January 2006, Disney Animation Studios, Burbank, California. Pixar President Ed Catmull follows the Facilities Manager onto the basement floor. It's early morning and the studio is deserted. The Facilities Manager leads Catmull through the rows of desks belonging to Disney's animators.
Down here, it's mostly animators. The executive offices are all on the top floor. Catmull peers at the desks as they stroll past. They're all neat, tidy and anonymous. There are no personal belongings or signs of individuality anywhere. In that worries, Catmull.
Disney announced its takeover of Pixar yesterday. As part of the deal, Catmull and Pixar creative chief John Lasseter now also run Disney's troubled animation studio. So Catmull is here to assess the scale of the challenge they've taken on.
Catmull turns to the Facilities Manager. You know, at Pixar, everybody gets to personalize their workspace. They're full of family photos, toys, knickknacks. The Facilities Manager shrugs. And folks, different strokes, I guess. Catmull isn't so sure. This is supposed to be a place of creativity, a dream factory where animators bring stories to life to delight moviegoers.
Instead, this place feels lifeless. He presses the Facilities Manager again. Oh, come on, you're telling me the animators here don't want to personalize their desks? No way. Is there some policy against it? The Facilities Manager looks embarrassed. There's no policy against it. It's...look, the truth is everyone was told to clear their desks ahead of your visit to make you...well, I don't know. You know, make a good impression.
Catmull isn't reassured. To him, this attempt to impress reveals that Disney Animation is a studio driven by fear. They're so terrified of making mistakes that they're worried what will happen if their new boss hates the decor. Catmull suspects this play at safe culture is suffocating creativity, and the reason why Disney is making animated movies that leave audiences...unmoved.
As Catmull continues his tour, he sees more and more signs of cultural decay at Disney Animation. Low-appressive ceilings, secretarial cubicles arrange like barricades in front of the executive suite, and regime where senior executives constantly second-guess every creative decision. But Catmull believes he and Lasseter can fix Disney's stricken studio. And if they can, DreamWorks is going to need more help than Shrek to keep up with the House of Mouse.
Hi, I'm Sarah Haggy, co-host of Wonderree's podcast Scample Inswers. In our recent two-part series, Three Weddings and a Funeral, we dive into the story of a German con man who built an entire life on fake names, lies, and schemes, and the unlikely true-kind twist that brought this decades-long charade crashing down. Listen to Scample Inswers on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.
嗨,我是Sarah Haggy,Wonderree播客Scample Inswers的联合主持人。在我们最近的两集系列节目“Three Weddings and a Funeral”中,我们深入探讨了一个德国骗子的故事,他用假名字、谎言和阴谋建造了整个生活,以及那个不大可能的真正良善的转折点,将这几十年的骗局带向了崩溃的边缘。在Amazon Music或你获取播客的地方收听Scample Inswers。
From Wonderree, I'm David Brown and this is Business Wars. From the last episode, Disney and DreamWorks went all in on computer animation. Disney bought Pixar and the stock market punished DreamWorks for its overblown sales projections. Now, Pixar's Ed Catmull and John Lasseter are out to resuscitate Disney animation and amp up the competitive pressure on DreamWorks. And that means DreamWorks needs some new moves to stay in contention.
Fall 2006, Disney Animation Studios, California. Disney picks our co-director, John Lasseter, strolled into the meeting room. He's wearing a Hawaiian shirt covered in cartoon dogs and clutching a cup of coffee.
Morning, everyone. How are you all doing? Oh, hi, John. I love pretty good things. Nice shirt, John. The Disney staff in the room smile at Lasseter. Most of them belong to the team working on Disney's upcoming movie, American Dog.
But behind their smiles, they're braced for a bruising. American Dog will be the first test of whether Pixar can rejuvenate Disney animation. But at its most recent test screening, the audience gave the movie a big thumbs down.
So, Lasseter's called in Disney Animation's most experienced filmmakers to help the American dog team review the movie and figure out ways to make it better. Pixar's used this approach for years. The theory is that these candid meetings help the filmmakers solve problems with their movies.
At Pixar, this advisory group is called the Brain Trust. At Disney, they're calling it the Story Trust. Lasseter sits down and sips his coffee. He wants to ease the Disney crew into the unfamiliar Story Trust process. So he starts sugarcoding the situation.
