The mouse buys a desk lamp

The sale of Pixar Animation to the Walt Disney Company megalith should have come as not surprise to any inveterate Disney watcher. Disney has wanted to own Pixar and its properties outright since the little computer animation engine that could released its first feature, Toy Story, more than a decade ago.

The sticking point was always the two CEOs, Michael Eisner of Disney and Steve Jobs of Pixar, whose affinity for one another was roughly equivalent to the relationship between Mufasa and Scar, to borrow a Disney metaphor. But with Eisner out the Mouse House door last year, and the more user-friendly Robert Iger assuming his position, it was only a matter of time before the deal got done.

One can only hope that the merger combines the best of Disney marketing and brand exploitation with the best of Pixar creativity, rather than the worst of each.

Time will tell.