In the first week of the movie's release, "The Lion King" occupied the top box office in North America with an absolute advantage of $12 million over the box office of "Toy Story".

It was at this time that Robert first proposed Disney's plan to develop a 3D animated film at the board meeting.

"Yes, our films are being highly praised in the media and the box office results show that the audience supports us, but we should be soberly aware that this is not the whole truth. Many people ignore a problem, or have seen it but habitually choose to 'go blind', like an ostrich burying its head in the sand...... the gap between the daily box office of "The Lion King" and "Toy Story" is constantly narrowing, and it is doubtful how long we can stay in the position of weekly box office champion. ”

In front of the projection screen, Robert made an impassioned speech to the directors.

"Just when we are still complacent and complacent, the opponent has gone ahead of us, with the financial support of Lin Youlun, Pixar Studios has figured out a way to turn cartoons into a film type that is acceptable to all ages, which is what Disney has always wanted to do but has not done, so we should be soberly aware that change is imminent, and if we don't make changes, then the opponent will quickly leave us behind."

Robert was interrupted by a director.

"Mr. President, I'm sorry to interrupt your speech, because I'd love to hear about you. Why do you think Toy Story has become a movie that is enjoyed by audiences of all ages? Do you have any survey data to back it up? ”

"I have no direct evidence to support my opinion. But I can illustrate this with a more direct statistic, and that is the box office data of The Lion King. Robert propped his hands on the conference table and looked directly at the director who asked the question: "I believe that the vast majority of the box office of this film comes from parents of children under the age of 14 who have accompanied them to the cinema, and we won $45 million at the box office this past week, which means that at least 80% of the parents of children who chose to watch movies in North America in the past week chose "The Lion King". Where did the more than $30 million box office of "Toy Story", which was released at the same time as "The Lion King", come from? The answer is obvious, most of these box office deals are from non-child audiences, and I think that should justify my judgment, but if you need a more direct investigation, I'll have someone do it later. ”

"Pixar Studios is already ahead of the curve, so maybe we could consider working with them to co-develop a 3D animated film, wouldn't that be a better option for us?" Another director spoke.

Robert shrugged, "Yes, it's in our best interest to work directly with Pixar Studios at this stage, but have you considered the cost of collaboration?" Pixar Studios films can grow through our distribution channels. But we only get less than half of it, and we have to invest in the film. Take the risk of losing money, and when one day we can't satisfy the appetite of Pixar Studios anymore, they can kick us out of the way at any time, and we get nothing but a reputation as a fool. ”

"But we can also put some constraints on each other in the terms of cooperation." The director continued.

"The premise is that Pixar Studio is willing to accept such terms, but I don't think the other party will accept it, maybe the members of the studio are willing, but their investor Lin Youlun will definitely not agree."

Although Robert has not had formal contact with Lin Youlun, he is very sure that the other party will not accept the terms of cooperation with an overlord like Disney.

"For all the reasons mentioned above, I hope that you will seriously consider my suggestion, and I know that this will be a very difficult decision, but I believe that it will be the key to the success or failure of Disney in the future!"

Disney's board of directors did not immediately make a decision on the development of a 3D animated film, and "The Lion King" still topped the North American box office charts with $35 million in its second week of release, while "Toy Story" was second with $34 million, and the gap between the two sides has narrowed to less than $1 million.

The bickering on Disney's board of directors has escalated, and the media reviews of Toy Story have begun to become much more objective, at least no one has taken the idea that 3D animated films will soon replace traditional animated films as a joke, because Toy Story has proved that this prediction is a reality with actual box office performance.

The box office of "The Lion King" has shown signs of weakness, while "Toy Story" continues to gain momentum.

In the third week of the release of the two films, "Toy Story" replaced "The Lion King" as the weekly box office champion with a box office of $40 million, and "The Lion King" has slipped to $30 million at the moment.