OK, the test screening wasn't great. But there are positives. The core idea of a dog that doesn't realize he's a TV show actor. So he believes his on-screen superpowers are real. That's neat, right? That's your emotional depth right there. He has to discover who he really is after discovering his whole world was alive, right? The Disney team exchanges glances. They're confused. They know that their movie sucks, so why is Lasseter telling them it doesn't?
Lasseter sips his coffee again. He's got thoughts on how to fix American dog, but he doesn't want to issue orders. The Story Trust is supposed to be about the team figuring out the solutions themselves. He looks at the team. So what do you all think? Can we make this movie better? The team doesn't know what to say. They thought American dog needed major changes, but Lasseter seems to think it's OK. And none of them want to challenge his assessment.
After all, Disney just paid several billion dollars for Pixar, in large part, so it could get Lasseter to shake up Disney animation. The Disney employees offer superficial suggestions. Lasseter leaves the meeting, disappointed. He thought the Story Trust approach would ignite change at Disney, but after years of being overruled by senior executives, Disney's animators are wary of voicing their own opinions. And changing that culture will take time.
Time American dog doesn't have. Disney's already inked promotional and merchandising deals worth tens of millions of dollars based on American dog being released in fall 2008, delaying the movie isn't an option. So with the clock ticking, Lasseter seizes control and orders a total reboot of the movie. It'll now be called Bolt, and will be rebuilt from scratch in just 18 months. And almost nothing from the original version will survive.
But Bolt's not the only project causing concern inside Disney. June 27, 2007. The Carmike 15 movie theater, rally North Carolina. In the foyer, a Disney researcher checks her watch. It reads 8.48 pm. She turns to her colleagues. Movie's almost over. It's show time. She and her team fan out across the foyer.
There are grid clipboards and ready to record the views of the moviegoers who just watched an early screening of Pixar's latest movie, Radatouille. Radatouille goes nationwide in two days time, and Disney's sweating bullets about it. The film cost $150 million to make, but movies about rats have a poor track record.
Last fall, Dreamworks released its own rat movie, Flushed Away, and watched $106 million disappears down the drain. But the rats, not the only problem. Most Americans are unfamiliar with the French dish that gave Radatouille its name. So much so, the Disney's having to use the movie's posters to teach people how to pronounce it.
The merchandising strategy is the engruble too. Pixar's last movie, Cars, delivered billions of dollars in toy sales. But Radatouille doesn't lend itself to merchandising deals. This plan to sell Radatouille branded wine fell apart after accusations that it would encourage underage drinking. And if that wasn't bad enough, Dreamworks Shrek III came out last month, and audiences are still packing cinemas to see it.
So Disney's resorted to hosting hundreds of advanced screenings of Radatouille across the nation. And an attempt to build some buzz about Pixar's story of a rat that cooks. The screen doors open, and people pour into the foyer. Among them? Two parents, a couple of kids in tow. That was great. I know. Who'd have thought you could make a rat cute?
The Disney researcher steps forward clipboard at the ready. Um, excuse me. I'm doing research for Disney. Could you spare a moment to share your thoughts on Radatouille? Well, only if it's quick. You know, it's past bedtime for these little ones. Just two questions. First, on a scale of one to ten, how much did you enjoy the movie? Uh, I'd say a nine. And would you recommend Radatouille to your friends and family? A hundred percent. In fact, I'd like to see it again.
Despite critical acclaim, its opening weekend haul of $47 million is the lowest for a Pixar movie since a bug's life nine years earlier. But while America struggles with Radatouille, the rest of the world embraces it.
By the end of its worldwide box office run, Radatouille will have out-earned both Monsters Inc. and The Incredibles.. But that's not enough to beat Dreamworks.
For the past three years, Dreamworks animated movies have grossed more than Disney and Pixar combined. That's not about to change. In 2007, Dreamworks releases two animated features. Shrek the Third and D-movie. Together, they generate box office revenues of $1.1 billion. The Pixar ends the year $300 million behind.
But Disney hopes 2008 will turn the tide. In June, Dreamworks and Pixar go head-to-head for box office glory. Dreamworks throws the first punch with help from an unlikely hero. I'm coming! Oh, the Kung Fu Panda.
