Welcome to The Queue — your daily distraction of curated video content sourced from across the web. Today, we’re watching a video essay about Pixar filmmaker and CCO Pete Docter and his thoughts on inspiration.
There’s no fast track to inspiration. Anyone who dabbles in a creative discipline will tell you that. Rich, exciting ideas are rarely forced. So when heavy-hitting creative folks, like Pixar’s Pete Docter, have insights to share, we’d do well to listen.
Docter began working at Pixar in 1990 on the recommendation of the late Joe Ranft. He was the tenth employee in the company’s animation group and one of its first animators. Docter’s Pixar credits are overlapping and multitudinous. To say he’s been an integral part of the company’s most seminal works is an understatement. He’s one of the loudest creative voices at a studio that enjoys one of the more rock-solid reputations in the business.
The video essay below assembles recordings of Docter speaking about his creative process. He touches on a swath of points, from the value of collaboration to the importance of being specific about what you want people to take home with them after they see a film. The main throughline, all told, is an emphasis on flexibility, on knowing when to pivot, listen, and tweak an idea to best serve the story. It is a wholly liberating philosophy and a gentle reminder that when you’re stuck, the solution may only be glimpsed after you take a step back.
Watch “Pixar’s Pete Docter on Inspiration“: