“Pixar Animation Studios, which produced last summer’s popular ‘Finding Nemo,’ said on Thursday that it was ending talks on continuing its 12-year partnership with the Walt Disney Company and would seek another studio to distribute its films, beginning in 2006,” Laura M. Holson reports for The New York Times.
“Several theories emerged rapidly about why Mr. Jobs, who did not return three phone calls seeking comment, sought to terminate the partnership now. Perhaps, said one of the people involved, Mr. Jobs ‘made the announcement thinking Disney would come back on its knees.’ Wall Street analysts are set to meet with Disney executives in Florida in two weeks, when Mr. Eisner will face tough questions about Disney’s future in animation. Its own films have not had nearly the success of those produced by Pixar and Disney has effectively closed its Florida film animation operations,” Holson reports. “One film executive suggested that Mr. Jobs could now be considered a candidate to run Disney if indeed Mr. Eisner ever left.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We have a hard time figuring out how Steve runs both Apple and Pixar now; how’s he going to run Disney on top of those two, especially as running Apple alone, more so than Pixar, is such a monumental task? Perhaps by doing as Ronald Reagan espoused, “Delegate, delegate, delegate!” Or by folding one or more of the companies into another? Get ready for another round of “Disney to buy Apple” rumors.
AppleDisneyNextPepsiPixar??
Right?!
Very well said MDN. Take was my take as well…
From Motley Fool
“Instead, Disney is working on its own hand-drawn and computer-generated features as well as teaming up with upstart tech-savvy outfits, as it did with Pixar before the apprentice mastered the master. Disney is also taking up its contractual right to make Toy Story 3, even if it means that it might be more like Godfather 3,absent the storytelling and rendering talent of Pixar’s crack crew.”
Godfather3, that’s funny. Watching a Toy Story movie from anyone but Pixar would be weird.
AppleDisneyHPIBMNextPepsiPixar??
Right?!
Could that beat M$ =)
The real shame is that Disney holds the copyrights to “Toy Story” and all the others that have come out to date, so Pixar can’t make their own sequels without them. Apparently that was a big piece of the negotiating that Disney wouldn’t give in on.
that was the dumbest contract to give up the rights to ANY of those movies. Not that I am saying that there wasn’t good reason, but had they kept the rights, that’s easily 2-3 more features for Pixar alone. A cool half-billion, that will never be realised now because the crack-smoking crew that just bastardized the legacy that was the Lion King with v.1.5, will be in charge of these sequels!
Makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it! Nemo 1.5 anyone?
Had Pixar kept the rights, probably there wouldn’t have been a Toy Story. At the beginning, Pixar was an unproven entity, even after they won an Oscar for short animation. They needed a deal where a studio financed the movie. Of course, now Pixar can finance one or two movies simultaneously and get all the profit minus distribution fees.
What I find disturbing is that Pixar has all the talents and does all the work while Disney gets half the profit plus distribution fee.
Jobs has perfect timing. After Finding Nemo, this is the right time to look for a better deal with a different studio – or look to upgrade Pixar’s position with Disney through this hard-nosed tactic. It is VERY doubtful that The Incredibles and/or Cars will top the box office performance of Nemo.
Worldwide Box Office for Pixar Films:
Toy Story (1995) – $358 million
Bug’s Life (1998) – $358 million
Toy Story 2 (1999) – $486 million
Monsters, Inc. (2001) – $529 million
Finding Nemo (2003) – $844 million …and counting
Strike while the iron is hot!
I highly doubt that.
Steve has a family and he is not going to spread himself thin. He already has enough responsibility. I don’t think him running Disney is highly probable. He might get an offer. That I don’t doubt.
I bet if you stand anywhere in The Magic Kingdom today, you’ll feel Uncle Walt spinning in his cryogenic tank.
Disney may in fact be better off without Pixar if the deal that SJ wanted came to pass. Indeed the 5 released films, plus the upcoming “The Incredibles” and “Cars” in 2004 and 2005 respectively will be the final joint ventures. Afterwards, Disney can make sequels with all the characters in the 7 films and not pay Pixar a cent. Pixar will have to start over developing new films and characters and will only participate on the revenue side with the original films. Disney has certain talents that have helped Pixar. They know the market. Have the best distribution system in the world. They have the merchandising expertise. They also gave advice to Pixar on story development and were not just in the background. They also shared in the cost of making the films. Pixar will now have to do that themselves even if they make a deal with another company. They, or should I say SJ, wants to control everything. Ummm, does that sound familiar? Apple starts off like a house of fire and then decides not to play with the other computer companies and in the end their market share drops from a peak of 25% to less then 5 %. Am I missing something here?
Dave H,
If he is spinning. That would be his head only. It is my understanding that Alcor only does the head. So, with that alone…I can only imagine the only thing you can do is something along the lines of Tourettes Syndrome with his head on a silver platter. 😀 He would also be wondering where his cousin Roy is.
No matter how nice the machine is, I will never by a Mac with a Disney logo on it!
Oh come DrBadAss, no-ones so cynical they wouldn’t love a Mackey Mouse
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They could put black ears on it and everything 😀
Disney buys Pixar -> Steve takes control
Sound familiar?
OK, so I’m laughing at my own jokes. Remember it’s Friday night here, and I went for a pint or two after work
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Walt Disney: It all started with a little mouse.
PKRADD, what are you smoking, and where can I get some? Disney had NO input on the production values of any Pixar film. If they had, they would have been megaflops, instead of mega success stories they are today.
Pixar is negotiating from a position of strenght, and Disney can’t deal with that. They are a sad excuse for a family entertainment enterprise. The legacy of Walt was squandered years ago, and anyone who could possibly thing they taught pixar anything besides marketing and distribution is in la la land.
For those wondering if Jobs would step up to head Disney with Eisner out, I find it highly unlikely. Steve have one job only � Apple. Pixar, which is a tight knit, fun-loving group under the leadership of John Lasseter, runs itself without Steve around. Steve tried his heavy-handed tactics after Pixar became profitable, and the employees summarily rejected his leadership. I doubt much has changed since then. Pixar made Steve most of his money without him touching a thing, so I doubt he’d want to start touching things now.
Quitting Disney is just the way Steve plays. He must have a lot of faith in Pixar’s next two films if he isn’t currently eyeing other studios for a lucrative deal as I type. Most likely, though, things will turn out like they always do: show the world you have a superior product, make them crave it, and charge them every penny of what they are willing to spend on it.
OK Jas, I’ll take your que…
Apple: It all started with a little mouse.
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How does the CEO of GE run such a huge conglomerate or Warren Buffett run his empire. With more experience and skill, it makes sense to have one of the best CEO’s and visionaries at the top of companies that can be leveraged to benefit each other tremendously. Apple-Pixar-Disney are all a perfect fit, they go together when they are mentioned in the same breadth as they all elicit the same strong happy feelings. It’s probably the best thing that could happen to Disney. Really.
Disney or Apple should buy Pixar. Then Steve could run both.
sj has to do this now. If the next movie is a flop, disney gains the upper hand. He has to have a contract NOW.
The first contract was so bad for pixar is was pittyful. Disney WILL ruin toy story and all the others they have a right to. Anyone remember little mermaid 2? But pixar does need the marketing power of disney. Does anyone really believe that finding nemo would be as big as it was without disney???
Twenty Benson
Apple: It all started with a little woody box.
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