Stairs. Jack Black. Go ahead, Panda. Show us what you can do. Um, are they gonna watch or should I just wait until I get back to work or something? Just hit it. Hit ready to feel the thunder. Come out of the crazy feet. What you gonna do about crazy feet? I'm a blur. I'm a blur. You never seen bare style. Would you hit it? How's that? Yeah. Everybody was cold.
Are you ready? I was born red. Kung Fu Panda hits hard. Earning $60 million in its opening weekend. But three weeks later, Pixar strikes back with its robot romcom. Wally. Wally wins the critics vote and narrowly beats Kung Fu Panda's opening hall.
But as the summer continues, Kung Fu Panda pulls ahead, eventually earning $130 million more than Wally at the global box office. At Thanksgiving, the two rivals get back in the ring.
Dreamworks rolls out in second Madagascar movie. Disney fires back with Bolt, the superhero dog tale originally known as American Dog. But it's a one-sided fight. Madagascar Escape to Africa is a box office beast that generates more than three times the money Bolt does. Dreamworks ends 2008 as the box office champ for the fifth year running.
But while it's on top right now, Dreamworks is worried about the future. Late 2008, Dreamworks Studio, Flendale, California. In the screening room, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg watches as a group of movie theater executives put on heavy plastic glasses. They're all about to get a preview of Dreamworks' next movie, Monsters vs. Aliens.
What they're really here for is to see what Dreamworks can do with the tech that Katzenberg believes will transform the future of film. 3D. On the screen, a board worker at a UFO monitoring station plays with a paddle ball. The movie theater executives recoil as the worker wax the ball so that it pops out of the screen towards them. Soon after, they're wowed by the side of a secret government facility that seems to stretch for miles into the distance. And then gasp as the movie's 400-foot tall hero Susan towers over them.
他们真正来这里的目的是看看梦工厂能够用卡芝伯格认为将改变电影未来的技术- 3D 做些什么。 在屏幕上,一个UFO监测站的工人在玩儿球拍球。电影院的高管们看到他将球打得那么好,以至于球从屏幕上弹向他们,他们都惊呆了。不久之后,他们被一个长度看似延伸至数英里的秘密政府设施所震惊。然后,电影的主人公-高达400英尺的苏珊之景象让他们倒抽一口气。
Katzenberg smiles at their reactions. His latest strategy depends on them being impressed. Through the preview, Katzenberg stands in front of the screen and paints a vision of 3D movies as the future.
Until now, filmmakers have only been able to affect the audience using two of the five senses, hearing and sight. 3D changes that. This will be as transformative as cinemas move from silence to sound and from black and white to color.
Some of the older executives look doubtful. They've experienced two short-lived 3D movie fads already. But Katzenberg is ready to back up his claims with a compelling business case.
Our industry needs 3D. In the past decade, movie admissions fell 9%. How many of your theaters will survive if that continues? No one responds. They know the long-term outlook for cinemas isn't great. The internet is moving entertainment of all kinds into homes and into pockets.
And as more people gain access to movies on demand at home, well it's only going to get harder to pack the multiplexes. Katzenberg moves to pitch 3D as the solution.
My belief is 3D will bring people back to the theaters and allow you to charge more a ticket. Upgrading to 3D isn't cheap. To justify the cost, we need a robust supply of big 3D movies. Yes, and that's why starting with Monsters vs Aliens, all Dreamworks movies will be 3D.
And other studios are following our lead. Disney Pixar is also now committed to 3D. The movies are coming. It's time for you to get ready to show them.
The executives leave feeling warmer about the idea of investing in 3D tech. But Katzenberg needs them to move fast. DVD sales are collapsing and Dreamworks needs a new income stream to make up that shortfall.
Unlike Disney, it doesn't have TV channels or theme parks to fall back on if its animated features fail to thrive. So Katzenberg hopes his early embrace of 3D to shore up Dreamworks profits. But it also means that Monsters vs Aliens will be the first big test of whether moviegoers will pay extra for 3D. And if it fails to fail seats, Dreamworks will be heading for monstrous losses.
