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[Kratter] I was raised
with art all around me.

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My mom is a ceramicist,

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and instead of giving us
a lot of formal training,

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she just threw tools at us.

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I was playing with pencils and markers
and paintbrushes,

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and I knew from a very, very young age

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that I either wanted to be an artist
or be a teacher,

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which worked out pretty good.

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I'm Tia Kratter.

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I've been working here
at Pixar for 26 years.

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In 1980, I got a job
as a background painter

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at Walt Disney Feature Animation.

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The first film I worked on was
Fox and the Hound.

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Then I moved up here to the Bay Area.

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Disney would send me backgrounds,
and I would paint them from home.

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Worked on some great Disney films:
Aladdin, Beauty, Hunchback.

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In 1993,
Toy Story was starting to develop.

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I had absolutely no computer experience.

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The idea of putting
a stylus down on a tablet

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and seeing it show up on the screen
was foreign to me.

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So, I volunteered here at Pixar
until I could prove to them

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that I was a good enough painter
on the computer to be hired.

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I started working on Toy Story
as an imperfectionist.

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My job was to mess up and beat up things

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that were made
so perfectly by the computer.

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So I might put scuffs on the baseboards.

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Sid's desk was covered with hammer marks.

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Sid's mattress had a big pee stain on it.

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That was the best work I did on Toy Story.

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To be able to be part
of that initial wave of CG animation

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is one of the greatest experiences
I've ever had.

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Pixar invests in allowing us
to create a very robust program

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so that we can offer avenues of growth
in a lot of different ways.

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So, I'm so glad you're all here.

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Are you ready to learn
how to paint with gouache?

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-Yes. Good. Okay.
-[woman] Yeah!

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As the manager of Art and Film,

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it's my goal to educate Pixarians
as much as I can.

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Either by showing them lots of films

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or expose them
to different hands-on art projects.

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The very first...

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All with the goal
of developing a better eye

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so that we can make more beautiful films.

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See if you can not show your brushstrokes.

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Um, by the way, I've hid the black paint

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-[chuckles] so you have to use color.
-[woman] Why?

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And little by little, really trying
to get them to gain self-confidence

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in what they're doing,
and that's gonna make them happier.

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Pixar has allowed me
to invite anyone to take these classes.

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Not just our directors.
Not just the artists or story people.

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We get this great cross-section of people
who might not know each other otherwise.

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It gets them away from their computers,
it lets them use their hands,

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and it builds
a sense of camaraderie and morale.

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The real goal is to let people
just completely lose sense of time

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and to enjoy what they're doing.

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[laughs]

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-Perfect. It's so good.
-[chuckles]

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The sense of humor
may be the most critical thing.

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It's really easy to get caught up
in the stress or the deadlines.

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It's really healthy
to put your arms out and say,

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"This is simply an animated film."

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And I know that enriches people's lives
when we put out a really good film.

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Just the same,
I don't want to take us too seriously.

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I think that would be silly.

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-I'm bringing you a cheat sheet.
-[man] Thanks.

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One of the things I do every April Fools',
is I quit Pixar.

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I concoct
a utterly ridiculous reason for leaving,

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and I send out an e-mail blast
to the whole company.

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When I first did it, I would get
about 30 to 40 people who just took it,

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including Steve Jobs,
who believed it three separate times.

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-It's been a really fun way...
-Excellent! [chuckles]

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...to keep it light around here,
which I think is critical.

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When I was about 50,
I thought I'd work here till I was 70.

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I still think
I might be able to make it to 70.

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My big hope
is that I get to call the shots.

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And if I get to call the shots...

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I know I'm gonna leave on April Fools'.