The coming Disney / Pixar corporate culture clash

[Roachford]

This was posted on the Jim Hill Media website a couple of weeks back:
http://www.jimhillmedia.com/article.php?id=1893

Why do I have such a gloomy outlook on Pixar's future? Well, I can't help but think -- what with John having to spend three days a week down in Burbank & Glendale in order to get Disney's house in order -- that Pixar's future pics are going to wind up being somewhat neglected. Sort of like what happened in the late 1950s & early 1960s, when Walt was distracted by Disneyland. Which is how WDFA wound up producing beautiful-but-dull motion pictures like "Sleeping Beauty" and/or half-baked animated features like "The Sword in the Stone."

I hope that with people like Steve Jobs in their corner, the folks at Pixar don't get swallowed up by Disney.

[AnimWatch]

I share those concerns.

But on my most optimistic days, what gives me hope is that there are a lot of talented people at Pixar. I'm hoping that guys like Brad Bird, Andrew Staunton, and Pete Doctor can help John shoulder some of the film tonnage. With what I know of John, I would be surprised if any films went to market without passing through his filter anyway, no matter how busy and distracted he is with the parks.

My hope is further bolstered by the fact that he does seem to be doing things the right way - finding the good, creative people who had their good ideas buried under bureacracy during the Horrible Suit-run Days, and giving them the power to make good, creative-led decisions. Overall he doesn't seem interested in talking to Non-creative Suits, which is a further good sign.

The Pessimist in me, of course, is still waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for the Suits to rush back in to save themselves at the cost of ruining the company. And I'd admit that is an overly pessimistic view of the company, but if you look at what those people did to that company over the past few years, I don't think it's a totally unfounded view.

What Lasseter, Catmull and Jobs allow the Suits to do will tell the tale of Disney's future.