Hey, I'm Mike Corey, the host of Wanderies Against the Odds. In our next season, 3 friends backcountry skiing in Alaska disturb a hibernating bear and she attacks. The skiers must wait for help to arrive before one of them succumbs to his injuries. Listen to Against the Odds on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.
It's March 2009 and Dreamworks Monsters vs Aliens is about to become the first big budget 3D movie to reach theaters. On March 27th. Guys, we're a team now who's with me? I'm in! The first movie has an alien power. We're going to take that alien down. Seriously? And a monster solution. Excuse me! Kevin Thurl! Whoa, that was cool! Get ready for a 3D comedy event. I got him, you guys! I got a monster proportion. Wow! Don't worry, I will let go! I'm wearing him down! Dreamworks Monsters vs Aliens March 27th.
Wait a BG. Dreamworks spent $175 million creating Monsters vs Aliens, making it the studio's most expensive production yet. But the company's confident that it will match Kung Fu Panda's performance and make 60 million over its first weekend. But Dreamworks distributor Paramount isn't so sure.
Paramount's executives predict the movie will only manage $50 million. After all, there are only 2003D ready screens in America's movie theaters. And now, the moment of truth is here.
Monsters vs Aliens scores big from the get-go. In its first weekend, it generates $59 million in ticket sales and takes the record for the highest grossing 3D movie so far. But it's time on top is brief. Two months later Pixar releases its first 3D movie, Up, and Shatters Dreamworks record with an opening weekend take of $68 million.
And as the summer continues, Up only extends its lead as Monsters vs Aliens' mad magazine-style humor struggles to connect with audiences outside America. By the time both movies leave the cinemas, Up's made almost three times more money than Monsters vs Aliens, and become Pixar's biggest hit since Finding Nemo.
And since Dreamworks has no other movies ready for release in 2009, Disney Pixar reclaims its status as Hollywood's animation champ.
由于梦工厂在2009年没有其他电影准备好发布,因此迪士尼皮克斯重新夺回了好莱坞动画冠军的宝座。
At fall, Disney looks set to ram home its advantage with the first Disney animation feature the creative chief John Lasseter's overseen from start to finish.
This Friday, experience the motion-fictured Time Magazine calls a start to finish the light. People says the princess and the frog dazzle. It's beautiful, funny, Disney's done it again. One more time, it's the best Disney movies since the Lion King. And is did classic, Disney's the princess and the frog.
The princess and the frog is built as Disney animations come back. It introduces Disney's first black princess, Tiana, and revives the hand-drawn musical style that powered the studio's 90s heyday. But instead of thriving, it croaks in theaters. On its first weekend, the princess and the frog earns just $25 million. Just one of the weakest openings of a major animated feature in years.
And one week later, James Cameron's blockbuster avatar rolls into theaters and everyone forgets about Disney's new animated feature. Early 2010, Disney Animation Studios, Burbank, California. In a meeting room, a post mortem on what went wrong with the princess and the frog is underway. The movie was supposed to restore Disney Animation to its former glory.
Instead, it only scraped a profit thanks to tight cost control. It's also proof that four years on from buying Pixar, Disney Animations Turnaround still has a ways to go. A Disney marketing executive shares his take on what went wrong. We said this before release, putting the word princess in the title narrowed the appeal. For adults and young boys, it says the movie's only for little girls.
Disney picks our co-directors Ed Catmull and John Lasseter. Look humbled. They ignored the marketing team's warning and insisted that a quality movie was all that was needed to attract a broad audience. Catmull responds. Yeah, in retrospect, that was a mistake. The marketing executive looks pleased.
Disney Animations next movie will be Rapunzel Unbreeded and marketing wants it renamed so young boys aren't put off. So can we change the name from Rapunzel Unbreeded to Tangled? Lasseter nods. Yeah, Tangled it is. Another member of the team asks a question. Do we think making the princess and the frog a musical was a problem? Animated features rarely do that anymore. It was a little bit 90s.
No, I think animated musicals can still work. Disney Animation General Manager Andrew Milstein interjects. Yes, I agree, but I do think using hand draw to animation was a mistake. Lasseter and Catmull glance at each other. They were the ones who reversed Disney's decision to abandon traditional animation. At Pixar, they might have pioneered animations move into the computer age, but they never wanted to make hand drawn animation obsolete.
