The Second Coming of Steve Jobs - Alan Deutschman [84]
For the world premiere of Toy Story on November 22, Ed flew to Los Angeles with his youngest son (he had three), his little daughter, and Pam Kerwin. They arrived early at the El Capitan theater, where a row of paparazzi were awaiting the entrances of Tom Hanks, who did the voice for Woody, and Tim Allen, the voice of Buzz Lightyear.
They walked around the corner to the nearest Burger King. The fast-food joint was plastered with Toy Story paraphernalia and filled with kids slurping sodas from Buzz and Woody cups. That’s when it really hit them, when they had the visceral sense of what they had created. They had known about the promotions—they had approved the art—but it was still thrilling and surreal to see a bunch of kids clamoring for images of their characters.
“We just froze and said, ’Holy shit,’” recalls Pam.
• • •
THE EL CAPITAN SHOWING was the real premiere of Toy Story, but the following evening Steve Jobs held his own “premiere,” a private screening and reception for the people he really wanted to impress, the techno-moguls of Silicon Valley. It was his way of signaling that he was back on top.
“We called it the ’Apple wasn’t a fluke’ party,” recalls Pam Kerwin.
Pixar rented a grand ornate prewar movie palace in San Francisco, the Regency. Near the marquee it set up klieg lights and positioned a bunch of TV cameras. As the VIPs made their entrances—Larry Ellison from Oracle, Andy Grove from Intel, Scott McNealy from Sun—they were photographed as if they were Hollywood celebrities, even though it was all for show. The real paparazzi had shot the real stars (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen) the night before at the real premiere. But the computer guys didn’t know better. For them, this was as close as they ever came to Hollywood treatment, and it seemed very glamorous.
Alvy Ray Smith entered the theater. He passed the lineup of guests in tuxedos, who were waiting for their free popcorn, and he took a seat. Even though he was persona non grata with Steve, he remained a very close friend and confidant of Ed Catmull and the other Pixar executives, who made sure that he was there to share the occasion with them.
As he watched the film, Alvy was enthralled. “This was a twenty-year dream,” he recalls thinking. “Only it took seventeen years longer than we thought it would.”
The movie ended to a standing ovation. Then Steve got up and addressed the crowd. He was glorying in the spotlight.
“This was Steve’s return to center stage and, my, did he hog it,” recalls Julie Pitta, the correspondent for Forbes. “Steve was onstage by himself and Silicon Valley was there to pay him homage. He was not going to share the stage with John Lasseter, who was kept very much in the background.”
The Disney executives marveled at how Steve upstaged the film’s director and creative genius. Steve was still a novice to Hollywood, but he had already mastered two of its vital lessons: he knew how to take the credit and how to show up for the photo.
• • •
THE GUESTS WALKED two blocks down the street to the site of the party, a magnificently ornate Bernard Maybeck building that had been a Cadillac showroom in the 1920s but had been vacant and decaying for years. Disney’s party squad had instantaneously spiffed up the abandoned space as if they were preparing a soundstage for a fantasy film. There were islands and islands of beautiful food.
The invitation had said “creative black tie,” giving some leeway to the Silicon Valley types, most of whom despised formality and pretentiousness. Stewart Alsop showed up in blue jeans and a blue blazer, which he ironically “dressed up” with a white shirt, red bow tie, and red cummerbund. He looked around one of the building’s tall ornate columns and saw that Scott McNealy was wearing the same combination. The Fortune correspondent, Brent Schlender, one-upped them with his tacky patterned golf pants.
Michael Eisner didn’t come but he sent Mike Ovitz in his place, the way that the president might send the vice president or first lady to the coronation of the king of a very small country.
Laurene Jobs had given