This is the strangest thread. Every time I think I will finally agree with The Scoop on something, (like when he says that technically speaking, Disney is right about the details of the contract) I reread AnVo's post, and remember who is right.
You see, this whole thread reminds me of that time some brilliant CEO said "Oswald the Rabbit could be made by anybody and the public will love it and we will still be rich!" or "I want more Three Little Pigs, and I don't care if the artist is not really into making sequels."
Both of these decisions (yes, I am obviously truncating the story a bit but you get the drift) involve the creative talents of our lovable Uncle Walt. There were times in his life when others felt like *they* could get the same product without Uncle John's help.
ScooP:
Disney can make TS3 regardless of whether Pixar participates...sure, it would be nice to have Pixar, but Disney can acquire enough contract work to get this done: DTV or even theatrical. No, the final word about whether Pixar makes TS3 may be up to Jobs, but the final word whether it gets made at all is up to Disney...
Uh-hunh. No way. Let's just inject a little common sense here. Fox, Warner Brothers, even Dworks (pre-Shrek) bit the big fat donut hole when they tried to out-Disney Disney. Only one little guy and his admittedly now-big-time company were ever able to even come close to Disney's ability to craft a story and sell it to the people. Shrek? Hah. Double Hah. One movie does not a string of hits make. BUT UNCLE JOHN HAS DONE IT THREE TIMES IN A ROW. For that, I stand up and take notice, as you should, Scoop.
Oh, Cousin Mikey....I think you are about to pull an Oswald here if you let Uncle John get away. AnVo has already told us during other threads that Uncle John will never work directly for the Mouse...but that doesn't mean that the Board can't muzzle Mikey and patch things up with Pixar. Come on Mikey, give Uncle John et al the big fat contract they deserve, and sign 'em up for another 10 movies or so. Stick to sinking...err...fixing ABC like you did in the '70s.
Here is a mantra, Scoop, for you to repeat... "I want Toy Story not Dinosaur, I want Toy Story not Dinosaur..." And this has nothing to do with the talent still at Disney Feature Animation. We know that Wise and Troubador and the rest are talented...but at Pixar, Uncle John nutures and and cajoles and supports the talent...sort of the way a stern but friendly fellow did starting way back in '28....