They both believed Disney struggles were entirely about the quality of the stories, not what animation technique it used. Milstein presses home his point. This dual approach is confusing the studio. Our people don't know if Disney Animation is about hand drawn or computer animation. Catmull leans forward. Can it be both? Milstein shakes his head.
I don't think so. Our animators want to make CGI movies. They want to use the latest techniques. They don't want to live in the past. They want to build on the heritage of Disney Animation, not be a tribute act to the heyday of Walt Disney. Catmull and Lasseter nods slowly as the cold hard truth sinks in.
The princess and the frog was supposed to restore a traditional animation at Disney. Instead, it's just confirmed that the world's moved on. It's time the studio stopped looking to the past and embraced the future. But while Disney refocuses, the pressures growing on Dreamworks define some way to keep pace with its larger rival.
It's February 2012 and outside the JW Marriott Hotel in downtown LA, several hundred people are protesting against the Chinese government suppression of people in Tibet. The man they want to hear their protest is China's vice president Xi Jinping. But he's deep inside the hotel, attending a luncheon thrown in his honor by Californian politicians and US vice president Joe Biden.
Xi's in the US to discuss various trade disagreements. And today there's a breakthrough to announce. After years of diplomatic dueling, China's agreed to allow more US movies to be shown in the country and to give Hollywood studios a larger cut of ticket sales. Xi stands before the big wigs attending luncheon and smiles, proclaiming his visit of big success and pledges that China will accept imports from the US.
The audience claps. Hollywood's chopping at the bit to get into China. The Chinese box office might only be worth $2.1 billion, but it's growing fast and on track to one day replace America as the world's number one movie market. But the man said to be China's next leader also has another deal to unveil.
He announces the creation of Oriental Dreamworks, a joint venture between Dreamworks and three state controlled Chinese companies. As part of the deal Oriental Dreamworks will build a studio in Shanghai to create movies for China and the rest of the world. As Xi praises the deal, audience members glance over to where Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is sitting and smiling.
He spent years engineering the $330 million deal to form Oriental Dreamworks and it's set to give Dreamworks a major edge in China. Because while its rivals will still need to convince the Chinese government to release their movies, Oriental Dreamworks will enjoy the same favorable treatment that China's own filmmakers get.
And Katzenberg needs that access. His bet on 3D movies hasn't paid off. The novelty of 3D is already wearing off and Disney picks our neutralized Dreamworks first to market advantage by filling theaters with 3D enhanced versions of Toy Story and the Lion King. So he's hunting high and low for new revenue streams to help Dreamworks hold its own against Disney's sprawling media empire.
In the months that follow, Katzenberg strikes deal after deal in an attempt to strengthen Dreamworks position. He secures a more favorable distribution deal. Then, Dreamworks steps up production so it can release 5 movies every 2 years and get an edge over Disney picks our which produces 4.
Next, the company pays 155 million to buy classic media, the owner of hundreds of family TV shows including Mr. Peebody and Sherman, Lassie and Casper the Friendly Ghost. After that, Dreamworks buys YouTube content creator awesomeness TV and starts making cartoons for Netflix.
But with Katzenberg's stretched thin making deals and the studio working flat out to produce more animations than ever, Dreamworks starts to deliver as many misses as it does hit. In November 2012, its movie Rise of the Guardians flops and forces an $87 million write down. In February 2013, the studio cancels work on a movie called Me and My Shadow leading to layoffs and another $54 million loss. Then in summer 2013, Dreamworks releases Turbo. And its tale of a super fast snail gets squished by Pixar's Monsters University and Universal and Illumination's Despicable Me Too.
Turbo becomes Dreamworks' lowest earning movie since 2006's Flushed Away and leaves the company $16 million poorer. And its problems are about to intensify. Because over in Burbank, the efforts to restore Disney animation studios are finally about to pay off. And when it does, Dreamworks will feel the chill.
It's late 2013 and it feels like the entire world's singing the same song. And that song is Let It Go. It's the lead song from Disney Animation's new movie Frozen and there's no escape. Every minute, more and more videos of people belting out Let It Go flood the internet. The Let It Go sing along craze began two weeks after Frozen's release when Disney's marketing team posted the entire scene featuring the song on YouTube. And with every new viral video, more and more tickets to see Frozen are sold.
