Disney, Pixar reach agreement
For $7.4 billion, Burbank-based Disney gets the animation studio behind `Toy Story’ and `The Incredibles.’MEDIA DISTRICT WEST -- The Walt Disney Co. announced Tuesday that it is buying Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion, a move that strengthens the company’s grasp on the big dollars generated through animated filmmaking.
The deal gives Disney an even greater creative library and access to popular characters from films such as “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles,” which can be cross-marketed in theme park rides and merchandising, and through emerging technologies.
“The main goal is to make great animated films, and the rest will take care of itself,” Disney Chief Executive and President Robert Iger said Tuesday. “As a company, this in an exciting time for us because of the new ways you can distribute product or consumers can consume new product.”
While adults may watch a film three or four times, children will watch a favorite film dozens or even 100 times and that is a market the combined companies will go after, Pixar Chief Executive Steven Jobs said.
“As we make quality content there will be a strong demand from younger family members to watch them many times in many places on many devices,” Jobs said.
The deal makes Jobs -- the founder of Apple Computers -- a member of the Disney Board of Directors and the largest shareholder of Disney stock.
Disney and Pixar have had a development and distribution deal since 1991. But as that agreement neared its end, Iger said that discussions with Jobs eventually lead to talk of Disney buying the Emeryville-based company.
While there were other suitors interested in setting up distribution deals for Pixar, the option from Disney was the best one, Jobs said.
“Disney is the only company with animation in its DNA and has these assets -- such as the theme parks -- that are very attractive to us as well,” Jobs said.
But the acquisition could have unanticipated results, said Jim Hill, an independent Disney historian and website owner.
“For $7 billion you get seven movies,” Hill said. “Yes, you get everything that Pixar makes from this point forward. But what’s the guarantee everything will be a hit?”
Also, there remains the unknown of what influence Jobs will exert, as he is used to being in control of the businesses he is involved with, Hill said.
Gigi Johnson, a lecturer at the entertainment and media management institute at UCLA, foresees Jobs bringing “non-traditional ideas” to Disney, and perhaps move the company faster than what it is used to.
“But Disney has stated that technology and international markets are going to be its main growth drives,” Johnson said. “Jobs’s involvement brings forth that technology movement.”
Pixar President Ed Catmull will serve as president of the combined Pixar and Disney animation studios, reporting to Iger and Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios.
Pixar Executive Vice President John Lasseter will serve as chief creative officer of the combined animation studio as well as principal creative advisor at Glendale-based Walt Disney Imagineering, where he will provide his expertise in the design of new attractions for Disney theme parks around the world, reporting directly to Iger.
Jobs described Lasseter as “a force of nature” and Catmull as a strong pillar at Pixar.
“I think Ed and John will help provide a different culture that will possibly maximize some of the talent there to make even better films,” Jobs said.