Overlooked and Legendary

When many think of the greatest and most legendary directors in film history, we think of names like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg,  or Quentin Tarantino. However, there is a great director that many seem to overlook. He had a vision that many seemed to think would fail or be too risky but he was determined to make it happen and did. This man is John Lasseter, the director of the first ever fully CGI motion picture, Toy Story. 

Lasseter began his career at Lucasfilm and contributed to many of their computer generated special effects in movies such as The Young Sherlock Holmes. The more he experimented with this technology, the more he began to realize the potential of making a film purely from computers. It was not until Steve Jobs bought the computer animation division of Lucasfilm and renamed it Pixar Animation Studios when Lasseter finally had the opportunity to make is dream a reality. Jobs believed in Lasseter's vision and hired him as director of their short films. Lasseter's short films then won multiple awards and recognition from many big film companies. One of these companies was Disney, who later signed a three movie deal with Pixar studios. Jobs then decided to give Lasseter's dream a shot, making their first partnership with Disney a legendary one.

Toy Story was released on Thanksgiving of 1995 and became a huge blockbuster success. According to boxofficemojo.com, the movie accumulated over $300 million dollars at the worldwide box office, making it the most successful animated film of that time period. Pixar had revolutionized the way animated films could be created and inspired many other companies to create movies similarly to generate the same success. Lasseter, however, realized that the content means more than the software and intended to create a great story to keep the audience from just looking at pretty graphics. The unique story tied with the high quality of computer graphics technology makes this film and its director truly legendary!

From Doubt to Destiny

Lately, I have been realizing that my past couple of posts have been about pioneers in media history that overcame odds to accomplish their dreams. Mainly, this is because they inspire me to dream big and to work hard to make my goals happen. The subject of this post is probably one of the greatest success stories in television history and one of my personal favorite actors of all time. This person had dreamed as a child that she wanted to be an actress. She went to acting school as a teenager and her teachers told her that she was not talented enough to be an actress… They doubted her… But she didn't give up. She stared in low budget B-films until she finally got her own television show. A show that still airs to this day! By now, you should know who I'm addressing! Yes, one of the greatest and most successful actresses of all time, Ms. Lucille Ball!

Before Ms. Ball became an actress, her career actually had her start out as a model. Her modeling career was really successful until she struggled with sicknesses such as rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis which caused her to stop modeling for almost two years! Lucille bounced back, however, and started gaining small rolls in films which then later turned into lead roles. Ball ended up being so successful in the "B-Movie" community that she was nicknamed "Queen of the B's."

It wasn't until 1948 when Lucille stared in the hit sit-com "I Love Lucy"and the rest as they say is history.... LITERALLY! She became the first female in television history to be the head of a production company. The show also became the first sit-com to be shot live in front of a studio audience. Lastly, even though the show lasted only six seasons, it is still being shown on television to this day which makes it the longest syndicated show in history! According to tvguide.com in 2011, almost 40 million people watch "I Love Lucy" every year!

What really makes Lucille a legend in the industry was her ability to make anyone laugh! Whether is was her voice, her facial expressions or her wild antics, her main goal in every episode of "I Love Lucy" was to make the audience smile. Lucy's talent radiates with every episode and has helped those who were having a bad day to turn their frowns upside-down.  In my opinion, no one on earth did that better than Lucille Ball.