Sunday, January 22, 2006
Pixar Board Approves Disney Takeover
Today British media site Telegraph reports that Pixar's board has approved a takeover by Disney to the tune of $7 billion. Steve Jobs stands to earn around $3.5b, and will become Disney's single largest shareholder.
I won't rehash the article here. However, I will say that while synergies between the two companies abound, there is also the real possibility that this merger will cause the dilution of creativity previously seen from the Pixar camp, as the stodgy Disney pro-corporate culture clashes with the more free flowing Pixar culture.
Additionally, I have thought for awhile now that Pixar's 2006 Summer feature Cars will be their first bomb. Watch the trailers - Cars just doesn't appear to have that same sense of mystique or character intrigue that Pixar's previous offerings have had. The animation is top-notch, as always, but I'm afraid that Cars may represent the first instance of a Pixar film where they let the cool animation tricks overtake character development and story line.
It will certainly be interesting to see what changes Jobs and the creative team at Pixar lead by Lasseter will bring to bear on the Mouse Kingdom.
I won't rehash the article here. However, I will say that while synergies between the two companies abound, there is also the real possibility that this merger will cause the dilution of creativity previously seen from the Pixar camp, as the stodgy Disney pro-corporate culture clashes with the more free flowing Pixar culture.
Additionally, I have thought for awhile now that Pixar's 2006 Summer feature Cars will be their first bomb. Watch the trailers - Cars just doesn't appear to have that same sense of mystique or character intrigue that Pixar's previous offerings have had. The animation is top-notch, as always, but I'm afraid that Cars may represent the first instance of a Pixar film where they let the cool animation tricks overtake character development and story line.
It will certainly be interesting to see what changes Jobs and the creative team at Pixar lead by Lasseter will bring to bear on the Mouse Kingdom.
