A Departure With Implications for Investors: Disney’s John Lasseter<br />The director of the seminal animated hit “Toy Story,” Mr. Lasseter “is the father of modern<br />animation,” said Doug Creutz, senior media and entertainment analyst for Cowen & Company.<br />“If there’s anything at the core of Disney, it’s animation.”<br />When Mr. Lasseter took creative control of Walt Disney Animation in 2006, after Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, the venerable studio was essentially moribund, its animators<br />demoralized by flops like “Home on the Range.” He “brought Disney animation back from the dead,” said Michael Nathanson, senior research analyst at MoffettNathanson.<br />“Cars 2,” the last Pixar film for which Mr. Lasseter served as director, as opposed to executive producer, was widely panned by critics,<br />and “Cars 3,” released last spring, was a box office disappointment.<br />For all his achievements, Mr. Creutz said, “some of the best films Pixar has made<br />weren’t necessarily done by John Lasseter, especially over the past 10 years.”<br />Mr. Lasseter has been the face of Disney animation for so long that few others in the division have become well known on Wall Street.<br />Under Mr. Lasseter’s leadership, the Disney studio has churned out a remarkable series of critical<br />and financial hits: “Tangled,” “Zootopia,” Moana” and 2013’s “Frozen,” the biggest grossing animated film ever, soon to be a Broadway musical.
