It's too Small a World, After All

[JAY-ROD]

http://www.premiere.com/PREMIERE/Features/901/pixar.html

 

[DisJosh]

I realise Disney is in a contract with Pixar....but aside from that I dont understand why disney need Pixars help. I would think that Disney could afford all the best technology and talented animators to do the work with out pixar! I dont get it.......

 

[MrPromey]

Well, it's pretty much a total package with Pixar. Disney really doesn't have much input on the movies. Pixar does all the writing, and animating. With enough money they are able to make the movies all by themselves without Disney or anyone else. Where Disney comes into play is marketing and distribution. Disney is the reason Pixar films are in national theatres... Disney showed with Dinosaur that they are capable of creating lifelike computer animation that in some ways may actually be higher quality than Pixar's cartoonish, style but that style is a part of what makes them unique. In the same sense that you can look at all the old original Disney stuff and tell that it was Disney, no other company has released anything that could be confused as Pixar's work. The more stuff they do, the more that style becomes an asset. Just like seeing the Disney name, seeing a Pixar animation in a preview makes it obvious, almost beyond a doubt that it's from the same people who did Toy Story. This was discussed in another thread a while back about weather Pixar could make it on it's own without Disney since most of the general public hasn't really heard of Pixar and they can't use any of the characters they make from the Disney movies in their own separate work... I'm beginning to think more and more that they could because I think people would recognize the style even if they didn't openly realize it came from the same place. This would be very bad news for Disney because after their 5 movie contract runs out, Pixar could become one of their biggest competitors, or even worse, get acquired or contract with someone else, like Dreamworks...

 

[MickeyAve]

Pixar

I guess that Disney likes the way that Pixar does it's animation . . . .Mabey they like their style more or somehting . . .

~Mickey

 

[wdwmaniac]

Is Pixar owned by Lucas Still? And how likely would it be to see Disney fully take over Pixar (buy out)? How much longer dose this contact last?

 

[EnSkywalker]

Last I heard Pixar is a publicly listed stock on NASDAQ (I think). Lucas was forced to sell Pixar to help pay for his divorce. Ouch.

ILM, LucasArts, et al were all started by 20th Century Fox failing to retain merchandising rights. Of course two studios passed on SW as well. At least Fox gets a crumb.