Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks-The Galactic Battle

A decade ago no one was close to Disney in the field of animation movies.

Then, along came an evangelist businessman, who was ousted from his own domain. But he happened to be a very smart leader. Steve Jobs was his name (if you haven't already guessed). He bought a bunch of maverick computer animators working in a pigeon-hole of George Lucas and made the company Pixar.

The next thing that happened was like reminiscient of the King of the Jungle thrown out of the jungle itself. Disney was on a run. Pixar created films like Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monster Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. These were 3-D generated and changed the rules of the game. Originally tied with Disney, Pixar soon became independent and flashed a beacon for change.

Then, Disney spilled the beans again. Michael Eisner (Disney CEO) failed to keep ties with Jefferey Katzenberg, who was probably the most important guy in Disney at the time and pretty much responsible for the successful tie between Disney and Pixar. Katzenberg left Disney.

And guess what?

He joined hands with none other than Steven Speilberg to incorporate Dreamworks. This was another 3-D animation company. And Katzenberg's business acumen started to make a serious threat to Pixar that was the undisputed leader in this field at that time. The Galactic Battle ensued.

On one side, Disney tried to regain its top seat by trying to usher into the relatively new field by growing its portfolio. Pixar continued to make good animation films using John Lasseter's storytelling abilities. But Dreamworks has certainly made the most of this opportunity. Initially, it created Antz but then, it found a great idea in The Shrek. The movie has been so successful that it has been ranked as the best animation movie ever created. And in the process, they found a franchise too. Shrek 2 and Shrek 3 rolled out and became huge successes. Recently, BeeMovie (Dreamworks) stole the show and they have Shrek 4 in assembly line as well.

Now, which studio has the greatest chance of winning in this intense battle?

Disney is a giant. But it's moving. Using its muscle, Disney is following a two-pronged strategy. On one side, it is creating blockbuster mainstream movies like the Pirates of the Carribean franchise and National Treasure while on the other side, it is developing the technology to beat the frontrunners in the field of 3-D animation.

Dreamworks has a similar strategy in place. Steven Spielberg is continuously churning out hit movies and on the other hand, Jeffrey Katzenberg is keeping the 3-D animation department in place.

Now, Pixar is in danger. The earnings have dried up a little and things are not looking as bright but you can't rule out Pixar. There is just one reason to it. Yep, that's Steve Jobs. He may still pull out something when he's not busy revolutionizing other industries. He can change the rules of the game again.

It would be interesting to see the battle unfold in the years to come and surely, the viewers would be treated to some special movies in this cosmic process.