July 12, 2004

Mr. Jobs,

I am writing this letter because I feel that both Pixar Animation Studios and the Walt Disney Company have come to a critical point in their relationship.

While I know that the current negotiation stalemate has been going on for quite some time now, every passing day without a phone ringing on either side puts one of the most successful partnerships in history closer to a point where there is no going back.

In the beginning, your studio was not being treated in the same way it should be treated today. To be sure, Pixar Animation Studios has truly created magic over the years, and should be given its fair share of the reward it has created.

For starters, your team showed us that all of the toys really were alive like we always thought as kids. After that wonderful story, we explored the insect world and the plight of one very inventive outcast-turned-hero of an ant, with moral overtones of teamwork and bravery. Continuing in the footsteps of your team’s wonderful storytelling ability, we happily learned that those monsters in the closet were just doing their jobs, scaring us as children, for energy generation in their own world. Our own world later fell in love with a small lost clownfish with a special fin, as an undersea adventure unfolded before our eyes. Although yet to be released, I’m sure that we will find superheroes past their prime to even more entertaining, and we’ll finally find out if car headlights really are eyes.

With each masterpiece created, your team continually raised the bar as to the capabilities of three-dimensional computer animation. In the beginning plastics were the materials which would prove the ability of the computer generated medium in feature length films. Next, you softened the look with the earthy tones found in A Bug’s Life. In Toy Story 2, our jaws dropped when we saw Buzz Lightyear disintegrated in the opening sequence, only to realize why he had looked different along with a cool glowing suit: he was actually just a character in a videogame. The bar was truly raised when Sulley’s hair moved more natural than my own in the Himalayan Mountain wind. The one thing harder than hair to animate in a lifelike way is water, which your team tackled head on and succeed in setting the standard for the medium even higher yet again.

What all of this adds up to is a magical organization with the creative talent and leadership harking back to the beginning of the Walt Disney Company. However, like the Walt Disney Company of that time, your organization needs a distributor; not just a distributor, but a partner.

I truly feel that the Walt Disney Company is that partner; the partner which Pixar Animation Studios can continue to grow with and mutually benefit from.

Your goal of having Pixar recognized as the creator on all products which come from its films has been more than realized; “Pixar” is now a household name.

As I am sure you have spoken with every major distributor, did any of them have the capabilities and synergy avenues available that the Walt Disney Company has?

The power of the former relationship is realized everyday in the Magic Kingdom, as little girls and boys look up at a “real” Buzz Lightyear moving and talking right in front of them. Mr. Jobs, have you ever seen the look on a child’s face as they round the corner to see their beloved character off of the movie screen and standing in front of them? If you haven’t, I will gladly buy a ticket for you.

Both Pixar Animation Studios and the Walt Disney Company have much to loose on the heels of increased competition from Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen’s animation group. If the relationship isn’t renewed on equal ground, then I fear that both Pixar and Disney, equally, have much to lose.

What I am asking through all of this is simple: talk to them from common ground. Start over from equal footing. Both Pixar Animation Studios and the Walt Disney Company have an equal burden to share, as well as an indescribable future if together.

If you do one thing from reading this letter, may it be that you pick up a phone and call. If you do not want to speak to Mr. Eisner, then call Mr. Iger. If you do not want to speak with Mr. Iger, then call Chairman Mitchell. If you do not wish to speak to anyone in the current upper management, then give Mr. Disney and Mr. Gold a call and work through their contacts. Whomever you call, the current stalemate can end with just ten numbers.

Myself, and in fact the rest of the World, are anxiously awaiting your next two films. Here’s to hoping that future ones are partnered with Mickey.

Thank you for your time,