Steve Jobs Discusses Pixar in Rare 1996 Interview [Video]

The Steve Jobs Archive has released a never-before-seen interview with the late Apple co-founder, filmed just weeks before he agreed to return to the company he started. Recorded on November 22, 1996, exactly one year after Toy Story hit theaters, the footage captures Jobs in a reflective mood as he breaks down the business philosophy that turned Pixar into an animation powerhouse.

Jobs opens up about the ten-year struggle to create the world's first computer-animated feature, crediting Ed Catmull for the original vision back in 1985. He admits he bought into that dream ""both financially and spiritually,"" a long-term bet that paid off when Toy Story became a massive box office success—Jobs notes it was the third most successful animated film of all time at that point—and led to the largest IPO of 1995.

He also gets candid about the culture clash between Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Jobs explains that while film studios usually rely on contracts to lock talent down, Pixar took the Silicon Valley route of giving everyone stock options so they felt like owners. He viewed his role not as a typical boss, but as someone at the bottom of an inverted pyramid, serving the talent above him. As he puts it, the best people are so rare they ""can go get another job in 10 minutes"" if they aren't treated right, so management's only job is to keep the path clear for them.


The conversation touches on the balance between technology and art, a theme that became the backbone of Apple's product philosophy. Jobs insists that no amount of technology can turn a bad story into a good one. He predicts that Toy Story would remain relevant decades later not because of the computer graphics, but because of the relationship between the characters. Apple recently revisited this sentiment during its iPhone 17 event, closing the keynote with a video featuring a quote from Jobs on how design is not just how something looks, but how it works.

You can watch the full interview below...