Director John Lasseter 's first experience with computer animation was during his work as an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation , when two of his friends showed him the lightcycle scene from '' Tron '' . It was an eye-opening experience which awakened Lasseter to the possibilities offered by the new medium of computer-generated animation . Lasseter tried to pitch '' The Brave Little Toaster '' as a fully computer-animated film to Disney , but the idea was rejected and Lasseter was fired . He then went on to work at Lucasfilm and in 1986 , he became a founding member of Pixar . In 1986 , Pixar was purchased by entrepreneur and Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs . At Pixar , Lasseter created short , computer-animated films to show off the Pixar Image Computer 's capabilities . In 1988 Lasseter produced the short film '' Tin Toy '' told from the perspective of a toy and referencing Lasseter 's love of classic toys . '' Tin Toy '' won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film , the first computer-generated film to do so
1988 Academy Award
60th Academy Awards
Toy Story