The Warring States of NPF - Disney buys Pixar.

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Disney buys Pixar.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/24/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Walt Disney has announced that it is buying Pixar, the animated studio led by Apple head Steve Jobs, in a deal worth $7.4 billion.

Speculation about a deal being imminent raged on Wall Street for the past few weeks. Disney has released all of Pixar's films so far, but the companies' current distribution deal was set to expire following the release of this summer's "Cars."

"Disney and Pixar can now collaborate without the barriers that come from two different companies with two different sets of shareholders," said Jobs. "Now, everyone can focus on what is most important, creating innovative stories, characters and films that delight millions of people around the world."

As part of the deal, Jobs will become a board member of Disney, the companies said. And John Lasseter, the widely respected creative director at Pixar who had previously worked for Disney, will rejoin the House of Mouse as chief creative officer for the company's combined animated studios and will also help oversee the design for new attractions at Disney theme parks.

"The addition of Pixar significantly enhances Disney animation, which is a critical creative engine for driving growth across our businesses," said Disney CEO Robert Iger in a written statement.

According to the terms of the deal, Disney (Research) will issue 2.3 shares for each Pixar share. Based on Tuesday's closing prices, that values Pixar at $59.78 a share, about a 4 percent premium to Pixar's current stock price. Shares of Pixar (Research) fell slightly in regular trading on the Nasdaq Tuesday but the stock has surged more than 10 percent so far this year on takeover speculation. Disney's stock gained 1.8 percent in regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange but slipped about 0.5 percent after-hours.

Prior to the deal's announcement,.some Wall Street observers had speculated that Disney may be paying too much for Pixar. But one hedge fund manager said that the risk of Disney losing Pixar was too great.

"The question isn't did Disney pay too much but how expensive would it have been for Disney if Pixar fell into someone else's hands," said Barry Ritholtz, chief investment officer with Ritholtz Capital Partners, a hedge fund that focuses on media and technology stocks.

Pixar has yet to have a flop with its six animated movies, which include "Toy Story," "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles." Disney, however, has struggled in the computer-generated animated movie arena. Even though its most recent CG-animated film, "Chicken Little" performed better than many had expected at the box office, it was not as big a hit as any of the Pixar films.

Wow. This is nuts. Steve Jobs is now in charge of three companies: Apple, Pixar, and Disney. Also, John Lasseter returns to help disney. What do you think of this deal? Will disney benefit from this and make a comeback?

i suspect it will prove to be positive all the way around -- and a clear positive sign of how good it was that the mouse dumped eisner. after all, the bottom line of this is that, in effect, pixar is taking over disney animation. so that should mean a return to quality at the house of mouse with little threat of quality reduction at pixar (especially with jobs on the watch -- and on the board, and being the largest single stockholder of disney). so everyone wins -- except eisner, whose departure made it all possible.

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Originally Posted by dposse

Wow. This is nuts. Steve Jobs is now in charge of three companies: Apple, Pixar, and Disney.

Woah woah woah, not so fast, man. He's not in charge, but he's definately got some authority. He now is a spokesman for Disney, and Pixar now is pretty much a part of Disney itself.

So, in short, he's running one show - Apple - while giving his vote on the Jedi Council of Disney.

But, on topic...

Dammit! DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT! I was hoping SO BADLY that Pixar would go independent once they were done with Cars, but noooooooo...damn disney.

Here's to hoping Disney doesn't butcher their movies.

Jobs might not be the CEO, but he does have alot of weight with Disney and Pixar now. He's the largest shareholder in the new Disney. That gives him alot of power.

I think this will be very good for both companies, as well as Disney/Pixar fans.

With them bought, we won't have shitty CG Disney movies like Chicken Little or Valiant, only good Pixar animated films like Monsters Inc., Toy Story, etc.

Hooray!

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Originally Posted by dposse

Jobs might not be the CEO, but he does have alot of weight with Disney and Pixar now. He's the largest shareholder in the new Disney. That gives him alot of power.

True enough.

I mean if you go by Mirai's metaphor, then Jobs would probably be Yoda.

There's probably a "Jobs' Jobs" headline in all this that will drive some headline writer into hysterics when he works it out.

Whatever. I just want them to make the hand-drawn shit like they used to know how.

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I just want them to make the hand-drawn shit like they used to know how.

That's another interesting point: With computer-generated kiddie films becoming so popular, will hand-drawn animation eventually become a lost art in the United States? Sure, we've still got a whole slew of animated tv shows, and anime (and anime ripoffs like Teen Titans and Hi-Hi Puffy AmiYumi *shudder*) isn't going anywhere soon, but computer animation dominates the American movie screen. Will hand-drawn animation become a sort of 'low-budget' tv entertainment and nothing more?

I don't think hand-drawn is dead, it's just been dealt some recent blows that haven't healed over yet. During the hey-day of the Pixar fued Disney released...well, hand drawn crap (cough, Treasure Planet, cough) while Pixar continued to release streams of quality computer animation.

To me it basically boils down to story. Pixar has always known how to craft a quality story and fill the subsequent movie with jokes. Disney's recent hand-drawn plan has been to create a semi-concept ("Uhm...cows, talking cows, need to get money, or something") and then fill every role with some brand name actor.

I don't think hand-drawn animation in movies will truly die (especially with so many people, much of them Pixar higher-ups according to the special features, citing Spirited Away and its ilk as gods), but if we scrapped computer animation completely and let hand drawn reign once more would not equal happy days for the public all the time.

All that said, I still eagerly await the next Iron Giant (not a sequel, just a hand-drawn movie with the same kind of heart and substance.)

Just to be clear, I'm not at all saying anyone should stop making computerated movies.

I'm just saying that they need to make some non-shitty uncomputerated movies.

It's like how when you bought the Lion King VHS there was the making-of special at the end and they'd have like the 50 guys at drawing desks and they'd bring in a live lion and they'd all be like "Whoa, we've got a live lion in an art studio, CARAYZAY!!" and then they'd show you how all the guys sat down and worked out how to draw the most kickassingest lion you ever saw.

Except then at some point they fired the fifty guys and the lion and hired a bunch of meth-mouthed gutter trash that they pay in huffable art supplies.

All I'm saying is whoever's in charge now needs to evict the meth heads and go re-hire the fifty guys and the lion.

I'm a bit hopeful - the guys from Pixar taking over Disney's creative stuff were all from Disney to begin with, so hopefully they'll take some time from the hifalutin' technowazits to sit down and draw us a talking tea-kettle and a wisecracking God-damned mouse fixing some dumbshit prince's emo-problems, like Disney was meant to make.

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All I'm saying is whoever's in charge now needs to evict the meth heads and go re-hire the fifty guys and the lion.

Here, here! ..or... Hear, hear! Whichever way you prefer.

I wasn't crazy about this when I first heard it, but with disney's history and pixar's talent... Disney/Pixar is the NEW Disney, and I say that in the best possible way. Disney USED to be about innovation - Not ignoring the old, but making it newer, better, and hell, if we've got the 'new' too, might as well through that in their and slap it's face on a good amusment park ride while we're at it.

They got good. SO good, that (arguably) after the 'Lion king' era of Disney animated films came out, they decided that they could rest on their laurels. (or everyone of value was totally puttered out). Now disney, for all its child-like charms, is just an entertainment powerhouse... and becuase they aren't entertaining very well anymore, they aren't getting more powerful. Put pixar and 'holy-god-this-iPod-microscopic-is-just-too-damn-big-let's-make-it-smaller-Steve Jobs' in there, and you've got Disney returned to it's former glory. Old and new, hand in hand, working for a better, bighter tommorrow(land).