“Disney buying Pixar” rumors are again picking up steam and it’s safe to assume it will happen at some point in 2006. The deal would be a stock transaction. Frankly, it makes sense for both. Pixar obviously hasn’t received the distribution deal from other studios that they thought would materialize. You can read more about the history between Disney and Pixar here and here.

This deal has the potential to be bad or good depending on what happens. Under Eisner, I’m fairly certain the result would the degradation of Pixar. While he did lead Disney, Inc. to wonderful things, his sole focus on profit can be considered the cause of a drop in the quality that Walt Disney was known for. Bob Iger, thankfully, seems to be focused on undoing the strained relations between Steve Jobs and Disney. If the deal is made, Steve Jobs becomes the largest individual Disney stockholder. Potentially, this makes him a possible CEO contender down the road. I’m sure he can’t do this and run Apple so he’ll have to make that decision then.

After the deal is done, Iger needs to do one thing to guarantee the continual success of Disney. One of the juiciest rumors I've picked up from some of my more reliable sources is that John Lasseter might be named the President of Disney Animation. Lasseter is our generations Walt Disney and the ideal choice to restore the glory to Disney animation. Lasseter currently holds the title as Executive Vice-President at Pixar but he’s more than a suit. (Actually, he’s more prone to goofy shirts than a suit. I think this is a sign of genius. When you are allowed to wear ugly shirts to work, it’s because they know you’re awesome). He directed Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life and the summer release, Cars. He also was executive producer for Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. Has anybody at Disney had anywhere near that success besides Walt himself?

We can hope that if this rumor is true, Iger gives Lasseter complete control and allows him to kill many of the crappy projects that are currently in the works. Does Disney really have to stoop to importing crappy UK CGI films to make money? Do we really need Bambi 2? Disney needs to work on creating new projects and realize “you can’t top pigs with pigs” as Walt Disney once said. Lasseter knows this better than anyone. Hopefully, Iger knows you can’t top Lasseter either.

Credit CNN Money for the financial aspect of the story.