CES 2009: John Lasseter on Blu-ray

In a surprise to all attendees, Disney / Pixar chief John Lasseter took the stage at the Sony keynote address this morning. Introduced by Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer, Mr. Lasseter spoke at length about the superiority of the Blu-ray format. Lasseter believes that Blu-ray has given filmmakers like himself a new set of tools to create additional content beyond the scope of the film itself. Scenes and special features from Wall-E and Sleeping Beauty were shown to the crowd as Mr. Lasseter voiced obvious excitement at the limitless possibilities that bonus view and BD Live functionality can offer. The crowd was also shown a special sneak preview of Pixar's next feature, UP!, which is due to hit theaters this summer. In a nice aside, Mr. Stringer rejoined Mr. Lasseter on stage and personally thanked the team at Disney and Pixar for their steadfast support of Blu-ray. Without their unrelenting support and passion for the format, Mr. Stringer believes that Blu-ray may have had a hard time winning the format war.