Brandon Mullins

» Disney Announces Slate of 10 Animated Pics Through 2012

“The Walt Disney Studios unveiled a diverse and ambitious slate of 10 new animated feature films from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios to be released through the year 2012 at a New York press conference held today by Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, and John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.”

Pixar has always held my attention as a company, if for nothing more than the incredible transformation and business development it has endured since its inception in 1979. Acquired by Steve Jobs in 1986 from George Lucas for the sum of $5M, to being acquired in 2006 by Walt Disney Company for $7.5B (making Steve Jobs the largest sharedholder of Disney with 7%), Pixar’s first five feature-film releases have grossed $2.5B alone.

An interesting tidbit smuggly buried within the context of the article is the note: “Starting later this year with the release of Disney’s (Bolt), all Disney and Pixar animated features will be presented in state-of-the-art Disney Digital 3-D(TM). Additionally, newly converted 3-D versions of the beloved classics, Toy Story and Toy Story 2, are set to debut in 2009 and 2010 respectively.”

I have always believed that home-based 3D viewing by kids or adults will be a widly successful market as soon as the technology evolves and allows for cheap manufacturing of high-quality 3D shows, movies, etc. to be viewed on household televisions. And I am talking about the quality level of Disney’s in-park 3D shows at Disney World.

A couple of years ago I was in discussion with a UCLA Berkeley professor on this 3D technology and began doing prelimary research on how far away the technology (and the market) was for home-based 3D involvement. The answer? Pretty far away.