现在已经是2013年末了,感觉全世界都在唱同一首歌。这首歌叫做"放心去吧(Let It Go)",它是迪士尼动画新电影《冰雪奇缘》的主题曲,简直无处不在。每时每刻,越来越多的人唱着"放心去吧"的视频在网络上涌现。这股"放心去吧"合唱的热潮开始于影片上映两周后,迪士尼的市场部门在 YouTube 上发布了这首歌的完整演唱场面。随着每一个新的病毒式视频的出现,越来越多的《冰雪奇缘》电影票被销售出去。
In January 2014, Frozen replaces the Lion King as Disney's highest earning animated movie. And the buzz is still growing. March 2014, Burbank, California. In the Disney animation building, it's party time for the studio's 800 employees. Yesterday, Frozen's box office earnings passed the billion dollar mark. A few hours later, the movie clinches two Oscars, best animated feature and best song.
As the employees wash down their snow cones with champagne and beer, the studio's leadership team takes the stage. Disney Pixar creative chief John Lasseter grabs the microphone and his smile is a mile wide.
You know, when Disney bought Pixar eight years ago and put Add and I in charge of Disney animation, there was talk of closing this place. But we said not at our watch and I bet right now they're glad that we did. Lasseter passes the mic to Disney animation general manager Andrew Milstein.
I remember that. We weren't in a good place then. The fear was that maybe we were just too broken to fix. Well, we weren't. We put our trust in you, our animators, our artists, our people. And you proved that that was the right call.
The employees cheer. Then the woman of the hour, Jennifer Lee, the co-director of Frozen takes the mic. You know, there's a line in the song, Fixer Upper, from the movie that sums up the journey we've all been on together far better than I can. People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed. Throw a little love their way and you'll bring out their best. That's what happened at our studio. It definitely brought out our best. The room roars it's a proof.
For the first time since Jeffrey Katzenberg got ousted in 1994, Disney animation is firing on all cylinders. By summer 2014, Frozen will have earned $1.2 billion at the box office and become the highest grossing animated feature ever made. But while Disney animation's on the rise, the two rivals that threaten to make it obsolete are on the slide. Pixar's movie for 2014 was supposed to be the Good Dinosaur, but it's in big trouble.
That story isn't up to snuff, but with Lasseter now credited as the genius behind Pixar's unbroken record of success and the resurrection of Disney animation. No one within Pixar dared to tell him. And by the time Lasseter woke up to the Good Dinosaur's flaws, the only answer was to delay its release until late 2015, so the team could fix it.
But 2015 only brings more bad news for Pixar. In June 2015, Inside Out becomes the first Pixar picture not to top the box office rankings. Then, just before Thanksgiving, the good dinosaur finally lumbars into cinemas and is met with lukewarm reviews and soft ticket sales. Its Pixar's first flop.
But Dreamworks has troubles too. April 2016, Los Angeles, California. In his Tesla Model S, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg cruises slowly down the traffic clog streets towards Hollywood. The light ahead turns red. The 65-year-old media mogul groans in frustration at the stoplight. He's busy negotiating what is set to be the biggest deal of his life and he doesn't want to waste time sitting in traffic.
The light turns green. Katzenberg accelerates, but as he and the rest of the traffic crawl towards the next junction, the lights turn red again. But then his phone rings. He checks the large touchscreen display in the middle of his Tesla's dashboard to see who's calling. It's Brian Roberts, the boss of Comcast, the cable giant that owns NBC Universal.
Katzenberg answers. Hey, Brian, I'm driving so I can't talk for long. What can I do for you? It's not just me, Steve Berks also on the line. Katzenberg arches an eyebrow. Berks the CEO of NBC Universal. And NBC Universal is a competitor. It owns elimination. The animation studio that's challenging both Dreamworks and Disney Pixar with its despicable me-series.
Huh. Hey, Steve. So, yeah, what can I do for you guys? Roberts replies. We're hearing rumors that you're about to sell Dreamworks to some Chinese investors. That's true. It is. Katzenberg's been trying to sell Dreamworks for two years. And that's because Dreamworks isn't just battling Disney Pixar anymore.
