The Official Disney Thread

[bc1970]

Disney in talks to buy Pixar?

DOH!

[Pacino86845]

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[Chairman Kaga]

Damnit! We need more companies in the field not less.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

The sky, she is a falling! The sky, she is a falling!

Hehehehehe....

[Chairman Kaga]

Is "sky" really feminine in Italian?

[Doc Holliday]

Is sky really feminine in Itlaian?

Well, it pisses on you, like all the best hookers.......I digress.

[Doc Holliday]

More seriously - I know it would be cooler if they stayed separate entities - but from what I've been reading Lasseter has put down a few un-negotiable conditions if this deal is to be anything other than for distribution rights.

I think Disney know the mistakes they've made in the past on this one...so lets just hope eh?

[Chairman Kaga]

I wonder if this will halt Disney's progression into 3D features. Would be a shame for them to close up shop when they are essentially just getting started.

[Doc Holliday]

I wonder if this will halt Disney's progression into 3D features. Would be a shame for them to close up shop when they are essentially just getting started.

Very good point. Its conventional corporate sensibility to buy something thats already acknowledged to be excellent, than to learn the craft yourself. Which is a shame because often "learning" involves "experimenting" which in itself is often the hotbed from which new ideas spring forth.....

[burlivesleftnut]

This news makes me want to vomit.

[Chairman Kaga]

The aritcle though just makes it sound like another distribution deal.

[Doc Holliday]

I read they are hoping for more than that - but full creative control goes to Lasseter and no other else all bets are off.

[havocSchultz]

I wonder if this will halt Disney's progression into 3D features. Would be a shame for them to close up shop when they are essentially just getting started.

yes - please don't halt their own progression... chicken little 2: electric fence boogaloo will PWN...

[MadCapsule]

Bah! Disney can lick my balls with their "Hurry! This timeless classic will only be available to buy for a limited time before it disappears forever" bullshit. Lick 'em, I say!

[Pudie]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11003466/

LOS ANGELES - The Walt Disney Co. says it is buying longtime partner Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion.

This is a developing story. Check back for more details.

[Pudie]

Disney buys Pixar
House of Mouse is teaming up with Pixar in a $7.4 billion deal. Steve Jobs to become board member at Disney.
January 24, 2006: 4:31 PM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Walt Disney has announced that it is buying Pixar, the animated studio led by Apple head Steve Jobs, in a deal worth $7.4 billion.

Speculation about a deal being imminent raged on Wall Street for the past few weeks. Disney has released all of Pixar's films so far but their current distribution deal was set to expire following the release of this summer's "Cars."

"Disney and Pixar can now collaborate without the barriers that come from two different companies with two different sets of shareholders," said Jobs. "Now, everyone can focus on what is most important, creating innovative stories, characters and films that delight millions of people around the world."

As part of the deal, Jobs will become a board member of Disney, the companies said. And John Lasseter, the widely respected creative director at Pixar who had previously worked for Disney, will rejoin the House of Mouse as chief creative officer for the company's combined animated studios and will also help oversee the design for new attractions at Disney theme parks.

"The addition of Pixar significantly enhances Disney animation, which is a critical creative engine for driving growth across our businesses," said Disney CEO Robert Iger in a written statement

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

HO.

LEE.

CRAPPA!

That's a the HUGE.

[minstrel]

I already commented on this on the main page thread (using my alias over there, kai028). But I'll say this here, too: I think this is terrible for Pixar. The news report said Lasseter would be in charge of all of Disney's animation (good) but it didn't mention anything about any of the other lights at Pixar, like Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, etc., whose creative contributions have been huge for Pixar over the years. I hope Disney treated these guys right, too ...

[Pudie]

Knowning Pixar, I'm sure it was on their tersm more then Disneys. I doubt they sold without getting at least a good majority of what they wanted.

[Lady Sheridan]

I am very concerned about Pixar. Like everyone else here, I have loved every movie they've made. I don't want to see them forced into producing shiny dreck.

