Steve Jobs, Mickey Mouse...

Wow.

I had heard through my animation contacts that Disney had recently bought out Pixar, and was filled with a profound sense of doom. Frankly, I hoped that Disney, who evilly dismantled their entire 2D animation department, would (without Pixar) fall flat on their face with 3D tripe like 'Dinosaur' thus making them realize what complete chumps they were.

Instead, Pixar, who had refused to deal with Eisner, sold out to the new management.

Today I learned the details of the transaction. Disney paid Steve Jobs 7.4 billion in Disney stock for Pixar, and intends to leave Pixar to itself, pretty much.

Steve Jobs is now Disney's biggest stockholder!! Woo, woo!

So, what's for the future? Will Jobs be content to be president of a subsidiary company? Or will he work his way up to being the head honcho at Disney? Will he get back at Bill Gates for discontinuing Mac versions of Microsoft Office by making Disney software Mac-only? (That would be nice...I have a vengeful sense of justice when it comes to big companies, you see.) Will Apple Computers and Disney merge? Will there be a World of Macintosh feature at Disney theme parks? And what about reverse contamination, I mean 'influence'?

One word for the future of computing. Just one word.....

mickeMac !!!!!!!!

Comments

doug-doug the mighty's picture

eeun's picture

Actually, it sounds like a really sweet deal for Pixar.

Linky

Pixar maintains independant creative control, and John Lassiter will be given complete creative control over both studios animation output.

My take after reading that link is that Disney bought Pixar, but Pixar is now effectively running the animation division of Disney.

Yeah, it does seem like history repeating itself. Remember "Steve Jobs is coming back to Apple in an advisory role?" Wonder how long it'll take before he's pwn3d Eisner? Acute

Oh....oh, my....Toy Story 3 has been axed! There is a God, and his name is John Lassiter!!!

Now if he'll only bring back 2D.

Yeah, Doug-Doug, I read your rant when I was looking to see if there was already a Disney discussion. You have my full sympathy. I only got to go to one of the parks once, when I was 8, but if it was a major part of my childhood I wouldn't have wanted it to change, either. Your rant suggests an echo of my rage at the Disney attempt to pimp The Muppets, though not quite up to my devastation at closing down 2D. I mean, I love 3D, Toy Story and Shrek rock....but they aren't cartoons. I want my frikkin' cartoons! (Even if I criticize them unmercifully, I still went to see every one! AND bought the videos!)

I'm curious what percentage Jobs actually owns...I'm actually in the middle of reading DisneyWar, and it says that Roy was the biggest stockholder at the time, and owned a bit over 5%. Roy is still around, so Steve must have more than 5%, at the least...

Yeah, when I first saw the headline I thought "if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em," and worried that Jobs was going to become Disney's you-know-what-rhymes-with-rich. But clearly that's not the case and Jobs and Pixar are the winners. The article I saw in the L.A. Times was full of Pixar employees hoping that Pixar fixes Disney rather than Disney ruining Pixar. It will remain to be seen.

I look forward to Disney's new "Steve Jobs' Wild (Apple stock) Ride: Roller coaster follows contour of Apple stock price from 1980 to the present. Watch out for the thrills at the split!"

Here's another thought: Low-cost Disney-brand computers for kids, with preinstalled Disney-themed homework/learning-oriented software, running Mac Os!!!

Get 'em while they're young! Biggrin

doug-doug the mighty's picture

Since Disney pretty much owns ABC, has anyone thought about what this means for television?

Jobs = Apple + Pixar + Disney + ABC

And what does this mean for people's jobs?

Does Apple + Pixar + Disney + ABC = jobs?

Maybe Lassiter will balance the equation out. I too was very disappointed when the 2-D animation studio in Orlando got whacked. I saw them drawing parts of Lilo & Stitch and admired and awed at the talent of the artists (the film was okay, but the work that went into it was amazing). I still use empty beverage containers to draw circles.