For the benefit of those living under a rock, I'll recap the last week of events for you...
On Tuesday, January 24 Disney purchased Pixar for roughly $7.4 Billion. Now some of you may be saying that's an insane ammount of money to pay for a company who's last 7 films grossed a total of about $3.2 Billion at the box office. Not to mention the fact Diseny already received 60% of that. I agree, the dollar value is outrageous and it's one that I may never see in my lifetime. But bare with me and you will begin to see its value...
For the last decade Pixar has been the pinacle of what the feature animation industry has tried to achieve. Every attempt has come up short, bar none, period. Pixar has set the bar so high that every other studio has conceeded to the fact they are all vying for second best in the CG feature animation world.
I know you are saying, "Yes, but $7.4 Billion???" The thing is, there was no cash involved. It was an all stock transaction at a 2.5:1 clip. So, what that means is, if you owned 10 shares of Pixar stock, you now own 25 shares of Disney stock...it's virtual money. So, what does Disney get for their financial insanity?
First and foremost, they get access to some of the most creative minds the world of animation has seen, since Walt Disney was with us. Trust me, when your entire business relies on imagination, that in itself is almost priceless.
Now instead of 60% of the box office, Disney gets 100%.
Also included in the deal is the Pixar Technology that everyone working in this industry knows is well worth it's weight in gold. This means their pipeline, both hardware and software, as well as the worlds most prestigeous rendering software, Renderman! Yes, Disney gets that, too! Before people start complaining about "Disney Corporate Greed" getting their hands into something so great and screwing it up, that notion has been put to rest already. In a company meeting last Wednesday, more on that later, Dr. Ed Catmull and John Lassetter stated that "The Renderman division will remain functioning exactly as it is. It's working well in place and that will not change." The only change, with reguards to Renderman, is that Disney is "no longer a customer" and all proceeds from the Renderman sales are now Disney profits. We also no longer have to pay for all the support and licenses on our render farm. As for the pipeline, we now have access to all of their tools. They've recetly designed a new pipeline that they will come down and pitch it to Disney to see if we want to adopt it as our new pipeline as well. Which, I'm sure, will be welcomed with open arms!
In the deal, Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) was given a seat on the Disney Board of Directors. Being that he had such a large portion of Pixar stock, he is now the largest single share holder of Disney stock, as well. Dr. Catmull was made President of Disney/Pixar Animation Studios and John Lassetter was made Chief Creative Officer of Disney/Pixar Animation Studios as well as Disney Imagineering. What this means is that John Lassetter has final approval of all films being made by Disney/Pixar Animation. That in itself means the level of films Disney Animation makes will step up and hopefully rise back to the top where they belong. Disney started it all, we deserve to be #1! John also pointed out, in the Wednesday meeting, that he was excited about the opportunity to work with the Imagineers. For those who do not know, Disney Imagineering is the group of people who design all rides and attractions at the Disney Theme Parks around the world. John Lassetter, one of the most creative people on the planet, is now in charge of that, too!
Some of you may be asking, "What will happen to the name Pixar?" The answer...nothing. Pixar will still be called Pixar just as ESPN is still ESPN, Touchstone Films is still Touchstone Films, and Mirimax is still Mirimax. Bet some of you did not even know those are all owned by Disney, as well. Trust me, we have not screwed them up, we will not screw up our precious Pixar, either. We love and admire their work just as much as, if not more than, all of you do! So don't worry. However, all Pixar animated films will now be called "Disney Pixar". It's just a brand...get over it.
Now on to a more personal note...Circle7 Animation Studios. In case some of you were not aware, this is the name of our studio where we were in the process of making Toy Story 3. Yes, "were". In the meeting last Wednesday, it was announced that "all production on Toy Story 3 will stop immediatly". That announcement stung as some of you know I was working on TS3. At first I was extremely depressed, as working on TS3 was something I was very excited about. After all, Toy Story was what started things for Pixar and got a lot of people interested in this industry. I was very excited and proud to be working on a sequel to the film. But with time the depression lifted and I came to realize that it was the right decision. The Toy Story brand was a brain child of John Lassetter and the people up at Pixar. In retrospect, I have a feeling the film was being made out of spite by a former CEO, who will remain nameless, because he could not come to terms with the heads of Pixar in reaching a new deal. The former 7-picture deal between Disney and Pixar was scheduled to end this summer after the release of Cars. The two companies could not come to an agreement to extend their relationship, enter the controversial, all Disney, picture Toy Story 3. The decision to pull the plug on TS3 was not made because John Lassetter did not like the story or thought we were talentless baffoons who were messing up the Toy Story name. It was made because it was the right decision, period. At first that was hard to swallow, but I now agree with it. The way things are now at Disney/Pixar Animation Studios is whichever studio made the original, gets to make all sequels. So if, and when, a Toy Story 3 is ever made, it will be done by the people at Pixar. This also means that sequels to any original Disney animated films will be done by Disney. Stop laughing, we've done some good ones, too!
Some people are worried that Disney will get a hold of Pixar and influence their future films in a negative way. Well, the stopping of TS3 should put that idea to rest as well. Because it shows just how much power John Lassetter has within the company, now. He has complete and final approval on all pictures being made by both Disney and Pixar. If he does not approve of a film, it does not get made, period. Times are changing and Disney is 100% committed to getting back to the top of the animation food chain. With that I give you the saying, "In John We Trust!"
So, "What happens to the people at Circle7 Animation Studios?" The simple fact is, we do not yet know. All rumors about the fate of the C7 crew is just that, a rumor. There are only 4 people who have any clue on the subject. Bob Iger, Dick Cook, Dr. Ed Catmull, and John Lassetter. Until they make a decision we are considered "between projects" and waiting for their lead on what to do next. Basically we show up for work at the studio and do our best to keep busy with stuff like training classes, pitching/working on shorts, and anything else that may come up. Most of Thursday and Friday was spent on mental recouperation. There are around 125 people, including myself, who were working on TS3 when it was pulled from production. Many long hours and emotional attachment goes along with working on something you are so passionate about. It takes time to get over that. If that means ping-pong and pool time, then that's what it means. There are several speculations about what will come of this, but that is all they are...speculations. I will share a few of ours with you.
1) We will get a new project and begin working on making that the best film we can make.
2) Circle 7 will close it's doors and the talent will be absorbed into Disney Feature Animation and/or Pixar.
3) We will turn pro on the ping-pong and pool tournament circuits traveling the world becoming millionaires.
Realistically what has to happen is this. It will take a couple weeks for everything to settle down from this new change. Something that cost $7.4 Billion is not a "quick transition", even if it is just virtual money. After every thing comes to rest the heads of Disney will sit down and decide how many pictures they want to regularly put out per year. Then when that number is decided upon, they will then tackle the question of how many studios it will take to achieve that number. If the number is 3, or more, it's business as usual with Disney Feature Animation, Pixar Animation, and Disney Circle 7 Animation Studios. If the number is 2, sadly our little studio is the odd man out. What will then happen is they will take a look at the talent at Circle 7 and see where else they can best be utilized in the remaining two studios. The ones who are deemed "expendable" will be just that... This whole process is going to take a while to work its way through all that is going on right now.
In the end I see VERY good things in the future for both Disney and Pixar. It's just going to take a little while to get there. I can only hope and pray to be here for a very long time as I want to be a part of the magic to come.
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. Good luck!
