Disney bought Pixar and rebuilt animation as a franchise engine

Disney's in-house animation machine had lost the cultural lead to Pixar, its distribution partner. In 2006 Bob Iger chose not to keep negotiating at arm's length: Disney acquired Pixar, made it a wholly owned subsidiary, and issued 279 million Disney shares to do it.

The decision was deliberately about the operating system behind the films, not only the library. Disney told investors Pixar would support priorities in content, technology and global reach; Lasseter and Catmull then helped reset Disney animation's creative process.

By 2010 the engine was visible across the company. Disney said Studio Entertainment operating income rose to $693 million from $175 million, helped by Toy Story 3, while Consumer Products revenue benefited from strong Toy Story merchandise.

Studio Entertainment operating income rose from $175M in 2009 to $693M in 2010 as Toy Story 3 and other releases hit.

Disney bought the creative capability before the partnership broke.

Keeping Pixar's leaders inside the combined company preserved the culture Disney needed.

The acquisition turned a film success into parks, licensing and merchandise economics.

When the creative system is the scarce asset, buying the partner can matter more than merely renewing a distribution contract.

The Pixar deal became the template for Iger's later franchise acquisitions. It did not make every Disney film a hit, but it restored animation as a core source of characters and long-lived intellectual property rather than a fading studio division.