This has been coming for a while, but I honestly didn’t know that it would happen: Pixar will not have Disney as its distributor after 2006. The final films will be the awesome superhero film “The Incredibles” (from Brad Bird, the genius behind “The Iron Giant”) and one more, probably “Cars.”

For Pixar, this is just fantastic. Disney has been reaping the acclaim and the profits for films that aren’t really theirs. To date, the five Pixar films have earned about $2.5 billion! Without Pixar, Disney’s only good movie in ages is the hilarious “Emperor’s New Groove”…and even that was something of a lark of a picture. That’s why Disney studios are surrounded by promotional images of Buzz and Woody and Finding Nemo, as though they were Disney’s claim to fame.

For Disney, the loss of Pixar means they have to find a new, meaningful direction. They have been plagued by misfires (Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Treasure Planet) and their only money-makers are straight to video budget rehash sequels of their earlier, better films. And with Winnie The Pooh, another big source of Disney income, also in court to break the copyright away from the Mouse Republic, Disney could be in serious financial straits!