Presto (animation software)
Pixar's proprietary animation software, used for its features and shorts.
Presto is the animation software Pixar Animation Studios built for its own use, powering its feature films and short films. It is never sold and remains exclusive to Pixar, so details of how it works are largely unknown outside the company. Before Presto, Pixar used an older in-house program called menv (pronounced "men-vee"), which the press often called Marionette. Presto replaced menv sometime before *Brave* came out in 2012, making that film the first feature animated with Presto. Pixar’s sister studio, Walt Disney Animation Studios, also started using Presto at some point before *Zootopia 2* was released in 2025.
Pixar says Presto is designed to feel intuitive and familiar to animators with traditional cel animation experience. The software’s logo was created by Parakeet, a design studio in Portland, Oregon. The name Presto comes from Pixar’s 2008 animated short of the same name, which features a magician character.
Rather than using commercial animation software available to other studios, Pixar sticks with a proprietary system so it can modify the code to fit its own needs. For example, extra features on *The Incredibles* DVD explain that older versions of Marionette couldn’t stretch models the way Elastigirl required, so the in-house team created a new version of Marionette that added that capability.
In 2018, Patrick Stewart presented Academy Technical Achievement Awards to Rob Jensen for Presto’s foundational design and continued development, to Thomas Hahn for the animation toolset, and to George ElKoura, Adam Woodbury, and Dirk Van Gelder for the high-performance execution engine. The Academy’s announcement stated that Presto lets artists work interactively in scene context with full-resolution geometric models and sophisticated rig controls, and that it has significantly increased the productivity of character animators at Pixar.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Pixar Animation Studios
- License
- Proprietary
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Presto was named after the 2008 animated short of the same name, which is about the titular magician character. The logo for Presto was designed by Parakeet, a design studio based in Portland, Oregon. Pixar chooses to use a proprietary system instead of commercial products because it can edit the software code to meet its own specific needs. An example of this editing is shown in extra features of *The Incredibles* DVD, where it is explained that previous versions of Marionette could not stretch models in the ways needed to correctly animate Elastigirl, so the in-house Marionette development team created a new version that included this feature.
In 2018, Patrick Stewart presented Academy Technical Achievement Awards to Rob Jensen for the foundational design and continued development, to Thomas Hahn for the animation toolset, and to George ElKoura, Adam Woodbury and Dirk Van Gelder for the high-performance execution engine of the Presto Animation System. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award announcement stated: 'Presto allows artists to work interactively in scene context with full-resolution geometric models and sophisticated rig controls, and has significantly increased the productivity of character animators at Pixar.' Pixar claims that Presto is designed to be intuitive and familiar to animators who have traditional cel animation experience.
Reader's Guide
Presto's significance lies in its role as the core animation tool behind Pixar's feature films and shorts, enabling the studio to maintain creative control over its production pipeline. By developing and customizing its own software, Pixar can address specific animation challenges that commercial products might not solve, such as the need for flexible model stretching demonstrated with Elastigirl. The software's adoption by Walt Disney Animation Studios indicates its influence beyond Pixar, though it remains proprietary. The Academy Technical Achievement Awards in 2018 recognized the contributions of key developers to Presto's design, animation toolset, and execution engine, highlighting its technical impact on the industry. Because Presto is not sold or publicly documented, its legacy is primarily observed through the films it has produced, starting with *Brave* in 2012. Its design philosophy, aimed at being intuitive for traditional animators, reflects Pixar's commitment to blending artistic workflow with advanced technology. The software's name, drawn from a Pixar short, ties its identity to the studio's storytelling heritage.
Did You Know?
- Pixar's older proprietary animation software menv (pronounced 'men-vee') was more commonly known by the press as Marionette.
- In 2018, Patrick Stewart presented Academy Technical Achievement Awards to the developers of the Presto Animation System.
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