Pixar Rules

Okay, I've followed this Disney/Pixar thing for a while. Pixar's movie Cars that comes out sometime this year is the last of an obligated number of films the original contract with Disney called for (I think it was 7).

Disney was aggressively trying to re-sign Pixar to a new distribution deal, but Pixar repeatedly said no, much to my satisfaction. Pixar makes better films (animation or otherwise) than any studio, and doesn't have a non-hit among their record. Disney's animation department has had a string of films that are slipping in quality and box-office. They needed Pixar. Disney announced they were making Toy Story 3 in 2005, without Pixar. Pixar still didn't flinch.

So last week Disney bought them. You may have read about the $7 billion deal. At first I thought it was a bad thing, just from the headline. But the details of this deal make it sound a lot more like a merger than a buyout. Steve Jobs, the Bill Gates of Apple--the parent company of Pixar--for example, now has more stock in Disney than anyone, giving him a very important role in the future of the Mouse House.

Today there's this. Pixar is flexing their muscles mere days after the deal by pulling the plug on Toy Story 3.

I love it!