One of the big stories of 2019, so far, is the news that disgraced animation guru John Lasseter was given a second chance at a career with his recent hiring at Skydance Animation. After being dismissed by Disney/Pixar, as multiple allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced, many assumed that the executive would quietly fade away into obscurity. Instead, he landed a high-profile job at a fairly large studio. And according to Lasseter collaborator, and ‘Incredibles’ filmmaker, Brad Bird, there’s nothing wrong with that.
In a new interview with the Daily Beast, Bird is asked about his thoughts on the former Pixar boss. Perhaps surprisingly, the filmmaker is complimentary of Lasseter and thinks that what the executive is accused of isn’t nearly as bad as Harvey Weinstein and should be viewed as a product of the times.
“These times are not good for nuance,” Bird says. “You’re either 100 percent for something or you’re 100 against something.”
“I don’t at all put John in a category with Weinstein,” the filmmaker says. “You’re navigating a world where men have acted a certain way for thousands of years. Way too late, but all of a sudden, they’re expected to change that on a dime and it’s necessary and it’s right. But it’s a little bit a gray area. It’s not as hard of a cut as people want to make it. I’m an old friend of John’s and I don’t see him in black and white. I see him as a person like anyone else. He was a person who was very protective of us at a time when we needed it. So my feelings are a little bit more complicated.”
Taken without context, this could be viewed as Brad Bird defending an alleged serial harasser that many feel is in the same category, not only with Weinstein, but with all of the recent executives and powerful Hollywood folk that have become the subject of massive controversies. But as Bird describes, Lasseter is someone he’s respected for a long time and has gone to bat for the filmmaker, when no one else would.
Bird explains a situation where Lasseter stuck his neck out for the filmmaker, after “Iron Giant” was a commercial flop and the folks at Pixar didn’t want to give him a shot to make “The Incredibles.”
“John kind of flung his body between us and the executives and said I think these guys are onto something and let’s give them a little more time to develop it,” Bird says. “By the time we finished our story reels, that guy was gone and the reels spoke for themselves. He stuck his neck out in a way that few in Hollywood are willing to.”
With Lasseter seemingly landing on his feet at Skydance, it’ll be interesting to see how others in Hollywood treat him. Many are vowing to never work with the executive, and there seems to be a little unrest at the company where he was hired. But ultimately, if you have filmmakers like Brad Bird, it would appear that the former Pixar boss isn’t going to experience the same blowback that Weinstein and others have received.