John Lasseter Accused of Sexual Assault

[Elladorine]

Tom Bancroft has stated in his IG account that Pete Docter and Jennifer Lee will be replacing Lasseter.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkOvLOAhlHW ... mbancroft1

[Jules]

Anybody remember this back in 2011? I never felt the gags were particularly innocent or intended just to tease in a friendly way. I wonder if the artist may have been an employee at Pixar or WDAS. Some of the cartoons certainly seem to suggest that.

http://fuckyeahjohnlasseter.tumblr.com/

I think the drawings are awesome, by the way.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Some claim it was a conspiracy, but would Lasster willingly step down if he hadn't done anything indecent?

https://www.thewrap.com/as-lasseters-departure-looms/

All I can tell you is it’s a political move, no link with #MeToo,” one person told TheWrap. “It’s the perfect excuse to fire a great leader.”

[D82]

Some claim it was a conspiracy, but would Lasster willingly step down if he hadn't done anything indecent?

And if he was innocent, wouldn't some people like Andrew Stanton or Peter Docter have defended him? I understand why they haven't spoken about the issue, but I would like to know what they think about all this.

I wonder if the artist may have been an employee at Pixar or WDAS. Some of the cartoons certainly seem to suggest that.

They also seem to suggest Peter Docter was Lasseter's right-hand man?

[Rumpelstiltskin]

If all Lasseter did was hugging and everything else was a lie, I'm pretty sure someone would have spoken up. Instead one source after the other share their stories in various articles. If it was all a conspiracy, why stay silent for all this time?

The other alternative is that everything we have heard about him is true, but someone decided to use the metoo-movement to get rid of him for other reasons. Even if nothing is mentioned about what "they" could possibly gain from it.

They also seem to suggest Peter Docter was Lasseter's right-hand man?

The Docter drawings are a little confusing. Someone in the comments section calling themselves "Ex Pixar Employee" is pointing on Stanton, not Docter: "A toxic tyranny ran rampant at Pixar with John at the head and Andrew Stanton by his side." https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-righ ... 58076.html

While stories have been shared about Lasseter (and Catmull), no examples regarding other Pixar employees has ever been given. Unless new info proves otherwise, one should probably give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Jules]

I wonder if the artist may have been an employee at Pixar or WDAS. Some of the cartoons certainly seem to suggest that.

They also seem to suggest Peter Docter was Lasseter's right-hand man?

I would agree with Rumple above regarding Docter's inclusion in that Tumblr. My instincts tell me he was only featured for kicks and giggles (even in the money laundering cartoon - it's just funny.) I certainly guffawed when I laid eyes on his caricature (the "creator of family entertainment" bit )

There is one I don't really get, with Lasseter threatening to "pour milk" as employees (Pixar employees?) are bound with their heads inserted firmly into a glass box full of cornflakes. Cartons of milk are perched on top. What sort of torture is that supposed to be?

[Rumpelstiltskin]

It's a reference to Pixar's famous cereal bar:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011 ... un-factory

When I asked where the spiritual core of Pixar lay, everyone directed me, without hesitation, to the cereal bar, on the right side of the atrium—a row of your favorite cereals, on tap, anytime you want. There was once a new arrival at the company, who thought the bowls provided at the bar were too small, and registered his displeasure in an e-mail. He didn’t last. In Lasseter’s words, “If you’re that upset about how big the bowl for your free cereal is, leave.”

The idea of Lasseter using this as a way to torture his employees is actually very funny.

[D82]

While stories have been shared about Lasseter (and Catmull), no examples regarding other Pixar employees has ever been given. Unless new info proves otherwise, one should probably give them the benefit of the doubt.

Yes, of course. I agree. We don’t even know if the person who did those drawings actually worked for the company. And if he did, it’s just the point of view of one employee.

My instincts tell me he was only featured for kicks and giggles

Maybe you're right and it was only that.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Someone steps forward with full name. Cassandra Smolcic, which worked at Pixar from 2009 to 2014:

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/pixa ... 202858982/

After years of exploiting his position of power at Pixar and Disney, pressure from the Me Too movement recently ousted John Lasseter from his post as chief creative officer. But Pixar has yet to address how John’s sexist attitudes permeated its culture for decades, giving men license to mistreat women and sideline their careers.

I was a graphic designer at Pixar during the second half of my 20s. I know people are saying that the climate there wasn’t “that bad.” I’m here to tell you that it was, and more than likely still is.

When I started at Pixar as an intern, I thought I’d landed my dream job. But my excitement was quickly tempered by a flood of warnings about Lasseter’s touchy-feely, boundary-crossing tendencies with female employees.

I was likewise told to steer clear of a particularly chauvinistic male lead in my department. Much like John, this man’s female targets had been reporting his vulgar, unprofessional behaviors for years, but his position and demeanor remained much the same.

Just after starting on “Cars 2,” I was told by a superior that I would be uninvited from all our weekly art department meetings because Lasseter “has a hard time controlling himself” around young women. I was crushed to have my participation in the filmmaking process –– and subsequently my career trajectory –– thwarted simply because I was female. It was clear that the institution was working hard to protect him, at the expense of women like me.

