From The New York Times‘s report on a possible Disney acquisition of Pixar:
Many of the terms have been worked out. The new animation division would be overseen by John Lasseter, Pixar’s chief creative officer and a former Disney animator, who would work with animators at Pixar’s headquarters in Emeryville, Calif., and at Disney in Burbank.
It is not yet clear if there would be layoffs, although they would be likely. While Pixar under Mr. Lasseter has thrived, Disney’s animation division has floundered, burdened by its past and its inability to adapt to an environment where pens and paper are being replaced by computers.
Analysts say a Disney-Pixar combination would be successful only if Pixar took the reins of animation at Disney, because the cultures are vastly different. “John Lasseter’s role in any new incarnation of Pixar will be crucial,” wrote Katherine Styponias of Prudential Equity.
If all of this resulted in John Lasseter running Disney animation, it could be a wonderful thing. Or is there any other person on the planet that you think would be a better choice?
Well, even if he is directing again, Joe Barbera is just too old, and Lou Scheimer too Lou. And it seems to me in interviews and in his general decisions that Lasseter has the right combination of creativity and business savvy to make it work. Pixar’s involvement in the Miyazaki dubs has certainly by most accounts led to marked improvement, and Lasseter seems like a more diplomatic individual than, say, John Kricfalusi. Now if only they’d then hire Dr. Richard Huemer to consult on a monochromatic CG Scrappy film using the Scrappy soap figures as basic models, this would indeed be a perfect world.