Disney Pixar Discussion

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » November 1st, 2005, 2:31 am

I think Jobs is going to sell Pixar in the near-future. Sometime within the next 2-3 years at the latest.

Who knows who the buyer will be?

My guess is that the potential buyer will wait until AFTER Cars premieres to make up its mind.

Best guess is that Disney will buy at least PART of Pixar on top of what it already owns.

Other prediction: Chicken Little will be a relative flop. Advance word-of-mouth on this film is NOT good......

I'd predict the performance of the first two Disney CGI features (not counting Dinosaur) will determine Disney's future direction with Pixar.

Post by **Meg** » November 1st, 2005, 8:05 am

With the way Disney has been shoving Chicken Little down our throats, I doubt it will flop.

Post by **Ben** » November 1st, 2005, 2:10 pm

Funny about the ChickLit reaction. They've done nothing extra than they would with a Pixar film, but there seems to be the negativity about it.

Valiant (even though I thought it was a sweet, good-time film) proves that audiences will not automatically lap up CGI features, with or without the combined names of "Disney" and "Shrek" attached to them.

ChickLit still has a LOT to prove...

Post by **Meg** » November 1st, 2005, 2:56 pm

Ben wrote:Funny about the ChickLit reaction. They've done nothing extra than they would with a Pixar film, but there seems to be the negativity about it.

Valiant (even though I thought it was a sweet, good-time film) proves that audiences will not automatically lap up CGI features, with or without the combined names of "Disney" and "Shrek" attached to them.

ChickLit still has a LOT to prove...

But the marketing for Valiant stunk! The main reason no one saw it (here in the States, anyway) is because hardly anyone knew about it!

GeorgeC wrote:I
Who knows who the buyer will be?

I'll think I'll buy it using my leftover lunch money. Seems like a good investment.

Seriously though, I really hope they don't sell.

Post by **Dacey** » November 1st, 2005, 4:56 pm

Why does everyone but me think that "Chicken Little" will flop?

Post by **Meg** » November 1st, 2005, 6:44 pm

Wendy's Jane wrote:Why does everyone but me think that "Chicken Little" will flop?

I don't think it'll flop at the B.O., but...I'm expecting so-so reviews.

Post by **ShyViolet** » November 1st, 2005, 8:34 pm

For the longest time (when everyone was bashing Eisner) people kept making like Steve Jobs is this awesome brilliant CEO who would NEVER value money over creativity. That he should be the one running Disney....

I think now we see that he cares just as much about money as Eisner, or the next executive out there. And the fact that he's so willing to sell Pixar...remember two years ago when Eisner absolutely WOULD NOT agree to sell Disney to Comcast?????

I never believed that Jobs cared much about Pixar in the first place, even though everyone kept making like he did. To him it IS all about $$$$$$$$.

I can't help but be greatful that Jobs is NOT the CEO of Diz. I don't think he'd be good for Disney. He didn't even invent the IPOD and all that stuff--his "people" did. At least Eisner had lots of his OWN ideas. Maybe they weren't always good, maybe sometimes crazy, but at least they were his ideas.

And what about Roy Disney's comments to Jobs from DisneyWar, when he was getting the whole SaveDisney movement underway: "When the wicked witch is dead, we'll be together again."

I guess maybe Jobs wasn't all that sincere when he said that he would come back to Diz if only Eisner wasn't there. It was all just part of the stupid anti-Eisner rhetoric back then, and Jobs showing off in front of the media.

Wonder what happened to that whole Roy Disney-Jobs-Pixar alliance that supposedly existed?? Who knows....

(Still that's just my opinion...RANT OVER!

)

Post by **Dacey** » November 6th, 2005, 3:37 pm

Well, "Chicken Little" had a strong opening. Everyone at Disney can breathe again now.

Post by **ShyViolet** » November 10th, 2005, 12:22 pm

Will they stay or will they go....? Who knows anymore.

Post by **Bambi** » November 10th, 2005, 6:44 pm

ok i doubt disney will buy Pixar, because yes they dont need pixar after they showed us they can do great 3d movies like chicken little and even they have done ideas for pixar of all their movies like incredibles or Bugs life...
I cant believe steve jobs will sell pixar...

Post by **ShyViolet** » December 29th, 2005, 3:58 pm

(I really don't buy Circle 7 as being a viable animation studio until after we see what happens with Chicken Little this fall. I still think that film and ESPECIALLY Toy Story 3 are bargaining chips with Pixar.)

Now that we know Chicken Little did reasonably well, it's interesting to reflect whether that had any impact on the negotiations, as well as the fact that Pixar might get creative control of Circle 7.

Post by **Josh** » December 29th, 2005, 6:10 pm

I would love to hear Steve Jobs' thoughts on Chicken Little. To be honest, I don't know if the film helped Disney or not, as far as the Pixar negotiations are concerned. After all, Chicken Little came about $30 million short of the $160 million many people were predicting it would make. In addition, the film wasn't very critically acclaimed. Still, looking on the bright side, Chicken Little did receive kind words from average moviegoers and was the second most successful animated film of 2005.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » December 30th, 2005, 12:10 am

Mickey wrote:I would love to hear Steve Jobs' thoughts on Chicken Little. To be honest, I don't know if the film helped Disney or not, as far as the Pixar negotiations are concerned. After all, Chicken Little came about $30 million short of the $160 million many people were predicting it would make. In addition, the film wasn't very critically acclaimed. Still, looking on the bright side, Chicken Little did receive kind words from average moviegoers and was the second most successful animated film of 2005.

Shoulda, coulda, NOT good enough.

Listen, Disney spent way more than $100 million making Chicken Little.

They have to charge towards the final Chicken Little expenses for retraining their animators in CGI, the cost of the new equipment and software, and the cost of retweaking the story a million times.

Chicken Little was far from a home run.

The sad part is if the film could have been produced for a quarter of the final cost, I bet it would have been called a hit. As it stands, the film probably won't generate a small profit until it comes out on home video.

Ditto for the King Kong remake.

Somehow, the whole profit-/cost-ratio doesn't enter the equation when people green-light ultra-expensive movies. Now does it make sense to gamble recklessly greenlight 3-5 $150-$200 million films and have THREE big flops, or would it make more sense to greenlight 10-15 QUALITY films each costing under $25 million to make and having 5-8 of those films gross over $100 million?

Math wizards the decision-makers in Burbank are NOT!

They really have to get this whole bigger is better mentality out of their heads and go for economical quality. The film business is killing itself with these expensive Don Quixote quests for the next Star Wars blockbuster. That and the mediocrity of the film stories is what's killing them this past year.

Next year looks like more of the same...

Post by **Dacey** » December 30th, 2005, 5:42 am

"Chicken Little" wasn't exactly a flop.

According to boxofficemojo.com, the film cost just $60M.

Post by **ShyViolet** » January 4th, 2006, 1:52 pm

Oh Jeez...unfortunately, Entertainment Weekly put CL as #1 on their "Worst of the Year" List. Headline was: "The Standards are falling! The Standards are falling!"

Bummer!

Disney Pixar Discussion

PREDICTION: Pixar WILL be sold... The buyer?