To the surprise of almost no one, “The Incredibles” continues
to perform mightily. This Pixar Animation Studios film pulled in an estimated
$51 million at the box office. Which was more than double what its CG
competition — Warner Brothers’ much hyped “The Polar Express”
— made over that same three day period (A relative paltry $23.5 million.
Which suggests that this ground-breaking Robert Zemekis film may have
some real problems recovering its reported $165 million production costs).
Anyway … Given that “The Incredibles” has (to date) grossed
an estimated $144 million during its initial domestic release, we can
now expect that the financial press will once again begin to sing the
same old song. About how foolish it is for Michael Eisner not to bend
to Steve Jobs’ will. How Disney’s CEO should do everything within his
powers to try & persuade Pixar to renew its co-production & distribution
deal with the Walt Disney Company.
Well … In the past, Eisner has alluded to the fact that he’s made numerous
attempts to appease Pixar. That he’s put deals on the table that — to
be frank — Disney’s stockholders would have crucified him for. If the
terms for those proposed deals had leaked out, that is.
But Jobs has rejected all of these offers. Not just because Steve personally
dislikes Michael. But — rather — because the Walt Disney Company has
flat-out refused to give up control of the one thing that Pixar’s CEO
truly covets. And that’s the ownership rights to the seven films that
Disney & Pixar have produced together — 1995’s “Toy Story,”
1998’s “A Bug’s Life,” 1999’s “Toy Story II,” 2001’s
“Monsters, Inc.,” 2003’s “Finding Nemo,” 2004’s “The
Incredibles” and 2005’s “Cars.”
You see, right now, this seven titles are co-owned by Pixar Animation
Studios and the Walt Disney Company. Which means that these two corporations
have to split all the profits from these projects — be they from the
films’ theatrical releases, DVD sales, CD-Rom games, theme park attractions
or toys — right down the middle.
And — as it stands now — there’s no expiration date of this co-ownership
deal. Which means that Disney & Pixar could be joined at the hip (Or
should I say “at the wallet”?) for decades yet to come.
And Steve … Well, as anyone who’s even remotely familiar with Mr. Jobs’
career will tell you, Steve’s not really into sharing. Jobs would genuinely
prefer it if he was the one who was calling the shots about Pixar was
going to do with all the previously produced titles in its film library.
Whereas Eisner … Well, given that the Walt Disney Company continues
to make tens of millions of dollars annually off of Mickey Mouse, a character
that made his big screen debut back in November of 1928 … I guess you
can understand why Michael is reluctant to give up the corporation’s co-ownership
rights of sure-to-be evergreen characters like Woody, Buzz, Sully, Nemo
& Mr. Incredible.
Mind you, Michael has been said to be suprisingly flexible in this situation.
Reportedly even going so far as to offer Pixar full ownership of “Cars”
if the Emeryville, CA. based animation studio would just agree to renew
its co-production / distribution deal with Disney for an additional three
movies
And — based on what I’ve heard — the terms of the deal that the Disney
Corporation had been proposing were actually very much skewed in Pixar’s
favor. With Pixar’s getting 60% of the profits from “Cars” ‘s
initial domestic release versus the 40% that the Walt Disney Company would
have received. Then — on each successive picture — the terms of this
deal would become even more favorable toward Pixar. With a 70 / 30 profits
split proposed for Film No. 8, an 80 / 20 split on Film No. 9 and a 90/10
split on Film No. 10.
Yeah, Pixar was to have owned “Cars” and Films 8, 9 & 10
outright. Though — in exchange for handing over its ownership share in
this upcoming John Lasseter film — Pixar would have to agree to award
Disney certain exclusive rights (I.E. The rights to sell these titles
for a certain number of years through Buena Vista Home Entertainment;
the rights to air these films on ABC, the Disney Channel, ABC Family and
Toon Disney for a specific period as well as the rights to create rides
& attractions based on these four films for the Disney theme parks
for a set number of years.)
Based on what those who are familiar with what’s really been going on
with the Disney/ Pixar negotiations have told me, Jobs rejected this proposed
extension of the existing co-production/distribution deal out of hand.
Thinking that — if “The Incredibles” did particularly well
during its initial domestic release — Disney might come back to the table
with an even better offer.
What Steve is supposedly holding out for is a deal where the Disney Corporation
would agree to give up its ownership stake in the first seven Pixar films.
In exchange for this concession, the Walt Disney Company would then reportedly
be awarded the exclusive rights to distribute all of Pixar’s upcoming
releases through 2015.
Mind you, according to Jobs’ version of the plan, Disney wouldn’t be
sharing in the profits of these pictures. But — rather — would just
recieve a distribution fee that would be directly linked to that film’s
performance at the box office. The equivalent of 3 – 5% of the movie’s
total ticket sales.
So now maybe you can see why Uncle Mike — in spite of all the pressure
the financial community has placing on him to do whatever he has in order
to renew Disney’s deal with Pixar — has been reluctant to agree to Steve’s
terms. If Disney — on Eisner’s order — were to give up its ownership
stake in those first seven Pixar films in an effort to appease Jobs …
Well, you can imagine what Wall Street would make of that.
Which is why — taking the long view here — it may actually be in the
Walt Disney Company’s best interests to just let the Mouse’s current deal
with Pixar expire in 2005. After all, who knows if the Emeryville-based
animation studio’s current hot streak is going to continue indefinitely?
