Disney buys Pixar in quest for animated renaissance

Entertainment heavyweight Walt Disney agreed to buy animation studio Pixar yesterday in a deal worth over £4 billion that also nets the makers of Finding Nemo creative control of Disney's cartoon studio.

Disney's distribution deal with Pixar was set to expire at the end of 2006 despite Pixar's score of hit feature length animations. Toy Story, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles together grossed over $3.2 billion worldwide.

However, the deal means the two companies will remain working together.

Bringing the two filmmakers together means the Pixar team will have control of Disney's legendary cartoon studio, which created Mickey Mouse, Pluto and Donald Duck and film classics like Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, 101 Dalmatians and The Jungle Book.

Pixar's next film to hit the big screen is Cars, featuring the voices of Owen Wilson (Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers), Cheech Marin (Up In Smoke, Spy Kids) and Paul Newman.

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