DISNEY SENDING PRODUCERS TO PIXAR FOR BRAINSTORMING

With Walt Disney Co.’s live-action movies performing modestly and, in some recent cases, failing at the box office while its Pixar releases soar, the company is now dispatching its Burbank producers to Pixar’s Emeryville headquarters for consultations with members of the “Pixar Brain Trust,” the Hollywood Reporter reported today (Thursday). The trade paper commented that the studio appears to be “intent on taking advantage of its subsidiary’s storytelling abilities.” It noted that some of the Disney people attending the meetings in Northern California had variously described them as “very honest” and “nerve-racking.” “You’re in the presence of people who have never had a misfire,” one of the Disney group told the Reporter.