2021: So I fucking love Pixar, and even I still had a really hard time getting past how much of an old boys' club this company is.

I mean, I knew that going into the book; Pixar has never had a solo female director. Brenda Chapman was spearheading "Brave", and the way Catmull tells it, the project was going to fall apart if they didn't rush in a male director to "save" it. Chapman quit Pixar after "Brave" was released, saying that the leadership style didn't work for her. I FEEL THAT.

This provides incredibly frustrating context for a memoir / workplace leadership book focused on setting your employees up for success. Catmull spends so much time discussing being open and aware of the environment that you are creating as a manager, that it was incredible that he could be so blind to the obvious disparity his company was oozing. It's wholly unsurprising how Pete Docter (a white man) came to direct "Soul". It was also so disheartening to read he/him pronouns whenever an unnamed director was referenced.

I loved the anecdotes about how a new mom out on maternity leave managed to save "Toy Story 2" from complete ruin, and especially at how the name Pixar came to be (influenced by a Spanish pun!) But it was a drag reading a book in which Catmull goes into great detail on how all of his employees were meant to be treated equally...but also they started every meeting with John Lasseter's opinion, to "set the tone". REALLY!? I mean, do you not see it?!

I would knock off a full star if you're not really into Pixar or creativity.