Exclusive Interview: Jeannie Catmull

At Disneyland's Cars Land last month.

If you happened to watch the Oscars last year, you might have noticed Ed Catmull, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation president, strolling the red carpet with a noticeably younger woman in tow—red dress, oversized eyeglasses.

Meet Jeannie Catmull, the Pixar co-founder's daughter.

Having recently turned 22, Jeannie (I will call her by her first name throughout for clarity) was just five years old when Toy Story was lighting up the box office in November 1995.

After a year studying film and television production at New York University (NYU), and another doing Critical Studies at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts, she is currently learning interior design.

For the past few weeks, Jeannie has been sharing some of her experiences with me: what it was like growing up around Pixar and the animation industry; her time as a Walt Disney Company intern; and how she feels about her dad.

You can follow Jeannie on Twitter @uglyogre (not a Shrek reference, she avers).

“Until I re-watched Toy Story and Toy Story 2 right before ‘3’ came out, I always remembered scenes from the first Toy Story in either storyboard form or really basic basic computer animated geometric shapes. I was super little, but I guess ... a lot of those images just stuck with me,” Jeannie says of her earliest Pixar memories.

“I love all of the Pixar films because they all represent to me different challenges and experiences that I got to see my dad go through. It's really incredible that they've made such excellent films regardless of the innumerable problems and setbacks that have plagued Pixar.

“[But] if I had to name one movie that I loved most, however, it would have to be Monsters, Inc. It's super funny, it's an amazing universe, and the whole movie is just so exciting.

"I was surrounded by a bunch of Pixar toys growing up. Unfortunately I never really realized how cool that was until I was older. I just wanted to play with those Pokemon figurines and my N64, ha."

With Pixar executive contingent at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005. Jeff Vespa / WireImage

“My time at Disney was so, so lovely”, she gushes of her time as an intern in 2010. The internship had her working two months each in development and production/visual effects, and one week in marketing.

“Development was amazing because the area I worked in was comprised of just a small number of people. Everyone was so nice to me, and very accommodating. I was allowed to sit in on meetings, read tons and tons of scripts, and if I ever had any questions [they] would always find time to explain things to me.

“I also had the opportunity to sit in on casting sessions, which was an absolute treat.  What blew me away was how much the head of casting could tell from just a few minutes of being with someone. I mean, you only get a small amount of time to watch someone, and she was definitely picking up on things that I wasn't able to see.

“Everyone in the development office works very hard and they have grueling hours. They're making decisions that affect the entire company, and there are so many great scripts and brilliant ideas out there, it's hard to try and find the one that will really turn into something special.

“Production was even more intense. I really loved [it]. “[It] houses some of the projects. When I was there, it was The Muppets ... I got to be in one of the character tests for Walter and meet some of the crew ... other than that I was mostly doing stuff for John Carter, Tron, and Pirates.

"I felt like I got more done in production than I did in development because I had started out in development and hadn't learned the ropes yet. In production they're so overloaded with all of this paperwork that is absolutely necessary ... otherwise the films can hit huge snags that cost the studio absurd amounts of money."

"Visual Effects is [also] on the same floor as Production, they coordinate between the visual effects houses and Disney. If I were to work at Disney full time I would want to work in VFX. I felt very comfortable there and the work really interested me. It felt challenging, but still very cool.

83rd Academy Awards, February 2011. Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

“I have never considered a career in animation/CG. I think my dad was the happiest ever when I told him I was going to take a break from pursuing the film industry ... He's also very pleased to have me back in the Bay Area. I'm the only girl in my family, so I think he likes being able to keep a close eye on me.

“I'm so proud of him. He's a funny, interesting, bona fide genius.” Catmull, she says, works “hard at growing mentally, keeping in great shape, and having a pretty damn fantastic sense of humor.”