I really miss the good old days of Disney. The Little Mermaid was probably one of the best things about my childhood.

[Pudie]

I think Jobs getting a chair posistion and Lasseter being in charge is a step for Disney back into the right direction. Hopefully they stop making Bambi 2 and Cinnderella 3 and actually go back to making good animation, with good stories. Like Pixar does. And I hope they still differrentiate the stuff Pixar animators do from the other Disney stuff. Don't market Cars as a god damn Disney movie, and don't say Lion King 5 is from the makers of Toy Story & Finding Nemo.

[Peven]

do i hear taps playing?

[Chairman Kaga]

I wouldn't mind if they lump it all together if Lasseter and some of the PIXAR higher ups are put in charge of the umbrella of Disney Animation and whip it back into shape. I remember seeing rumors that PIXAR had purchased some of Disney's traditional/2D equipment after the slew of Studio closings/cuts Disney made a couple of years ago.....though I never found any confirmation. Either way I think this is more good then bad. I would love to see PIXAR push for a renewed interest in 2D animation from the Mouse to run parallel to their 3D work. I have no idea if they would or not.

[Adam Balm]

I figured it out...

Joshua was replaced by Pudie...

[Pudie]

To quote your signature .... what?

[Peven]

Fredo Jobs just sold out Pixar, imo.

[Adam Balm]

To quote your signature .... what?

Oh, we used to have a newsbot around here that Doc wrote called Joshua. He ran rampant until Moriarty finally staked the fucker in his heart. Rumors have circulated since of his return, in a new form...

[Pudie]

I'm no bot. I'm borg.

[RogueScribner]

An interesting development. People say 2D animation is dead, but I say it's not the format it's the quality of the films lately. Is stop-motion animation dead? It seems to me that Corpse Bride did okay and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit did even better. Did anyone expect Home on the Range to be any good? No, the movie looked ALF. That's why it bombed. Go back to your roots Disney! Hire TALENT for your films, craft COMPELLING stories, and put some gorram INTEGRITY back into your products and they will come. Don't ruin Pixar with your corporate mentality. Help bring ART back into animated features again!

[Adam Balm]

[The Garbage Man]

I figured it out...

Joshua was replaced by Pudie...

NEWSAVALANCHEILASH!

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

I really miss the good old days of Disney. The Little Mermaid was probably one of the best things about my childhood.

Me too, eh? Like a seeing a the Snow White anna the Pinocchio up onna the big a screen...

[Agent Alonzo]

Damn, I only bid 7.1 Billion...

[Ribbons]

I'm not convinced that Disney is good for Pixar. I'm not even convinced that Disney is good for animation. Lately all they make is crass, aimless dreck, and if Pixar is forced to conform then our best hope of revolutionizing animation in America has just been bought and sold away.

[Chairman Kaga]

That is only pretty recent Ribbons. Disney was the leader in this field for well over 60 years before recent micro managing plunged it into a spiral.

[Ribbons]

Don't get me wrong, I have a considerable amount of respect for Walt Disney and what his company accomplished. But I don't much appreciate what the House of Mouse has done since their formula-defying/making classics of the early '90s. They only sporadically produce good movies nowadays.

[buster00]

Don't get me wrong, I have a considerable amount of respect for Walt Disney and what his company accomplished. But I don't much appreciate what the House of Mouse has done since their formula-defying/making classics of the early '90s. They only sporadically produce good movies nowadays.

Agreed. The animation in Annapolis looks like shit.

[The Garbage Man]

At least Eisner's gone.

Does anyone know what Robert Iger is like? I've heard he's a good ice-skater and a gentle (some might say tender) lover, but I really don't know much about him.

[Evil Hobbit]

Let's just hope disney desides to do some 2d animated musicals again. Like 1 every 4 years. Rising Menken from the grave and providing him with good stories instead of awfull cheasy home on the range vehicles.

