Steve Jobs will always be remembered for his work with Apple and products like the iPhone and iPad. But one of his most underrated contributions is establishing Pixar as the absolute force that they are today.

After he was fired from Apple, Jobs took to creating Pixar and establishing them as one of the better film studios in the industry. But then his computer company NeXT was bought by Apple and he wanted to go back. He asked one of Pixar’s stars, the director of Toy Story, if he could. John Lasseter recounts the experience in Time magazine:

A few months later, Apple bought NeXT, and Steve sat me down at Pixar and asked my permission to go back to Apple. He didn’t want to do it without our blessing. He said he wanted to go back because the world would be a better place with Apple in it. That was incredibly touching to me, and it showed that Steve cared about people. He knew that his products and technology could improve people’s lives.

[Time via Daring Fireball]

John lasseter, pixar, Steve Jobs