Disney Buys Pixar
 

Whoa... one of my animation posse just sent me an email...

"It's beginning to look official. Britain's TELEGRAPH is reporting today that Pixar's board will meet on Monday to approve Disney's $7 billion takeover bid. The deal would make Steve Jobs the single largest Disney shareholder. It's a little too early to begin discussing the implications of what all this means, but this is truly as massive a shakeup in the animation world as could be imagined. At this point, it's easy to see it going either way: either Lasseter and company will shine their creative light upon Disney helping to revitalize the Mouse's slumbering animation division or Disney's corporate bureaucracy will drag down Pixar with it and we'll enter a new era of films like THE INCREDIBLES MEET WOODY AND BUZZ. One thing is for certain: there's going to be a hell of a lot to talk about on the Brew here in 2006."

taken from http://www.cartoonbrew.com/

You can read more about the situation here.

EDIT:
It's kinda interesting, the thing btwn Disney and Pixar. My impression, hearing from Mr. Ranft, was that most people at Pixar like Disney because of its distribution powers. At least he was hoping that Pixar would stay hookd up with the Mouse. I think the main scuffle was over money. And possibly Eisner. But yeah... other than that, Disney is not a bad partner to have for marketing and distribution of films.

Oh dear... I thought that Pixar didn't want anything to DO with Disney... tho I kinda figured it was a thing against Eisner.

*shakes head* Walt must be rolling in his grave by now...

More like somersaulting.:ohwell:

Anyway, I guess this is a good deal as long as they make the right choices.

I just hope Pixar can maintain quality, and just kinda "use" Disney for their distribution.

I'd love to see Pixar actually influence Disney's writers after the merge. I mean pixars CGI is amazing but what really stands out to me about their movies is the story. Hopefully the guys from Pixar can influence Disney to stop making retarded sequels to movies that were never intended to have a sequel and come up w/ something original. Disney's storytelling and character creation is what got them to where they are today and they really need to return to their roots. With good classic writing behind their movies.

Ew, this news is absolutely awful. I hate Disney, and Pixar will never really get to do a more mature movie like I thought they were going to do. I was so excited when they said they were gonna break free of Disney.:x

Every time I watch the "Cars" trailer I have my doubts about that... :|

Well... Joe Ranft seemed genuinely proud of the latest project, even given the Chevron-esque subject matter. It won't be just about cars and racing, more like hot new whippersnapper shining red car ends up stranded with a bunch of "uncool" jalopies -- it's probably going to adress something profound. I thought Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo were going to be flops, judging by their trailers. What matters most is how they handle that subject matter.

Since Steve Jobs will become the largest shareholder, and he seems to make fairly wise decisions in management, maybe he'll have more say in the traditional animation department -- like with Pixar, he could help recruit people with real talent, or at least give creative authority to those who deserve it.:)

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!

You can read the details here

OR here is a smaller version with some of my favorite bits of info:D :



* Ed Catmull Named President of the Combined Pixar and Disney Animation Studios and John Lasseter Named Chief Creative Officer; Steve Jobs to Join Disney's Board of Directors
* Disney Increases Stock Repurchase Authorization

"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."

"Pixar's culture of collaboration and innovation has its roots in Disney Animation. Our story and production processes are derivatives of the Walt Disney `school' of animated filmmaking," said Dr. Catmull. "Just like the Disney classics, Pixar's films are made for family audiences the world over and, most importantly, for the child in everyone. We can think of nothing better for us than to continue to make great movies with Disney."

The acquisition brings to Disney the talented creative teams behind the tremendously popular original Pixar blockbusters, who will now be involved in the nurturing and future development of these properties, including potential feature animation sequels. Pixar's 20-year unrivaled creative track record includes the hits Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Disney will also have increased ability to fully capitalize on Pixar-created characters and franchises on high-growth digital platforms such as video games, broadband and wireless, as well as traditional media outlets, including theme parks, consumer products and live stage plays.

"For many of us at Pixar, it was the magic of Disney that influenced us to pursue our dreams of becoming animators, artists, storytellers and filmmakers," said Lasseter. "For 20 years we have created our films in the manner inspired by Walt Disney and the great Disney animators -- great stories and characters in an environment made richer by technical advances. It is exciting to continue in this tradition with Disney, the studio that started it all."



YE-HE-HESSSS!!!!! *peanutbutterjelly dance!!*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Farewell quality Pixar animation. Hello whored out Mickey Mouse movies. Disney now has the ability to basically force them to develop sh*t off of their established properties. Thus marks the end of original ideas, something Pixar was known for, and one of the few left who cared.

Also, now there is nothing between them and the dreaded illness we call "Disney Sequel-itis".

Here come the mindless sequels. Ladies and gentlemen, Pixar is dead. Fu*k you Disney.

Criminy...:blanksta:

This is relatively GOOD news.

Did you even read the article?

*wonders if there's the slightest chance of Hand-drawn animation possibly making a return*


I guess I'll just have to wish upon a star... ;)

Yeah, I read the PR crap they put in the statement.

In other words, Pixar is going to be making Disney based movies rather than original creations, and you can kiss the Pixar name goodbye as Disney loved to permote themselves. As I said, it sucks ass. The pixar I knew just died and became another branch to farm out Disney sequels. Now they're just going to be really pretty sequels. This sh*t happens in the gaming industry all the time. They're doomed.

