Pixar Animation Studios may not be ready to divorce Walt Disney Co. But it's been flirting with Disney's rivals.
Steve Jobs, chief of the computer animation firm, has begun preliminary talks with executives from Hollywood studios interested in a partnership with Pixar should its shaky relationship with Disney break up.
Last week, Warner Bros. President Alan Horn and associates visited Pixar's state-of-the-art animation campus in Emeryville, Calif., according to people familiar with the meeting. Executives from 20th Century Fox are scheduled for a similar "meet and greet" with Jobs this week, sources said.
Any studio that makes a deal with Pixar may instantly move to the front of the lucrative animation market. As the powerhouse behind Disney's "Monsters, Inc.," "A Bug's Life" and two "Toy Story" films, Pixar has accounted for nearly a quarter of the animation box office in recent years.
Jobs, co-founder and chief executive of Apple Computer Inc., has said he preferred to continue distributing films through Disney when his current arrangement expires in coming years. But he has made no secret of his strained relations with Disney Chairman Michael Eisner or of his frustration with Pixar's deal.
Executives at Warner and Fox declined to comment. Attempts to reach Jobs were unsuccessful.
Disney Studios Chairman Richard Cook -- who has a strong relationship with both Jobs and Pixar creative guru John Lasseter, a former Disney animator -- said he was aware that Jobs was feeling out competitors, but was hopeful that Disney and Pixar would remain partners.
"We all know that other studios have talked to them, but I'm quite sure they have not begun negotiating," Cook said. Noting that Disney has yet to begin formal negotiations with Pixar, Cook added: "Our hope and desire [is] to continue forever what has been one of the most successful partnerships in motion picture history."
Pixar's talks with potential suitors have been described as "informal" and "not substantive." Jobs gave the Warner team a tour of the facility, for instance, and introduced them to key executives, including Lasseter.
Pixar is contractually barred from making a deal with any studio until the company gives Disney its next movie, the underwater adventure "Finding Nemo," this spring. The picture is set for release in theaters May 30.
