User:LeicaMan/sandbox

2006-Present Lasseter/Catmull Era
On January 25, 2006, The Walt Disney Company announced that it would acquire Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 Billion. As part of the acquisition, David Stainton would step down as president of Walt Disney Feature Animation. To replace Stainton, Ed Catmull, then Pixar’s President and Chief Technical Officer, and John Lasseter, Pixar’s Head of Creative at Pixar, would become President and Chief Creative Officer of both Pixar and Disney Animation respectively. [a] Their goals were to rejuvenate the studio’s creative culture and to release higher quality films. One of the first decisions that Lasseter and Catmull made was to reinstate production of traditionally animated films at the studio, reversing the policy of Eisner and Stainton. Catmull and Lasseter felt that the reason Pixar’s films were successful was not because they were computer generated, but rather that their films had good stories. In an interview with The Telegraph Lasseter said that,“it seemed 2D animation became the scapegoat for bad storytelling.”[b] The first traditionally animated projects under their leadership were the 2007 Goofy short “How to Hook Up Your Home Theater” and the 2009 film “The Princess and the Frog”. In 2007, the studio’s name was changed from Walt Disney Feature Animation to its current name, Walt Disney Animation Studios. Lasseter and Catmull would continue production on the films in the studio’s pipeline, but changes would be made to the films and both Pixar’s brain trust and the newly formed Disney story trust would offer suggestions to improve the films. Starting with 2007’s “Meet the Robinsons”, Lasseter would serve as the executive producer every film released by WDAS. “Meet the Robinsons”, which was in the late stages of development, had 60% of the film scrapped with changes to the villain and the ending. The film was a modest financial success and considered an improvement from “Chicken Little”. The other two projects in the pipeline from Stantion’s leadership, American Dog and Rapunzel: Unbraided, would receive more substantial changes. Chris Sanders, the director of American Dog, was replaced after resisting suggestions from Lasseter and the Pixar and Disney brain trusts. American Dog would be released as “Bolt” in 2008, directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard to good critical and financial success. Bolt would earn the studio it’s first Academy Award nomination for best animated feature since 2003.