Breaking News: Disney Acquires Pixar for $7.4 Bn

Disney acquires erstwhile computer animation partner famed for cartoon hits such such as ‘Toy Story’; Steve Jobs to become member of Disney board

The Walt Disney Company have just announced that they have aquired Pixar Studios for an asking price of USD$ 7.4 Billion, according to a Disney press release dated 24 Jan 2006.

Pixar, which began life in the mid-1980s as the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd before being spun off as Pixar in 1986 and subsequently being purchased by Steve Jobs (then head of NeXT) for a mere USD $10 million, began with animated shorts and commericals before moving on to partener with The Walt Disney Company in the mid-90’s. This has been a productive partnership which has resulted in a string of Pixar-produced hits, including Toy Story, The Incredibles, and Finding Nemo, as Disney’s own animated productions debuted to reviews that were, at best, comparatively ambivlalent.

Most germane to the design community in terms of tools, Pixar also produces the animation software RenderMan.

The news is particularly interesting in light of the recent history of cool relations between Disney and Pixar. The two companies broke off talks aimed at extending their distribution deal in 2004, reportedly due to a strained relationship between Jobs and then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Disney losing Pixar looked to be one of the big imminent stories. This deal was set to expire this year.

However, with the change of leadership signified by new Disney CEO Robert Iger, once-cold relations thawed, resulting in a deal that will not only grant Disney access to the creative talent of Pixar for the forseeable future, but also inducts Apple head Jobs into the Mickey Mouse Club; not only will Jobs join the Disney board but also become its largest shareholder.

At this writing, Pixar is set to release its next feature, Cars, which was to have been the final film under the Disney distribution deal, this summer.

References and related links:

• Read The Walt Disney Company’s press release here.
• Read “How To Turn 10 Million Into 7 Billion: A Brief History Of Pixar”, at Apple Matters, here.
• Read “Disney buys Pixar”, at CNNMoney.com, here.
• Read i4u.com’s news brief on the sale here.