The plot of the story is simple:

The male protagonist is a prince who lives alone in a magnificent castle, because he once refused to stay with an ugly old woman, and as a result, he was spelled and turned into a beast, and even the prince's servants were turned into all kinds of furniture, and the only way to break the spell is for the prince who became a beast to learn to treat people sincerely.

And the father of the heroine Belle once accidentally broke into the territory of the beast prince and was imprisoned in the castle.

In order to save her father, Belle went to the castle and promised to live in the castle with the beast in exchange for her father. However, Belle's life is not happy because she misses her father so much.

By chance, Belle finds an opportunity to escape, but encounters a vicious pack of wolves. At the moment of crisis, the beast appeared in time to rescue Belle, but she was injured, and Belle was moved and took care of the beast carefully.

After the second male protagonist Gaston learned everything, in order to get Belle, he designed to let the villagers kill the beast together.

Belle kissed the dead beast sadly. And because of this kiss, the beast lifted its curse, resurrected and changed back to its original humanity.

......

"How is it?" Xu Zhi smiled: "Mr. Eisner, do you think this kind of theme can attract young people today?"

Eisner paused for a moment and said: "Romance films will never go out of style in any era, this Beauty and the Beast, just from the name of the movie, is indeed very attractive, but what kind of box office can be achieved depends on the plot of the story and the setting of the characters, and most importantly, the director's ability." ”

Xu Zhi nodded and said, "That's right, this movie is the first movie I plan to let Disney shoot." ”

"Beauty and the Beast" is a 18th-century fairy tale work by Madame de Beaumont, in 1946, the French company Paguin had made an adaptation of the film, but it was a live-action shot, although it looks unbearable now, but at that time, it also won a lot of box office.

There are a lot of magical products involved in the whole movie, such as talking candles, alarm clocks, teapots, teacups, etc., which are difficult to achieve perfection before computer technology is mature enough, but anime can express them perfectly.

Xu Zhi then asked Roy: "Roy, you are the head of the animation department, what do you think of this story?"

"The plot is good, and the animation technology can meet the needs described in the script. Roy Disney replied.

Xu Zhi asked: "Then how much money do you think will be needed for the filming cost of this movie?"

Roy Disney thought for a moment and replied, "If I let my team do it, just the cost of production, $2 million is enough." ”

The cost of the film is mainly the production cost and the subsequent distribution cost, if it is a small company, then only responsible for the production, the distribution can be handed over to a professional distribution company. Of course, the wool comes out of the sheep, and the distribution company will eventually have to take a cut of the final box office.

And a company like Disney has long had its own distribution channels, so Roy Disney can only give the cost of production, and as for the future distribution and publicity, it depends on the boss's decision.

"Okay, then when you go back today, prepare for this as soon as you go. Xu Zhi smiled and nodded.

Speaking of the classic animated movies that Disney has shot in later generations, "Beauty and the Beast" is definitely one of the classics, but when it comes to the box office, there are many that are even higher, such as "Frozen", "Toy Story", "Finding Nemo", "The Lion King" and so on.

However, the first few animated films are still difficult to shoot in the current era, "Frozen" and the Mobilization series have high requirements for special effects, and in later generations, they also rely on the powerful animated computer special effects of the 21st century to shoot successfully.

And "The Lion King" has a chance to be filmed, but it does not fit the current situation of Disney.

"The Lion King" was released in 1994 and grossed as much as $968 million, perhaps the current spending power of people around the world is not as high as in the mid-90s, but even a 7% discount is a very large number.

However, the investment in "The Lion King" is very huge, and the total investment in the history of the past is as high as 45 million US dollars, which may not be a small number compared to the total box office return, but it is also a very large investment for Disney at present.

If there is a problem with investment, Xu Zhi can also directly inject funds to help, but the filming of "The Lion King" has a big problem, that is, for the sake of authenticity, it is necessary to invest a lot of time for the painters to study various animals on the grassland.

In the original history, Disney sent a large number of painters to Africa, and more than 100 artists painted various animals in various famous savannahs in Africa for a year.

