Andre & Wally B.

Lucasfilm Computer Graphics (now Pixar)

©1984, Lucasfilm/Pixar, All Rights Reserved.

John Lasseter, animator, Bill Reeves, Tom Duff, Eben Ostby, Rob Cook, Loren Carpenter, Ed Catmull, David Salesin, Tom Porter, Sam Leffler, David DiFrancesco, Tom Noggle, Don Conway, and Craig Good. Concept and direction, Alvy Ray Smith. Winner of awards at the 1985 International Festival of Animation in Toronto, 1985 National Computer Graphics Association Conference, 1985 First Annual Hiroshima Festival of Animation, 1985 Animation Celebration in Los Angeles, and others. Exhibited at the Computer Museum, Boston, 1984-5.

This was the first animation that John Lasseter did for us, so the first time I directed John. Actually it was the only time. From then on he and Bill Reeves directed themselves.

The title was originally My Breakfast with Andre, for Andre the android, in honor of the film My Dinner with Andre, starring Wallace Shawn. The android was Andre, so of course the bee had to be Wally B.

Cray Computer Corporation loaned us several hours of Cray supercomputer time to help render this film in time for SIGGRAPH 84, in hopes that we would buy a machine. We didn't.

This piece showed off character animation, motion blur, particle systems. We had just solved the motion blur problem so this was the main technical revelation of this piece. The forests and grasses by Bill Reeves were quite nice too. The main artistic news was, of course, John Lasseter.

Created at Lucasfilm Ltd in Marin County, California, in 1984.

An early award for A&W:

Hiroshima '90, the 3rd International Animation Festival in Japan, 1990

Three original documents about A&W:

The Making of Andre & Wally B., with full credits

Summary of Andre & Wally B., presented at its premiere at SIGGRAPH 84

Submission Form of Andre & Wally B., for presentation at SIGGRAPH 84