Disney/Pixar no more

[ddank]

It's official

 

[Mooobooks]

Here it is:
Pixar ends Disney distribution deal
Studio headed by Steve Jobs says it will seek other distributors for its films starting in 2006.
January 29, 2004: 4:26 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Pixar Animation Studios Inc. said Thursday it ended talks with Walt Disney Co. over extending a five-picture deal for Disney to distribute Pixar films.

Pixar said it would begin talks with other companies to distribute its films starting in 2006.

"After ten months of trying to strike a deal with Disney, we're moving on," Pixar CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. "We've had a great run together -- one of the most successful in Hollywood history -- and it's a shame that Disney won't be participating in Pixar's future successes."

Pixar said its five films have taken in $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office and sold over 150 million DVDs and videos.

 

[KNWVIKING]

To some degree I'm glad it's over, ( of course, it isn't really over till a new deal has actually been signed by someone else). Disney needs to be ween'ed from Pixar and needs to start being Disney again. Hopefully this will kickstart Disney into making it's own product again. I know, I know..... they've already signed on some outside venders to create animated films for them, but MAYBE, just MAYBE, they'll go the next step and reopen their open CGI labs.

 

[Mooobooks]

The only reason this could be construed as good news is because it's one more reason to kick that flying jacka** Eisner out on his ***. Talk about a moron!

 

[daber]

GREAT TIMING !!!!
A day after the Disney board says ME is doing a great job and hands him mucho dinaro.
It's gotta help Roy and his cause. Thank you Steve Jobs.

 

[randytenn]

Wow. I thought they would come up with some arrangement, but it appears the Eisner / Jobs couldn't come to terms.

While I also hope that Disney will end their reliance on Pixar for quality product, I have little hope this will actually happen.

It's another blow to Disney, and another example of Eisner's mismanagement.

 

[KNWVIKING]

What exactly should ME have done ? For the most part, Pixar is holding all the cards. Should ME have folded to Jobs regardless ?

As for ammo for Roy's cause, any Disney / Pixar deal would have been spun as an ME failure. If he signs a deal, he gave up to much, it's a bad deal for Disney and the stockholders. If he signs, it's just proof he has no interest in Disney being creative. If Pixar walks away, well, ME sure blew that sweet deal. It's a no win situation.

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
To some degree I'm glad it's over, ( of course, it isn't really over till a new deal has actually been signed by someone else). Disney needs to be ween'ed from Pixar and needs to start being Disney again. Hopefully this will kickstart Disney into making it's own product again. I know, I know..... they've already signed on some outside venders to create animated films for them, but MAYBE, just MAYBE, they'll go the next step and reopen their open CGI labs.

Actually, the first all-CGI Disney film, "Chicken Little", is due to be released in 2005.

 

[KNWVIKING]

***"Actually, the first all-CGI Disney film, "Chicken Little", is due to be released in 2005."***

Are you certain that's an in house film ? I thought ome UK company was doing it.

 

[Mooobooks]

What should Eisner have done?
He should have done anything possible to keep his star performers under the wing of the company.
The collapse of these negotiations alone is enough evidence of mismanagement for most corporate boards to eject their CEO. Where the heck do you think Disney's finances would be this past year if it weren't for FINDING NEMO.
Now let's assume that bonehead Eisner messes up the Pooh deal, too. That, my friends, would put the Disney company in prime takeover territory.

 

[KNWVIKING]

***"He should have done anything possible to keep his star performers under the wing of the company."***

Please tell me.... what hould he have done ? If the only deal Jobs would accept was a bad deal for Disney, should ME take it ?

PS : okay, if you haven't noticed, my "S" key sticks. Please insert S's where they belong. I'm tired of editing all my pots.

 

[tfc3rid]

Good. This will hopefully further Roy and Stan's cause.

I love Disney but the Eisner time is over. I wonder if Pixar would talk with a Roy/Stan Walt Disney Company?

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by Mooobooks
What should Eisner have done?
He should have done anything possible to keep his star performers under the wing of the company.
The collapse of these negotiations alone is enough evidence of mismanagement for most corporate boards to eject their CEO. Where the heck do you think Disney's finances would be this past year if it weren't for FINDING NEMO.
Now let's assume that bonehead Eisner messes up the Pooh deal, too. That, my friends, would put the Disney company in prime takeover territory.

Anything possible? What if Jobs wanted to use Disney's distribution system but pay half of what other companies do to use it, and return no profits to the company? Is that a deal ME should have taken? I agree that it would have been nice if the Pixar / Disney deal could have hung on a few more years, but then again, for all those people who were screaming about Disney animation dying while Disney jobs out films to studios like Pixar and Vanguard, this should be good news. And, unless you were sitting in the negotiations, how do you know it was all Michael's fault? I'm betting that both Jobs and Eisner tried to get the most they could get while giving up the least. And I'm thinking that both of them were stubborn and unmoving and that Pixar just happened to walk away first.

But Viking is right. If ME had said, "We gave them everything they want," people would be yelling that he'd given up the farm for a contract player. He wasn't going to win either way. And with Disney doing CGI of its own, maybe it was just time.

And "star performers?" I'm sure that everyone else in Animation, Imagineering, and any other creative area of the company appreciates that you see an outside vendor as the company's star performers. Nice loyalty there.

As for the Pooh deal, it's been in the hands of the legal team pretty much the entire time Michael's been at Disney. And nothing Michael does or doesn't do is going to "fix" that. It's completely up to the courts.

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
***"Actually, the first all-CGI Disney film, "Chicken Little", is due to be released in 2005."***

Are you certain that's an in house film ? I thought ome UK company was doing it.

Nope. It's Disney. There's an outside team doing "The Wild", but "Chicken Little" is Disney CGI. Which looks quite a lot like Pixar, from the little bit of it I've seen ....

 

[WDWHound]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
Please tell me.... what hould he have done ? If the only deal Jobs would accept was a bad deal for Disney, should ME take it ?

From what I saw, the deals weren't bad for Disney, they just wouldn't make the huge share they negotiated with Pixar in the first deal. Now that Pixar has a proven track record, pPixar has a right to keep more of the profits from their films. Disney would have made lots of money (even with a small cut of the profits)and gained access to all of Pixars future characters if Eisner hadn't been so intent on trying to stick it to Pixar. No doubt about it, this is just one more example of Ei$ners inability to serve as the head of Disney.

 

[raidermatt]

I love it...

Now losing Pixar is actually good for Disney.

If you think Eisner was put in a no-win scenario, it might be wise to question the wisdom of allowing oneself to be put in a no-win scenario in the first place.


Regardless of what everyone thinks everyone else would say if something else would have happened, the fact remains that its a blow to Disney.

 

[WDWHound]

On the upside, this may cause a noticable drop in Disney's stock price, which will give Roy more ammo in his battle to oust the big E.

 

[WDWHound]

Looks like the stock price has already been hit:

"Shares of Disney, which had risen 78 cents, or 3 percent earlier in the day, fell $1.48, or 6 percent in after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange."

Ouch! Thats gotta sting.

The full story from which this quote was lifted can be found here
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/7827684.htm

 

[kenman]

Pixar didn't exist before the DISNEY partnership !!!!!!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

It's not really over until Pixar signs a contract with another distributor.

"Pixar Animation Studios Inc. said Thursday it ended talks with Walt Disney Co. over extending a five-picture deal for Disney to distribute Pixar films."

Making a public announcement like that can also be a negotiating tactic.

That said, I think Pixar will eventually sign with a distributor other that Disney,