Disney's board of directors finally reached an agreement on the development of 3D animated films at this time, although Disney's press spokesperson strongly emphasized that it will continue to produce traditional animated films and will continue to focus on it for a long time to come, but the outside world can clearly feel the pressure brought to Disney by 3D animated films.

Since Disney has regarded Pixar Studios as a threatening rival, the battlefield between the two companies will definitely only be on 3D animated films, and the argument that the continued development of traditional animated films is just a fig leaf left by Disney for itself.

Lin Youlun is not surprised by Disney's reaction, 3D animated films are the mainstream of the future market, Disney will realize this sooner or later, and now this process is just slightly advanced.

Although the strength of Pixar Studios and Disney is still very different, since Lin Youlun has guided Pixar Studios to the road of Disney, it can only make Disney have no way out.

——

After Qiu Shuzhen was discharged from the hospital, Lin Youlun has been with her and her daughter for a moment, but during this period, Lin Zhiling has not been idle, according to Lin Youlun's request, she has been in contact with the American "Hasbro" company, trying to persuade the other party to sell the film adaptation rights of a classic cartoon to Oriental DreamWorks.

On the way to Hasbro's headquarters by car, Lin Zhiling introduced some specific information to Lin Youlun.

"Judging from the current progress of negotiations, the interest in Hasbro and Marvel Comics in launching the Transformers comic book is far greater than the interest in selling the rights to the film adaptation."

Lin Zhiling said this, the main purpose is to tell Lin Youlun not to have too much expectations for this meeting with the senior management of Hasbro, otherwise the result of the meeting will disappoint him.

Lin Youlun is actually not in a hurry, because even if he wins the film adaptation rights of "Transformers" at this moment, it is estimated that it will be ten years before the movie is made, and the contact will begin at this time, just to let Hasbro feel his sincerity, and by the way, it will also bring the two sides closer, and it will be at the negotiation table in the future, so it is good to bargain.

Because he knew in advance that Lin Youlun was coming, a vice president of Hasbro had already arrived at the door of the company in advance to wait to greet him, and just as Lin Youlun got out of the car, he accidentally caught a glimpse of an acquaintance.

I haven't seen him for a few months, Deng Wendi is not only radiant, but also has a more and more capable temperament.

Seeing Lin Youlun, Deng Wendi, who was about to get into the car, was stunned for a moment, and then gave up his plan to leave immediately, and walked over with a smile on his face.

Her gaze first fell on Lin Zhiling, who was standing behind Lin Youlun, and then fell on Lin Youlun.

"Mr. Lin, I really didn't expect us to meet again so soon!"

"I said at the time that we should meet again again, but I didn't expect to meet Miss Deng again so soon!"

Lin Youlun and Deng Wendi greeted each other like old friends, but they saw that the face of the vice president of Hasbro on the side changed greatly.

Originally, Hasbro arranged this "accidental" meeting, just to make Lin Youlun and Deng Wendi aware of each other's existence, if they can successfully provoke the two sides to compete, then Hasbro can have more initiative in the negotiations.

And now that Lin Youlun and Deng Wendi actually know each other, the situation has suddenly become complicated.

Lin Youlun didn't pay much attention to the change in the expression of the vice president of Hasbro, he was more concerned about why Deng Wendi would appear in Hasbro and what interesting things happened to her during this time.

"I forgot to tell Mr. Lin that I now work for 20th Century Fox Films, a subsidiary of News Corp., and this is my business card."

Taking the business card handed over by Deng Wendi, Lin Youlun glanced at it casually, and then frowned.

The title printed on Deng Wendi's business card is assistant to the president, which is very different from the situation in Lin Youlun's memory!

While not sure whether this change is good or bad, Lin Youlun can be very sure that for Wendi Deng, who is ambitious and good at seizing opportunities, being a low-level employee in a subsidiary of News Corp. is not satisfying at all.

In any case, with Deng Wendi's current position, it is obvious that he has a better chance of coming into contact with Murdoch, and this is a very important part of Lin Youlun's future planning. (To be continued......)