Claim: Pixar started in 1979.

Pixar -LRB- -LSB- ˈpɪksɑr -RSB- -RRB- , also referred to as Pixar Animation Studios , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville , California that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company . Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group , part of the Lucasfilm computer division , before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986 , with funding by Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs , who became the majority shareholder . Disney purchased Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $ 7.4 billion , a transaction that resulted in Jobs becoming Disney 's largest single shareholder at the time . Pixar is best known for CGI-animated feature films created with RenderMan , Pixar 's own implementation of the industry-standard RenderMan image-rendering application programming interface , used to generate high-quality images .   Pixar has produced seventeen feature films , beginning with Toy Story -LRB- 1995 -RRB- , which was the first-ever computer-animated feature film , and its most recent being Finding Dory -LRB- 2016 -RRB- . All 17 of its films have debuted with CinemaScore ratings of at least an `` A − , '' indicating positive receptions with audiences . The studio has also produced several short films . , its feature films have earned approximately $ 10.8 billion at the box office worldwide , with an average worldwide gross of $ 634 million per film . Finding Dory , along with its predecessor Finding Nemo -LRB- 2003 -RRB- , as well as Toy Story 3 -LRB- 2010 -RRB- are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time , with the lattermost film being the third all-time highest-grossing animated film with a gross of $ 1.063 billion . Fourteen of Pixar 's films are also among the 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time .   The studio has earned sixteen Academy Awards , seven Golden Globe Awards , and eleven Grammy Awards , among many other awards and acknowledgments . Many of Pixar 's films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature since its inauguration in 2001 , with eight winning ; this includes Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3 , along with The Incredibles -LRB- 2004 -RRB- , Ratatouille -LRB- 2007 -RRB- , WALL-E -LRB- 2008 -RRB- , Up -LRB- 2009 -RRB- , Brave -LRB- 2012 -RRB- , and Inside Out -LRB- 2015 -RRB- . Monsters , Inc. -LRB- 2001 -RRB- and Cars -LRB- 2006 -RRB- are the only two films that were nominated for the award without winning it , while Cars 2 -LRB- 2011 -RRB- , Monsters University -LRB- 2013 -RRB- , The Good Dinosaur -LRB- 2015 -RRB- , and Finding Dory have not been nominated . Up and Toy Story 3 were also the respective second and third animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture , the first being Walt Disney Animation Studios ' Beauty and the Beast -LRB- 1991 -RRB- . Luxo Jr. , a character from the studio 's 1986 short film of the same name , is the studio 's mascot .   On September 6 , 2009 , Pixar executives John Lasseter , Brad Bird , Pete Docter , Andrew Stanton , and Lee Unkrich were presented with the Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement by the biennial Venice Film Festival . The award was presented by Lucasfilm 's founder George Lucas .