NBC Universal, Sony, Fox, Warner and Paramount are also chasing the billions to be made from animated movies. This year alone, Dreamworks movies must hold their own against eight competing features from the Big Hollywood studios. And all these rivals are conglomerates with diverse business interests. They can shrug off a box office bomb like the Good Dinosaur. Dreamworks can't. So Katzenberg is looking to sell to a buyer who can strengthen its hand.
Katzenberg feels his deal-maker instincts kick in. This call could be a golden opportunity. Out the rumors true, Roberts doesn't skip a beat. So you open the counter-offers? Well, you pay more than the Chinese? Well, we'll pay well above Dreamworks stock price. But you'll have to relinquish control. I know that's been a deal-breaker for you in the past, but not having control is a deal-breaker for me.
Katzenberg smiled. Okay, for the right price, I'll see control. Okay, well then, my team and I will fly to LA tomorrow. Let's spend the weekend talking and see if we make this happen. That weekend, Comcast and Dreamworks top executives shuddle from hotel suites to law offices to Dreamworks Studio Complex to Katzenberg's Beverly Hills Mansion to hammer out a deal. And seven days later, they've got one. The Cast will pay $3.8 billion to make Dreamworks, the second animation studio owned by NBC Universal.
For Katzenberg, it's a $400 million payday and ends his 30-year run as power player in animation. During that time, Katzenberg was a defining force in animated movies. He led Disney animation into its 90s pomp, gave Pixar its big break and used Dreamworks to shatter Disney's iron grip on the animated movie market. But the deal also means Disney's no longer fighting for animated movie glory against an independent studio. It's now up against an equal.
A media conglomerate that, just like Disney, owns TV channels, theme parks, and more. And now, just like Disney, NBC Universal's got two world-class animation houses under its wing. Dreamworks and illumination. And as 2017 draws to a close, there's more bad news for Disney on its way.
Well, he is the genius behind blockbuster films like Toy Story and Frozen. Now, Pixar Chief John Lasseter is apologizing for sexual misconduct. The analysis taken a leave of absence. KPI X5 Susie Stimell at Pixar headquarters in Emoryville for us tonight. Well, Alan, women told the Hollywood Reporter that they used to look out for John Lasseter's hugs. They said if you didn't turn your head away at the right time, he would end up kissing you on the lips.
The 60-year-old Lasseter is one of the most important. The reports of unwanted touching and Lasseter's time at Disney Pixar. After internal investigations into the reports, Disney's CEO Robert Eiger concludes that Lasseter cannot return.
Lasseter provided the creative spark that transformed Pixar from a technology company into a movie studio and helped lead Disney animation back into another golden age. But now, he's left in disgrace. And after Pixar's 73-year-old co-founder Ed Catmull announces, he's retiring at the end of 2018. In the wake of the departures, Disney picks Monster Zinc director Pete Doctor to become Pixar's new chief creative officer. And Frozen co-director Jennifer Lee becomes creative chief at Disney animation.
It's the end of the era. The founding fathers of computer animated movies are gone. But the legacy of Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ed Catmull, John Lasseter, and Steve Jobs remains. Together, they drag animated pictures into the computer age and spawn movie franchises from Toy Story and Shrek to Frozen and Kung Fu Panda that have imprinted themselves on the childhood memories of entire generations.
Next time on Business Wars, we're bringing the animation world to life with entertainment journalist Patrona Rodelovic of Polygon and former Disney animation exec Andrew Milstein, who was behind some of Disney's biggest hits of the 2010s. But don't miss it.
From Wondery, this is episode 4, a Disney Pixar vs Dreamworks for Business Wars. A quick note about recreations you've been hearing in most cases we can't know exactly what was said, those scenes are dramatizations, but they're based on historical research.
If you'd like to read more about Pixar, we recommend Creativity Incorporated by Ed Catmull. I'm your host David Brown, Tristan Donovan of Yellow Ant Media wrote this story. Karen Lo is our Senior Producer and Editor, edited and produced by Emily Frost, sound designed by Kyle Randall, voice acting by Michelle Philippi. Our Senior Managing Producer is Tanya Thigpen, our Managing Producer is Matt Gant, our Producer is Dave Shelly, our Executive Producer's our Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marshall Louis, created by Ernon Lopez for Wondery.