But Lasseter didn’t need an intimate setting to make female employees uncomfortable. He would give me, and countless other women, lecherous up-and-down looks (or unwanted hugs and touches) almost every time we crossed his path on campus. These tactless encounters made it clear that we were sex objects to him. The entire Pixar workforce witnessed the sleazy spin that John brought to Pixar’s Halloween bash. If he found a woman attractive when she got on stage, he’d ask her to spin around while he made suggestive comments, turning the event into yet another lewd spectacle.

Lasseter’s open sexism set the tone from the top, emboldening others to act like frat boys in just about any campus setting.

Physically and mentally burnt out after years of bumping up against the glass ceiling, I left Pixar at age 30, hoping to find a workplace where I could genuinely thrive.

The decision to replace Lasseter with Jennifer Lee at Disney and Pete Docter at Pixar provides hope for meaningful change moving forward. But dismantling John’s legacy will take more than just replacing a single executive, because such deeply ingrained biases require deliberate, conscientious effort to identify and dismantle.

[Sotiris]

Wow, the situation at Pixar is much worse than we thought. As long as these men stay there, this sexist climate will remain prevalent. It's going to be subdued due to heightened scrutiny for the time being but it's not going to go away. Are we pretending that Docter, Lasseter's right-hand man, is somehow going to change that? At best, he was well-aware of Lasseter's (and others') behavior and endorsed it with his silence and benefited from it or at worst he participated in this misogynistic, frat boy culture in his own way.

[disneyprincess11]

The whole article is crushing

EDIT: There's much much much more. I'M FUMING (An intern commented and confirmed this is all true)

https://medium.com/@cassandraanns/pixar ... 621567fdc9

[Sotiris]

There's more. I'M FUMING Say this guy's name and fire him!!!!

Rightful so! This is abhorrent. Him and the rest of his kind need to be exposed and fired ASAP!

[disneyprincess11]

I don't even know if I can watch any Pixar movies anymore. Such heartfelt, warm stories created by absolute monsters. I bet Pete Docter won't be even different. One thing's for sure: Until this ends, there's no way in heck I'll work for Pixar. I pray Disney Animation and other Disney division aren't remotely as bad as Pixar (Sadly, there's creeps everywhere, Disney or not.)

[Sotiris]

I finally finished the entire article on Medium; it's pretty long and there are too many important and shocking passages for me to quote. It's utterly disheartening how much of an awful place Pixar really is for women. Do yourselves a favor and read the whole thing.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

One can only hope that the media focus and Docter's new position is a start. While Docter obviously knew like all others at Pixar, it remains to see how he is will be as a leader. He encouraged Domee Shi to move on with her short, so at least he is an improvement.

Since 2006 Lasseter have been spending time at both Pixar and Disney. How he has affected the Disney studio is hard to guess, but at least they are not an isolated island like Pixar, are part of the Animation Guild and already had an established culture. And Jennifer Lee is the new leader of the studio. Also, during the day of listening, the Disney employees made it clear Lasseter was not welcomed back. So the conditions there should be far better than at Pixar.

It's going be very interesting to see how they will deal with this. The employees may be afraid of losing their job, but they can't threaten former employees anymore now when the cat is out of the bag. And there are lots of former employees out there.

Perhaps if some animators from other studios did a little protesting over the conditions in front of the entrance, just to get the media's attention, would make them take the problem more seriously. But again, the studio is very isolated and it would probably require some travelling.

[JeanGreyForever]

Thanks for posting the article. I gave it a full read and I highly recommend others do so as well.

Cassandra Smolcic, the author of the aforementioned article, seems to have a positive opinion of Pete Docter which is a good sign at least. And from what she says of Brenda Chapman's experience, Disney, at least in the 90s, didn't have nearly the sexist environment that Pixar has had.

[Mooky]

Wow, that is just beyond horrid. Wonderfully written and very informative, but alarming and disheartening. I just wish she named names, but I presume she didn't want to cause trouble for other female employees still employed at Pixar. I'm particularly interested in who that lecherous production designer is -- he told her he recognized her last name from "his part of the world" where sexual harassment is "normal behavior". Her last name sounds Slavic, so he too must be from eastern/south-eastern Europe.

[estefan]

Catherine Hicks, who has been an animator at Pixar since "Toy Story 3" and has over 19 thousand Twitter followers, also re-tweeted the article. So it's definitely a story that will get a lot of attention and put Pixar under a bigger microscope.

[Sotiris]

Watch John Lasseter Get Namechecked As A Sexual Harasser On Showtime’s ‘Shameless’
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/watc ... 65089.html

Is John Lasseter Teaming Up With The Makers Of ‘Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir’?
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-fil ... 65117.html

[Sotiris]

I really can't look at anything Pixar-related the same way again. Lasseter and his cronies have tainted everything. While watching a newly-released Pixar Studio Stories video which is supposed to showcase how much fun it is to work at Pixar during Halloween, I couldn't help but recall that Lasseter used these very Halloween festivities the video showcases as yet another opportunity to gawk at and harass female employees.

The entire Pixar workforce witnessed the sleazy spin John brought to the studio’s annual Halloween bash. Quite a few of my female friends refused, year after year, to enter the costume contest — even if they’d worked for hours on a prize-worthy outfit — because of how infamously uncomfortable the costume parade became. If Lasseter found a woman attractive when she got on stage, he’d ask her to repeatedly spin around or bombarded her with suggestive comments, turning the event into yet another lewd spectacle.

Source: https://byrslf.co/pixars-sexist-boys-club-9d621567fdc9