...Except that John Lasseter is gonna be "chief of animation" at Disney. And some other high-ups are taking important postions.
So really... the head guys of Pixar are gonna be running the animation unit. And there's talk that they want to do something in 2D, eventually.

I think life is good. :cool:

"Read" -- but taken way out of context.:roll:

EXACTLY. The point that a few are missing is that PIXAR COULD RESTORE TO DISNEY the very elements that have been lacking for several years now. I think the people over at Disney are a mite concerned about the quality of their films -- on the other hand, PIXAR has obviously been doing something right, namely in... just about everything. Yeah, money's a part of it. But I have a feeling they're plenty sick of the over-marketing low-quality bull feces that has been excreted over the past years. Deep down, enough of the guys in charge probably do care about the integrity of Disney and the hand-drawn animated feature. Pixar can help revive it. From what I can see, these are the first steps towards sanity, and possibly, a restoration of one of the most beautiful art forms in existence.

As much as I like Pixers movies and enjoyed Disney, I feel Disney is buying them because thelack of movies they themselves are making. I mean all disney is making is sequels and trilogies, Well more power to Disney then. Pretty soon Disney will own everything and become owned by owning Walmart:lol:

Still it's a good move I guess.

Well, if Jobs becomes/is the majority share holder, depending on his percentage, he can basically have his say with Disney.

Too bad the guy who came up with all of the original concepts for the Pixar movies recently died.

And only two weeks after I met him...:o :( He was so awesome...

Actually, Joe didn't come up with ALL of the ideas, definitely not single-handedly. Teamwork and the input of many others has long been the formula at Pixar (until Brad Bird... who was much more, assertive in how things should be). Joe was definitely part of that original "rat pack" at Pixar. He is an amazing story-board artist. Crazy. He looked like a cross between my dad and George Lucas. And he was really, really tall. And really, really nice. ... :cry: Had a wife and kid and... ARGH. Heimlech! Wheezy! WHY? WHY??!!

...:( But you're right. He was father to many of the brilliant, creative gags we love so much in those movies.

I did not take it out of context. Quit acting like my opinion is retarded or something Fledermaus.

You are frazzled about this:

Two words: Eisner. Gone.

I do not doubt your knowledge of the gaming industry. But at least in the movie industry, anything can happen. Pixar has not died yet. There is no indication that this has happened. Disney has bought Pixar. True. But you seemed to have ignored the fact that several major positions have gone over to people at Pixar. The largest shareholder and new member of Board of Directors is Steve Jobs. Who is from Pixar. It seems to me that Disney is allowing Pixar to take over, or at least be directly involved in the big-decision making, which is part of what aggravated them in the first place.

This kind of scheiss happens all the time -- not only in the videogame/entertainment industry, but in the management of schools and companies. All the time. People think their position of authority makes them wiser than those dedicated to the craft. So what do we get? Idiot supervisors who have neither experience nor insight into what works calling most of the shots. Sequel after tedious sequel, in the case of Disney.:dead:

All right. We don't know the precise future of this ordeal. Whether the gesture of giving authority to Pixar was bogus or genuine, I think, is the issue upon which we have divergent opinions. I would like to believe that there is hope for Disney, that Pixar will help to mend the things that have gone wrong. I would like to believe that the board of directors at Disney (a fair portion of whom hated Eisner's guts) are NOT going to continue Eisner and Katzenberg method of managing Disney and excreting animated whorethongs. They're both gone, hopefully taking their flamboyant cockiness/type-A insanity with them.

Here. Have a flower.:)

http://www.clubvass.com/images/cm_im...wer-yellow.jpg

^ What he said.

I've put a lot of study into the animation industry in the past couple years and I constantly watch animation news. While it does have a small chance of turning out rotten, so does everything in life. But the chance of success is much greater because Disney's feature department is essentially being taken over by Pixar, not the other way around.

In fact, here's a quote I picked up the other day:
Sequels what? And it's also rumored that Lasseter has stopped production on Toy Story 3. The movie itself could still be made, possibly... but it would be under his terms.

Like I said... it's all good.

Weird...I always thought that Disney somehow always owned Pixar...and now it's offical. We're going to look forward to more animated movies until we're dead :dead: The Pixar movies lately just don't have that timeless charm other movies do. Finding Nemo for example. It was great the first time around, fifth time it's okay. The seventh time, you want the movie to end. The tenth time you want the world to end. The thirteenth time you want to comit suicide

All the things Disney is doing now...if only Walt could see it. I'm sure he'd be amazed with the new techniqes and computer animation, but I'm sure he wouldn't want it to make classic animation extinct

Still, I'm glad that this happened in a way. Pixar can now help rebuild Disney after everyone made those sh*t choices

Finding Nemo, I found, was overplayed. I must have seen it 2-3 times in school that year, and I'm no longer at an age where I can watch the newest movie over and over and over. I did when I was little, though... *cough* Little Mermaid... *cough* Lion King... especially Lion King... :D

Pixar's other movies rock for me. One of my personal favorites is Monsters, Inc. They take stories that reflect how real people live and tweak them to fit something else... a good example being that dinner-table scene from the Incredibles. It's a normal family fight, but with super powers thrown in the mix.

But I do understand that some people don't appreciate Pixar's style of filmmaking. That's OK - to each his own. All I can say is, it's better than all those Disney sequels. *begins shuddering and huddles in a corner, muttering somthing about TLK 1.5...*