The saga between Disney and Pixar has been settled as of late with the merger of the two companies. As a result, John Lasseter has been given the power of green lighting films from Roy Disney himself. This has led to a great increase in quality of Disney franchise as a whole. Not only did he eliminate the production of straight to DVD, but is a chief Imagineering executive.
In the theme parks, he is taking Disney's California Adventure park from a partial day experience to an all or even several day happening. The original Disneyland park is focusing less on budget and more on quality for the guests. It's showing, as Tomorrowland got a complete stylistic overhaul, the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through returning after seven years and, of course, the Finding Nemo Submarine.
As for films, the change is very noticeable. Meet the Robinsons was far enough into production to not qualify for any change, but Bolt, back then called American Dog, was substantially different in look and story. The original story was about a TV dog being stranded in Nevada with a one eyed cat and a radioactive rabbit that are trying to find new homes. Bolt was also a larger dog, more of a heroic looking collie like dog. As everyone saw from our review, Bolt is a fantastic movie. As an aside from me, it was reminiscent of the Disney movies of old and that makes me excited for future endeavors.
Pixar has definitely been the highlight of the Disney franchise in recent years, but now that they are working on the same level, let's hope the "Pixar Effect" has a longstanding results. Maybe Disney can enter it's second Renaissance.