Not only lions, but also warthogs, zebras, giraffes, etc., in the movie, all need to be observed, and the artists draw them one by one until they find out how they feel.

In order to protect the more than 100 artists from being injured by wild animals, Disney hired a lot of people to protect them, and with the investment in logistics, the movie shadow has not yet been seen, and millions of dollars have been invested in it.

The whole team stayed in Africa for two years before returning to the United States before starting to work again.

In order to ensure that the whole movie was filmed as scheduled, Disney directly bought a zoo and brought several real lions to the studio, so that the artists could get close to the lions.

From the establishment of the project in 91 to the release in 94, "The Lion King" took a total of three years, although the return is huge, but it is not suitable for the current Disney.

At present, Disney needs to make a quick comeback and get a certain amount of cash at the same time, so "Beauty and the Beast" is the most suitable movie.

In its original history, the film only invested $2.5 million, but received a total box office of $425 million, which is a typical work with a small investment and high returns.

And the biggest advantage of this anime is that its anime characters have simple movements, compared to the "Lion King" and "Story" series, there are not too many intense and complex actions, and the background behind the scenes is also much simpler, which is very important, in the current era when computer special effects are almost non-existent, the production of anime is very complex and very time-consuming.

The use of hand-drawn manga requires a lot of manpower, and the only solution is to reduce the movements of various characters in anime and film, and try to use the same background to fine-tune the picture, such as when speaking, only the mouth changes, which is often used in various Japanese anime even in later generations.

Roy Disney nodded in agreement, "OK, boss, I'll prepare this project right away." ”

Xu Zhi looked at Eisner again and said, "Mr. Eisner, I don't know if you would like to join Disney and make this first anime movie a history-making achievement." ”

Mike Eisner said with a smile: "It's okay to join, but there are some issues that I still need to understand clearly to facilitate future work." ”

Before Xu Zhi could answer, Roy Disney suddenly said, "Boss, I need to go out and smoke a cigarette." ”

"OK!" Xu Zhi agreed.

After Roy Disney left, Xu Zhi said, "Please speak?"

Mike Eisner said: "Mr. Xu, I want to know, how much power I have in Disney in the future?"

Xu Zhi thought for a while and said: "Mr. Eisner, I think you should also know that in Asia, I have a bigger industry than Disney, so I will not stay in the United States for a long time, about Disney, you are responsible for the specific management and business, and under normal circumstances, I will only participate in the company's development direction, investment decisions and other important **."

If the company goes public in the future, then a new board of directors will naturally be formed, and at that time, it will be the board of directors that will naturally carry out new management.

However, in terms of finances, the large amount must be left to me to decide. ”

In his previous life, Mike Eisner was known as the "tyrant" of Disney, he did not have any shares in Disney, but he regarded Disney as his own property.

Although Xu Zhi has already controlled Disney's equity in this life, and he will not give up his controlling stake even if he goes public in the future, Emperor Shangao is far away, and if there is no power to check and balance, then it will also form a lot of trouble, so his rights must also be restricted.

Controlling your finances is the most important step.

Eisner frowned, finance is the top priority of a company to control, and if you want to control a company completely, you must master finances.

But think about the current Disney is still a completely wholly-owned company, even if you control the finances, it can't withstand the boss's words.

So, Eisner said: "The most important thing in a company is efficiency, Mr. Xu, you have been in Hong Kong for a long time, and I am worried that this will affect the normal operation of Disney's corporate housing." ”

Xu Zhi said with a smile: "Mr. Eisner, rest assured, you will have a certain amount of discretion, and as long as the requirements are reasonable, I will not arbitrarily veto the proposal of the company's internal personnel." ”

Mike Eisner nodded, in a company where the other party is the controlling shareholder, no matter how strong the management is, it will not be able to turn the day, and it is enough to be able to obtain a certain degree of autonomy.

After making up his mind, this last step naturally had to be straightforward, and he asked, "Mr. Xu, I think we should discuss my treatment." ”

......