All of you likely know well that following the Pixar acquisition, John Lasseter was appointed Chief Creative Officer of both Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios. I've always been rather curious as to how each studio felt about the other. Ideally, as sister studios, both would cooperate fully and help the other out when the need arises. Indeed I seem to recall that WDAS (then WDFA) staff were very happy with their new direction back in 2006. Glen Keane, in particular, referred to the whole thing as "a breath of fresh air".
However, I also remember reading somewhere (perhaps Jim Hill's website) that a year or two after the Pixar acquisition, WDAS staff were no longer "thrilled" at their Pixar companions. Quite the contrary - they felt a bit of resentment and bitterness. It was suggested that there was an internal struggle against Pixar - like a fight between two children.
Sometimes I wonder if this is all a myth spun by Jim Hill which I may have read one time and not quite forgotten. Logically, I don't see why the WDAS artists would bear any ill will towards Pixar. But if it is true, then it certainly doesn't suggest a healthy studio environment to me.
What do you guys think?[/i]
Inter-Studio Relationships (Pixar/WDAS)
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PatrickvD
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I don't think so. I read encouraging tweets about WDAS from PIXAR directors all the time. They all seemed to really love Wreck-It Ralph. And a lot of PIXAR folks felt Tangled was snubbed at the Oscars.
And besides, I think a lot of influential people at WDAS are previous PIXAR employees. It seems they get along just fine to me.
And besides, I think a lot of influential people at WDAS are previous PIXAR employees. It seems they get along just fine to me.
Outside of maybe the occasional studio heads (e.g. Jeffrey Katzenberg vs. John Lasseter), I don't think there's any serious rivalry between the employees at animation studios. People who work in animation are always jumping from studio to studio and a lot of their friends work at a whole bunch of studios. John Kahrs, has gone from Blue Sky to Pixar to Disney. Or to name an example, David Silverman has worked at Fox Television Animation, Blue Sky, DreamWorks and Pixar.
And even then, despite the above example, you have studio heads who get along well with one another. John Lasseter and Chris Wedge are very good friends to the point where Lasseter even considered letting Wedge make Epic at Pixar, after Fox let the rights slide.
And even then, despite the above example, you have studio heads who get along well with one another. John Lasseter and Chris Wedge are very good friends to the point where Lasseter even considered letting Wedge make Epic at Pixar, after Fox let the rights slide.
"There are two wolves and they are always fighting. One is darkness and despair. The other is light and hope. Which wolf wins? Whichever one you feed." - Casey Newton, Tomorrowland
I think Estafan hit the nail on the head. I think in order to talk about inter-studio relationships, you first have to separate the artists from the corporate identity/studio leadership. From what I've seen, there are no negative feelings whatsoever among the artists at the studios. In fact, the studios seem to all be coming closer and closer - as mentioned, many of them bounce from studio to studio quite frequently.
At the end of the day the artists are just that - artists. They simply want to see great films get made, regardless of where they're made at. Of course they want whichever film they are working on themselves to be great, but I don't think that means there is any sort of negativity towards their competition. I think we're past the point of rivalry in the industry.
I think in coming years studios will become even more willing to cross-over in terms of what movies or character "belong" to who. For instance, Despicable Me is on Disney Channel all the time, but the theme park ride is at Universal Studios. I think we'll see more and more of that as it becomes more and more about the characters themselves, and less about the studios that created them.
At the end of the day the artists are just that - artists. They simply want to see great films get made, regardless of where they're made at. Of course they want whichever film they are working on themselves to be great, but I don't think that means there is any sort of negativity towards their competition. I think we're past the point of rivalry in the industry.
I think in coming years studios will become even more willing to cross-over in terms of what movies or character "belong" to who. For instance, Despicable Me is on Disney Channel all the time, but the theme park ride is at Universal Studios. I think we'll see more and more of that as it becomes more and more about the characters themselves, and less about the studios that created them.
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Disney's Divinity
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This is what I was thinking. They can't have much rivalry since Pixar basically took over WDAS at this point.PatrickvD wrote:And besides, I think a lot of influential people at WDAS are previous PIXAR employees. It seems they get along just fine to me.
Listening to most often lately:
Christina Aguilera ~ "Cruz"
Sombr ~ "homewrecker"
Megan Moroney ~ "Beautiful Things"