In the long run, doesn’t it make more financial sense for the Mouse to
hang onto what it’s already got (I.E. Co-ownership of the first seven
Pixar films) instead of just giving back that asset in an effort to appease
Steve Jobs, with the hope that Pixar Animation Studio remains a hit factory?
After all, Pixar’s hot streak has to end sometime, folks. Mind you, I’m
not wishing Jobs & Lasseter any ill-will here. It’s just the law of
averages, people. Not to mention the law of gravity. What goes up must
come down. Eventually, that animation studio is going to churn out a film
that under-performs. If not an outright flop.
(FYI: I hear that Chuck Oberleitner will also be looking into this whole
Pixar situation — with a particular emphasis on which company the Emeryville-based
animation studio may be hooking up with if their distribution deal with
Disney does in fact fall through — tomorrow over at O-meon.com. So be
sure to head on over to that website tomorrow to hear what Mr. Oberleitner has to say.)
Anyway … Speaking of Pixar: Animation fans — even as they sing “The
Incredibles” ‘s praises — have been buzzing lately about how lackluster
that “Cars” teaser trailer seemed to be. How this first look
at that upcoming Pixar release just didn’t have same zing or pop that
the “Monsters, Inc.” teaser (Where Mike & Sully accidentally
wound up in the wrong bedroom) or “The Incredibles” advance
trailer (Where Mr. Incredible struggled mightily to put on his belt) did.
Me personally? I think that it’s a little early in the game — based
just on Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy’s brief performances in the
“Cars” trailer — to totally write off this John Lasseter film
as a flop. The finished film (as I understand it) is sort of an automotive-based
redo of a Michael J. Fox comedy, “Doc Hollywood.” I don’t know
how many of you will recall that 1991 Warner Brothers release. This is
the film where Fox plays this hotshot young doctor who — while he’s driving
out to Beverly Hills to begin a career as a plastic surgeon — has a traffic
accident in the sleepy little town of Grady, South Carolina. In lieu of
paying for all the property damage that he caused with his automobile
accident, Michael J. is sentenced to do several days worth of community
service at the local hospital. And — while Fox interacts with Grady’s
eccentric residents — he learns that there’s a lot more to life than
just big bucks and Beverly Hills.
Well, were you to substitute Lightening McQueen (I.E. that’s the name
of the race car that Owen Wilson is providing vocals for) for Michael
J. Fox’s self-absorbed surgeon, you’d have some idea how “Cars”
‘s story eventually plays out. FYI: There’s another intriguing link between
these two films: Sitcom vet David Ogden Stiers played the mayor of Grady,
S.C. in “Doc Hollywood.” Well — in “Cars” — this
one-time Disney Feature Animation favorite is supposedly voicing the role
of the mayor of Radiator Springs, the sleepy little burg just off Route
66 where Owen Wilson has his accident in the film. That’s a neat bit of
trivia, don’t you think?
Speaking of “Cars” … In a recent JHM column,
I talked about how the characters from “Cars” were initially
supposed to be folded into Hong Kong Disneyland’s “Autopia”
attraction. But now — thanks to the way this Tomorrowland favorite is
being rushed into HKDL — that proposed “Cars” tie-in appears
to have been gone by the wayside.
Well, one Imagineering insider recently wrote to me to tell me that I
may have missed the really big news about Hong Kong Disneyland’s “Autopia.”
Which is:
This is going to be the first all-electric version of “Autopia.”
So no more nasty gas fumes. Plus — for the first time ever — these
cars will have proximity sensors built into them. So that Hong Kong
Disneyland guests will never be able to experience the joy of being
rammed from behind by some 8-year-old who’s never driven a car before.
That’s the aspect of Hong Kong Disneyland’s “Autopia”
that the ops staff at Disneyland and WDW’s Magic Kingdom are most excited
about. Not the proposed “Car” overlay. But new “Autopia”
vehicles that are enviromentally friendly and significantly safer than
the ones we run in the stateside parks right now. Just the idea that
all of those nuisance “Autopia” lawsuits would possibly go
away forever has Disney’s attorneys pushing to have the all-electric
version of this Tomorrowland attraction installed at the stateside theme
parks as soon as possible.
Speaking of Hong Kong … There’s been a lot of talk lately that the
Disney Cruise Line may be looking to follow up next summer’s series of
Southern California cruises by sending the “Disney Magic” out
to the Orient for 2006. With the idea being that this elegant cruise ship
would then play a significant part in Tokyo DisneySea’s 5th anniversary
celebration. And — after that — it would then ferry a whole boatload
of journalists over to Pennys Bay to check out Hong Hong Disneyland.
Of course, that’s just a “Blue Sky” project for now. For the
immediate future, what the folks at Disney Cruise Line are mostly concentrating
on is making next summer’s Southern California cruises just as special
as possible. Which is why they’ve ordered up a brand new stage show. Which
will be presented in the Walt Disney Theater in rotation with the award-winning
“Disney Dreams” and “The Golden Mickeys” stage shows.
Speaking of which … Auditions for this new Disney Cruise Line show
are actually being held today in NYC at the Ripley-Grier Studios down
on 8th Avenue. So — if any of you song-and-dance types out there have
ever dreamed of being in a Disney stage show — Well, now’s your chance.
So go pull on a leotard and head down to Suite 16 between 10 a.m. &
1 p.m. Break a leg, okay?
Anywho … That should be enough Disney-realted news for a Monday morning.
Your thoughts?