity versus "we like and respect each other, but that doesn't mean we always agree with each other". Most good work environment, if it fosters creativity, will be like the latter. Certainly, if you're passionate about what you do, you'll always encounter obstacles, and people who disagree with either your ideas, or your methods. To expect those at Pixar to always be one big happy family without any kind of tension is to expect something unrealistic.

Whatever they're doing there, it is working, and that's something no one can argue. They have produced just not commercially successful product, but also critically-respected movies, a combination that isn't often produced.

Zz.