The animator meets fans in Shanghai last month.

"No matter what kind of unrealistic world we've created, it must be believable for the audience," he says. "It must be somewhere people all know about, but have never been to."

That 'why Pixar's next film, Inside Out (2015), sets the story inside a girl's brain, with the five human emotions playing the protagonists. It is the first on a long list of films which Disney and Pixar have lined up for the next few years, he revealed while in Shanghai.

Big Hero 6, made by Walt Disney Studios and to be released on Nov 7 in North America, is another highlight. This grassroots superhero comedy, adapted from a lesser-known Marvel comic book of the same title, is a rare tie-up with Marvel Entertainment, whose franchises for the cinema have performed well at the box office in the last few years.

"It's a unique case, but that doesn't mean we will not get into the Marvel universe," says this creator of Woody and Buzz Lightyear, who keeps emphasizing the importance of having original characters to avoid confusion. "Many of our stories are inspired by two or three different genres, and are put together in an original and fresh way."

"And even as I work with the latest technology, I always keep one foot in the most traditional art," Lasseter adds, noting that he once took a Chinese art course in college. Traditional Chinese paintings have remained among his favorites in art museums.

"My brother, who is a fashion designer, once told me: 'What makes sense to me is that you use traditional patterns on a crazy fabric, or have a traditional fabric to make crazy patterns. But if you have crazy patterns on crazy fabric, there's nothing for anybody to relate to.'