Pixar Animation Studios discontinued talks with Disney last Thursday, and with only two more films left in their current deal, the young animation house will strike out on its own sometime in 2005. This marks yet another step in the fall of Disney, and may end up costing CEO Michael Eisner his job.
While attaching Disney's name to the original \Toy Story"" may have helped Pixar get off the ground, their partnership hasn't profited Pixar since the success of ""Toy Story 2"" in 1999. The films have been handled creatively by Pixar alone. However, as a financial partner, Disney has been entitled to half of the profits from Pixar's films, plus an additional 12 percent distribution fee. The Pixar name has become instantly recognizable, and with the massive box-office revenue from ""Finding Nemo,"" it is obvious that Pixar no longer needs Disney.
After balking at a distribution-only offer from Pixar, Disney is now left with a reduced cel animation staff, as well as the task of forming its own computer generated animation department announced last year. They still retain the rights to make sequels to the films from their Pixar partnership, so it's very likely we'll see a piss-poor ""Toy Story 3"" within five years. Pixar, on the other hand, will be in full control of its profits and properties after 2005, as well as face courtships to be distributed by major studios like 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures.??
I have to wonder what it will take for Disney to right their ship-if it's possible at all. It seems as though Eisner has dug them into a hole so deep that it would be nigh impossible for the studio to fully recover. The company still has plenty of money-making properties, from its theme-parks to producing live action films, but would Disney ever actually abandon the genre it has frequently shaped in its own image? Other than the hilarious but only mildly profitable ""Emperor's New Groove"" in 2000, Disney hasn't produced a good animated film since ""The Lion King.""
Some major risks will need to be taken, and perhaps major changes in management will occur. The gears for Eisner's ousting are already in motion after the resignation of Disney board member Roy E. Disney, who has spearheaded an effort to fire Eisner, and the loss of Pixar will only further that cause.
The most important thing for Disney will be to focus on recapturing its reputation for making quality animated films. They have seen what lies down Eisner's crap-to-video road. To continue down that path will mark the death of the Mouse House.
