Pixar And Disney Part Ways
from the wow dept
While there were rumors a year ago that Steve Jobs was looking to get back at Michael Eisner's trashing of Apple's "Rip, Mix, Burn" campaign by signing a deal with some other studio once Pixar's deal was up, most people thought they'd patch up their differences and keep going. Looks like that's not the case. Steve Jobs announced today that talks between Pixar and Disney have broken down, and Pixar will be looking for a new movie studio to work with. This isn't such a big deal for Pixar, but could be even more trouble for Disney (who's having plenty of trouble already).
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Yeah!!!
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Save Disney
:-)
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Re: Save Disney
The industry rumors are that this point killed the deal. Jobs & company went so sour on Disney that Eisner would have had to pay far more than anyone else to hold on to the business. Mr. Eisner's ego being what it is, he apparently feels Disney is the primary partner in the deal, that Pixar should consider themselves lucky to enjoy Disney's patronage and that they could never do as well elsewhere. I guess we will find out.
This could actually be the final nail in Eisner's coffin at Disney. There is a lot of unhappiness with the latter part of his rule there. Losing the one bright-light money-machine Disney has left will not sit well with the analysts and institutional investors. Had he retired five years ago, he would have joined the Pantheon as one of America's greatest-ever corporate leaders. Now it looks like he will die the death of a thousand cuts. And Mr. Jobs, as ever, will be delighted to do his part.
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No Subject Given
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Actually, there are some losses for Pixar, especially for control-freak Steve Jobs. From the WSJ today:
Still, Pixar's departure offers some pluses for Disney. Since "Toy Story 2" became a smash sequel Disney has been eager to release follow-ups -- either in theaters, or direct-to-video form -- of other Pixar hits such as "Monsters, Inc." Mr. Jobs, however, steadfastly opposed such projects, contending that Pixar wanted to move forward with original material rather than dwell on past successes.
Under the existing deal, however, Disney has the right to proceed with those sequels without Pixar's approval. It hadn't done so in the past because it was reluctant to upset Mr. Jobs, but in the wake of the current rupture, it's highly likely those projects will get the green light.
If Pixar chooses not to co-finance those sequels, as it has the right to do, Disney stands to make more money on them than the studio would have had the partnership survived. That's a mixed blessing, analysts say, noting that Disney's animation track record of late hasn't been nearly as strong as Pixar's.
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Who else is going to do it, DreamWorks?
I hope not.
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