Bob Iger on the Pixar acquisition...

[ROBONICS95]

At the Goldman Sachs 2007 Communacopia Conference, Bob Iger (Walt Disney Co. President) gave a presentation regarding the Walt disney Company. I thought this particular section might be of interest to some of you.

Finally, concerning the Pixar acquisition, Iger confirmed that “the number one success would be the strengthening… of our creative management.” John Lasseter and Ed Catmull were specifically credited. According to Iger, Cars is number one film ever made by Disney in terms of film merchandise sales. Looking towards future Pixar releases, he said that Wall-e and Toy Story 3 are “headed in the right direction.” More importantly, however, with the acquisition of Pixar “the tension that existed in our relationship [is] out of the equation.”

For the rest of the presentation summary, visit www.thedisneyblog.com

[PixarVixen]

@ROBONICS95

…According to Iger, Cars is number one film ever made by Disney in terms of film merchandise sales.…

Earlier this year, I was told “Cars is rapidly approaching Star Wars in the amount of merchandising sold”. Despite the recall, those die-casts are rarely in stock, so this hasn’t come as a shock to me.

~~=oP

[Mitch]

Interesting. I’m not surprised. I’m sure they’ll make a decent profit out of the WALL-E merchandise, and that goes for the afore-mentioned Toy Story 3 stuff, as well.

@PixarVixen

Earlier this year, I was told “Cars is rapidly approaching Star Wars in the amount of merchandising sold”.

You’ve gotta be kidding me. They’re that popular? Great balls of fire… I’m not that surprised either, though. I see them everywhere. Ever single little boy I see has a Cars-related t-shirt on or toy in his hand…

– Mitch

[Nexas]

Dear me.
And Star Wars has two trilogies with several parodies and signed contracts under it’s belt.
No idea Cars was being so successful in it’s merchandise.

[lennonluvr9]

Haha, alright! I do remember reading about the Cars merchandise being very popular and that it was still doing well despite the fact the movie isnt out. Not just among boys, but adults, car buffs, collectors, me, etc. Although I didnt know it was approaching the level that Star Wars has. My mind is boggling at that one!

[animagusurreal]

Good for Cars!

I just wish I would see more Ratatoulle merchandise around. There’s tons of Cars and Toy Story, and some Nemo and Incredibles everywhere, but the only Ratatouille stuff was in the book section, (except for Ratatouille-themed temporary tatoo Band-Aids I saw) . I didn’t even see a single plushie in any of our big stores (Target, Wal*Mart, K-Mart). I’m not sure if this is everywhere, but I wondered if merchandising was holding back on this one.

[Mitch]

@animagusurreal

I just wish I would see more Ratatoulle merchandise around.

I agree. It’s rather difficult to find much Ratatouille-related merchandise around unless you look in the hidden corners of the earth, and even then you may not find a decent amount of stuff. Heck, even the local Disney Store in my area only has a select few Ratatouille items; I have to go to the Disney Backlot or the Disney Store next to the El Capitan Theater (in Hollywood) to find the “rare” Ratatouille trinkets. Ebay, Amazon, and the official Disney Store Online seem to be the only other reliable sorces I can think of that (usually) have a decent stock of “Rat” junk…

– Mitch