Disney Buys Pixar

It's the end of an era - or possibly the beginning of a new one. The top headline in this morning's SF Chronicle is the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. Even though I've been reading articles and hearing rumors about it over the last few weeks, it seems almost unreal due to the fact that it has been a rocky road over the last couple of years in regards to the relationship between these two companies. And, while I think it's good for Disney, I hope that it doesn't become a problem for Pixar.

Most of Pixar's movies have been distributed by Disney. Under contract, 'Cars', which comes out later this year, would have been the last movie to be released within the terms of the original deal.

Over the course of their partnership, Pixar has been at the forefront of originality for anything released by Disney, while Disney itself is wallowing in re-treaded sequels, direct to DVD titles and, overall, lower quality and less original productions. It seems like Disney well over the last decade has been satisfied with trading on it's name and reputation only and neglecting the quality levels and craftsmanship that gave it that name to begin with.

Hopefully, Disney will continue to give Pixar its due autonomy to continue to produce quality entertainment - Steve Jobs (CEO of Pixar), maintaining a leadership role in Pixar through this deal seems like a good step in that direction. I just can't help but wonder what the long-term ramifications of this corporate partnership will be. Hopefully, Disney won't try to make Pixar do 'Cinderella 3-D', or 'Peter Pan Learns How to Shave', or 'Sleeping Beauty: The Revenge' or anything like that. I guess we'll just have to see how this story unfolds. Keep your fingers crossed.

Here's the Press Release from Pixar
Same Press Release on Disney's site