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Pixar Animation Studios

History
Pixar started as the computer division of Lucasfilm. It was purchased by current Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs and the employees of the division for US$10 million in 1986, establishing itself as an independent company. The sale was based on George Lucas' desire to see Pixar succeed on its own, as it was unable to shine in the shadow of Industrial Light & Magic. The newly independent company was co-founded by Dr. Edwin Catmull, President and CEO, and Dr. Alvy Ray Smith, Executive Vice President and Director. Jobs served as Chairman of the Board.

Initially, Pixar was a high-end hardware company whose core product was the Pixar Image Computer, which primarily sold to government agencies and the medical community. While the machine never sold well, John Lasseter began creating short animations, such as Luxo Jr., to demonstrate the power of the system at SIGGRAPH, the computer graphics industry's largest convention.

As poor sales of Pixar's computers threatened to put the company out of business, Lasseter's animation department began selling commercials to outside companies, including successful campaigns for Tropicana, Listerine, and LifeSavers. In addition, Pixar was key in the development of CAPS, a computer-assisted animation post-production software system for Walt Disney Feature Animation. After substantial cuts to most of the computer department, Pixar began its current life by making a $26,000,000 deal with Walt Disney Studios in 1991 to produce animated feature films, the first of which was Toy Story. The company was incorporated on December 9, 1995.

Today, Jobs continues in his role as chairman, and is also the company's CEO. Catmull remains president. Lasseter —a two-time Academy Award-winning director and animator— oversees all of the company's projects as Executive Vice President of the Creative Department. Other notable members of the executive team are Sarah McArthur (Executive Vice President of Production), Simon Bax (Executive Vice President and CFO), and Lois Scali (Executive Vice President and General Counsel).

Pixar and Disney
All of Pixar's major features thus far have been made in collaboration with Walt Disney Pictures. All aspects of production (writing, development, animation production, post-production) have been handled in-house by Pixar, with production costs split between Pixar and Disney. Disney has handled all distribution aspects, including all distribution and promotion costs. In 1997, after the release of their initial film, Toy Story, both companies signed a 10-year, 5-picture deal, in which the two companies split production costs and profits. Disney alone, however, retained the rights to the films and characters. In addition, Disney collects 10 to 15 percent of each film's revenue as a distribution fee. [1]

The arrangement has been very profitable for both companies, with Pixar's five feature films having grossed more than $2.5 billion. This gives Pixar the highest per film average gross of any production company. The working relationship between Pixar and Disney will end in 2006 with the movie Cars being the last joint venture between the two companies.

The main contention between Pixar and Disney began with the production of Toy Story 2. Originally intended as a straight-to-video release (and thus not part of Pixar's five picture deal), the film was upgraded to a theatrical release during production. Pixar demanded that the film then be counted toward the five picture agreement, but Disney refused.

The two companies attempted to reach a new agreement in early 2004. The new deal would only be for distribution, with Pixar controlling production and owning the properties themselves, while Disney distributed the films. As part of any distribution agreement with Disney, Pixar demanded control over films already in production under their old agreement, including The Incredibles and Cars. More importantly, Pixar wanted to have complete financial freedom: they wanted to finance their films on their own and collect 100 percent of the profits, paying Disney only the 10 to 15 percent distribution fee. This was unacceptable to Disney, but Pixar refused any concessions. Pixar is currently looking for a new company to distribute its films, and many other firms are eager suitors. Disney retains the rights to all films under the five picture agreement and can make sequels to them. It has begun production of Toy Story 3, without Pixar's involvement. As of July 2005, Pixar has yet to reach an agreement with another party since most other distributors have also found the terms unacceptable.

Robert Iger, the president and new CEO of the Walt Disney Company, has resumed talks with Steve Jobs, stating he hopes the two companies can find "common ground." It has also been rumored that either Disney or Pixar delayed the release of Cars from its original 2005 release date in order to buy time to negotiate after Michael Eisner had left Disney.

Feature Films

Short Films