Top 10 Film Industry Stories of 2004: #4: Pixar Leaves Disney
By Kim Hollis
December 30, 2004
BoxOfficeProphets.com

Guess which one is Pixar's and which are all the other recent Disney animated films.
On a cold day in late January, a surprise announcement sent the entertainment industry reeling. Pixar Animation Studios broke off talks with the Walt Disney Company to renew their lucrative film deal, opening the door for one of the Mouse House's rivals to swoop in and collect the spoils.

Since that time, Pixar hasn't made a commitment to any particular studio, with founder Steve Jobs noting that they would be seeking a deal that would give the animation innovators full control of their creations. In the previous arrangement, Disney had ownership of all Pixar titles it distributed. In fact, Disney already has a third Toy Story film in the works, as the studio is almost certainly out to prove that it can be successful in the CG-animation field without the Pixar brand name attached.

The current arrangement will end after the release of the John Lassiter-directed Cars in June of 2006. For Pixar, their newfound freedom will give them far more opportunity to profit from successful films, but it also heavily increases their risk in the case of a movie that underperforms. On top of that, Pixar has added Disney to the mix of competitors who are hoping to topple the studio as the reigning champion of computer animation.

Although a number of studios have shown interest in joining forces with Pixar, including Warner Bros., Fox and Sony, the animation studio continues to mull its options. With the recent date push of Cars from November 2005 to June of 2006, there has even been speculation that the door will be open for Disney and Pixar to re-examine their relationship once current Disney CEO Michael Eisner's contract term expires in 2006. The split has certainly added plenty of ammunition to former Disney directors Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, who have blamed Eisner for what they see as the downfall of the company that Walt built.

At any rate, Pixar continued to shine in 2004, as they picked up an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Finding Nemo and their latest release, The Incredibles, has earned almost $400 million worldwide to date.