We all know Pixar makes great movies, right? Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall*E, Up. But check out what Pixar writer-director Pete Docter has to say about their creative process:

In 2002, when Randy Newman won an Oscar for the first film you directed, “Monsters, Inc.,” he made a comment about how Pixar had made four good movies in a row, and how rare that is.
Yeah.

Seven years later, you could argue that the streak is still intact.
The truth is that every one of our movies is lousy at some point. It’s just that we allow ourselves time to fix it. And we have this co-op of directors who are all doing their own thing, but who together at certain times to analyze and assist with everyone. On “Up,” for example, about every four months we would show the film to John Lasseter and Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton, and then we’d go upstairs and talk about what was wrong with it.

You want as many people as possible to not only boost you up, but also poke at the soft spots: “Hey, you’ve got some dry rot over here, let’s get the wood putty.” You end up with a big heaping pile of notes, some contradictory, and as the director I’m left to decide what points I agree with and which solutions seem good.

“The truth is that every one of our movies is lousy at some point.”

Ponder that for a moment. Arguably the most successful movie production outfit ever and one of their principals says that all of their movies have been “lousy” at some point.

Make you feel a bit better about that problem script you’re working on?

How does Pixar improve their stories?

(1) “We allow ourselves time to fix it.” Lesson: Don’t let some arbitrary deadline stifle your creative process. You have to do whatever you can to find your story – and if that takes more time than you expected, so be it.

(2) “You want as many people as possible to not only boost you up, but also poke at the soft spots.” Lesson: Instead of having your spouse or best friend read your script, find a group of writers with whom you can share your material, people who have enough knowledge and commitment to your story to tell you the truth.

(3) “You end up with a big heaping pile of notes, some contradictory, and as the director I’m left to decide what points I agree with and which solutions seem good.” Lesson: Take all that feedback, then sort through each point, determining which ones fit your vision – because in the end, it is your vision that should be reflected in the final draft of your script.

We’ll have Part 2 of the interview on Tuesday and Part 3 Wednesday, both with commentary. For more of the interview, go here.