Letters of Note got ahold of this great letter that Pete Docter, the Oscar-nominated director of Up and Monsters Inc., sent to a young fan named Adam, who got more than he bargained for when he merely asked for an autographed photo. Not only did Adam receive some nifty original artwork of Monsters‘ Mike and Sulley, but he got a peek at Pixar’s craftsmanlike approach to its productions straight from one of its top talents:
You are sure right about the importance of a good story in movies. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it sounds. It takes a lot of work (and rework, and rework and rework) to get it right. And even then quite often we’re not 100% pleased.
As John Lasseter likes to say, our films don’t get finished, they just get released.
You can check out the letter fully sized at Letters of Note.
