Lasseter, 52, helped create Pixar, which in recent years has overtaken Disney's internal animation division as the most important animation studio in the country.

FORBES: Hollywood

Disney has virtually abandoned old-fashioned, hand-drawn animation it is closing its Florida studio and the feature-animation business will pare down to 600 employees, compared with 2, 200 at the peak in 1999.

ECONOMIST: Disney on the defensive | The

Uniquely in Hollywood, many of Disney's movies come not from its namesake studio but corporate siblings including Marvel Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, and, soon, Lucasfilm, the company behind "Star Wars" that Disney acquired last year.

WSJ: With Disney Studio's New Chief, More Action, Less Drama