[TheButcher]

Well Toy Story 3 is officially dead.
Thank God!!

http://latinoreview.com/news.php?id=225
As the subject line read, John Lasseter and Ed Catmill announced to Feature Animation employees today that the "Toy Story 3" production will end effectively today. They said that sequels should only be made if there is a really great story that demands it, and should be the domain of those who created the original film.

In other words, if Pixar wants to make a sequel to its films, it will. If Disney Feature wants to make a sequel to its film, it will. But the two will not cross.

http://movieweb.com/news/06/10706.php

[Chairman Kaga]

That is cool.

[Pudie]

I'm not convinced that Disney is good for Pixar. I'm not even convinced that Disney is good for animation. Lately all they make is crass, aimless dreck, and if Pixar is forced to conform then our best hope of revolutionizing animation in America has just been bought and sold away.

Do you really think Pixar would let itself be bought out by Disney only to become its bitch? Fuck no it wouldn't. Pixar is one of the most succesfull studios out there. There movies are pretty much guranteed to be huge. Theres no way in hell they would let themselves make the next Home On The Range. Pixar will still be Pixar and make great Pixar movies. Lasseter and Jobs getting the posistions they have not only ensures Pixar will still make grade A stuff, but also gives alot of hope to Disney becoming the great animation powerhouse it once was.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

Well Toy Story 3 is officially dead.
...As the subject line read, John Lasseter and Ed Catmill announced to Feature Animation employees today that the "Toy Story 3" production will end effectively today.

Hehehe... there's a the NEW sheriff inna town, no?

[Peven]

over at comingsoon.net



According to a poster at Animation Nation, Catmull and Lasseter "announced to Feature Animation employees [Tuesday] that the 'Toy Story 3' production will end effectively [Tuesday]. They said that sequels should only be made if there is a really great story that demands it, and should be the domain of those who created the original film."

An Associated Press article from Tuesday about the acquisition confirms the news:

One immediate sign of Lasseter's influence is that plans for Disney to make the long rumored sequel "Toy Story 3" on its own have been scrapped. If the film is made, it will be done by Lasseter and the other creators of the original film, the companies said.







so, Toy Story 3 isn't necessarily dead, just put on hold....for now.

[Chairman Kaga]

Well it's more like dead unless they come up with a story they like. I don't think they are interested in doing a TS3.

[Tyrone_Shoelaces]

I don't think a whole lot is going to change. It really boils down to Disney wanting Pixar movies and Jobs wanting content for iTunes. I do hope that Lasseter has a bit of a free hand when it comes to his duties and is allowed to assemble a quality traditional animation unit and let them create free from the tyranny of the bean counters and market researchers.

[Peven]

Well it's more like dead unless they come up with a story they like. I don't think they are interested in doing a TS3.

this just in, reported over at comingsoon.net...........




"It was previously reported that Disney's acquisition of Pixar also meant the end of production on Toy Story 3, and that if the film was ever made it would be done by the creators of the original film. Now it looks that is indeed the case, as Bloomberg reports on Walt Disney Company's First Quarter Earnings:

Iger said Disney would release about two Pixar films each year, an increase over Pixar's earlier goal of about one per year. Pixar will take over production of "Toy Story 3," a sequel that Disney's in-house animators had been working on, Iger said."




never say die with a franchise as bankable as Toy Story, and they can say what they want about Pixar being the one to make the call, but i think this is the first sign of Disney's infection of Pixar. next we'll see plans for Finding Nemo Jr, The Incredibles II, etc, as Disney turns Pixar into their own little whore. goodbye originality and creativity, hello to the Disney bean-counter mentality.

[Leckomaniac]

Cars looks horrible, now Toy Story 3??? Looks like doom for Pixar...but I still have some faith that things will work out and they will get back to making great animated movies.

[Chairman Kaga]

I bet ToyStory 3 is a total rewrite......I don't see the problem considering Toy Story 2 was vastly superior to Toy Story.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

Cars looks horrible

Yes, but inna the States where a the NASCAR, she is a the huge, it's a gonna to be a the smash hit, eh? Holy crappa it's a gonna to make back double the budget inna the midwest alone, eh?