This is incredibly interesting, and something I wouldn't have thought much of before becoming a parent.
Since our son was able to speak, he was able to vocalize when we were near a family member's house (I saw this weekly as we drove from the San Francisco Peninsula up into the city). I was always curious what triggered him to know "we're nearby". We passed several unique structures (overpasses, apartment buildings, signs) but I was incredibly curious which ones he associated with being nearby this particular relative.
Eventually when he was a little older, and we asked, he was able to say a specific color building "told him" he was close. Super interesting. Child development and understanding in itself is so amazing to watch.
Every step of the way they were scheming how to get to feature films -- everything in between sounds like a means for resources (money, hardware, people, so on so forth).
Currently reading The Pixar Touch by David A. Price and they talk a lot about the types of software and standards for rendering they had to create over the years. Incredibly interesting looking back at what they were able to achieve. A talented crew for sure.