Just a thought, but if Pixar decided to, is anything stopping them splitting from Disney?
Pixar are now more than capable of bank-rolling their own movies and marketing them - they no longer ‘need’ Disney. So why not split from them if they wanted? What’s stopping them?
Now that John Lasseter is pretty much infused into Disney, I don’t see that happening. Plus, I think it’d be Disney’s decision, not Pixar’s, since they technically own them.
I kind of wish Disney didn’t buy out Pixar. It may have helped them financially, but I’m getting the feeling that they’re being creatively squandered by Disney.
My thoughts exactly - I’m just curious if Pixar could extract themselves from Disney’s grasp if Pixar’s output ends up being watered down.
I gotta say I’ve been feeling the same way. All these sequels seems to be evidence of that. I’m not saying that IS what’s happening, thats just how it appears to me. To be honest, I was a little disappointed when Pixar joined with Disney because I really wanted to see what they could have done on their own. They did get Disney’s money and marketing power, and they most likely would have lost the rights to the movies they made while they were with Disney (which I can understand is BIG reason not to split) but I cant help but wonder what if, you know?
I know exactly what you mean.
Who was the driving force behind the acquisition by Disney - was it mainly Jobs pushing it?
It was mostly Bob Iger, the current (and I’m not sure if he is still) CEO of Disney after Eisner stepped down.
And I don’t think Pixar could. All their characters and titles belong to Disney, while Pixar is the only studio who can do anything with their characters under their contract terms, they would loose them all if they split.
As for Pixar being squandered creatively by Disney, I don’t think that’s the case since Lasseter is pretty much the head honcho for both. I think he’s running the show, but he’s so “in charge” that if he doesn’t agree, then there’s no moving. He seems very nice, but stubborn as well. (I’m also a bit sour over the whole Brave deal with Chapman and her being off the project.)
Just checked on Wikipedia - Bob Iger is indeed still President and CEO of Disney. I’m surprised that he was the one driving the acquisition though, I had imagined that Jobs would have been the driving force.
I’m most surprised (and shocked!) to learn that all of Pixar’s characters and titles now belong to Disney. How on earth did that come about? Was it before the acquisition? Talk about selling your soul … that just seems so very wrong to me.
I like Lasseter, and sometimes it’s good to be stubborn, but I know what you mean re Brenda Chapman. I’m not aware of exactly what happened there, but it does appear to stink somewhat based on Internet chatter (although this could all be wrong). Still, I’d rather a creative force like Lasseter was in charge as opposed to someone looking for the next buck (although I question Lasseter’s decision to make a sequel to Cars).
I think Lasseter and Iger have been doing Disney a lot of good in recent years though. Compare Bolt and Tangled to, say, Home On The Range and Chicken Little? Huge difference in quality if you ask me, and that was only what, 6 or 7 years ago.
But I too question his motives sometimes. And in response to the question, probably but unlikely 
Possibly a few decades from now, when management has changed. As has been said already though, the companies seem to be meshed together at the moment, so if there was to be a split, I doubt it would happen under current circumstances.
I was under the impression that Disney flat out bought Pixar, so they couldn’t split unless Disney for some reason decided to give them up. I might be wrong though. However, blame it on my love of Disney and this my bias, but I’m not exactly sure they’re the ones forcing them to do sequels in the first place, and if they are, Pixar is fully capable of making good ones. Cars 2 was just badly done.
And I have to agree on an earlier point about Lasseter. I adore and respect the man, but part of me feels he’s gotten a little “trigger happy,” so to speak. Its natural for someone who just got that much power, and I think The Powers That Be might be reluctant to argue with him out of fear of returning to the “Dork Ages”.
Not anytime in the near future. I don’t see a need, as far as I know, the relationship is working well for both sides.
Why would they? It seems like they get a pretty fair deal.
Though Pixar is a seperate entity Disney owns them ($2.5 billion of stock shares). Steve Jobs owns 7% of Disney (the next highest amount is like 1%) Lasster is the chairman for both compaines in the animation department, they have access to the movies, and it is Disney the biggest movie studio ever made. Plus Even if they could they’d lose all their creations as Disney owns them. But they aren’t going anywhere it is a pretty sweet deal.
But I thought part of the contract was that Pixar has complete control over their characters? 
Even before Disney bought Pixar they owned the characters and all they did was stamp their name on everything and took care of marketing and disturbtion. As much as I adore Disney they are very sneaky. Disney makes sure they come out on top.
As I recall, Disney still own all of the rights to the Toy Story characters, ie they can do what they like with them, from merchandise to making a non-Pixar Toy Story film if they so wish.
Is that right?