The Digital Auteur: Branding Identity on the Monsters, Inc. DVD

On November 4, 2003 the video/DVD release of the film Finding Nemo, a computer animated collaboration between Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, set a new sales record for the retail home video market, selling 8 million units during the first day of its release. This new record was not surprising; after all, Finding Nemo was the breakout hit of the 2003 summer season, generating almost $340 million in box office receipts (Business Data for Finding Nemo, 2003). Finding Nemo was not only one of the biggest grossing movies of 2003, but it also outgrossed Disney's most successful animated feature film to date, The Lion King. Given Finding Nemo's stellar sales, one would expect that Disney and Pixar would be celebrating their profitable collaboration. Instead, the success of Finding Nemo brought heightened public attention to the two studios' unhappy business relationship. Indeed, even before its DVD release, while Finding Nemo was setting records at the box office, Pixar's CEO, Steve Jobs, was making the rounds of other major studios in search of a new business partner (Holson, 2003). In addition, as Brett Sporich (2003) reported at that time, 'Early revenue figures for [the DVD release of] "Nemo" will be critical indicators as to whether Disney can deliver what Pixar chief Steve Jobs is looking for in a distribution and funding partner' (p. 1).