Inside Move: Beak preview
Mouse hopes 'Chicken' will fly with Wall Street
The Mouse sure hopes it's big.
Pressure on this small bird is immense.
The homegrown pic -- due out next summer -- will be heavily scrutinized as Hollywood players and Wall Streeters wonder if Disney's decision not to re-up with Pixar, on whatever terms, was a disaster, or not.
"If the sky falls on the chicken's head" it's bad news for Disney, says one Gotham-based fund manager.
In recent months, he and many others have seen clips of the film at investor conferences. Reaction was mixed. Some found the feathered hero cute. Many called him grating.
"I thought it looked like a commercial for Pixar stock," says one particularly disgruntled money manager.
Many Wall Streeters have acknowledged that Disney CEO Michael Eisner was perhaps justified in nixing Pixar's last offer, which would have altered terms for the last two films in the pact and called for Disney to give up rights to Pixar's valuable library.
And a deal may still get done. Negotiations seemed dead. Then they didn't. Then they did -- when Eisner said so on a conference call discussing Disney's latest financials last week.
Disney has two pics left with Pixar, "The Incredibles," due out this fall, and "Cars," set for next year.
Post "Chicken Little," Disney's got "Rapunzel Unbraided," "Fraidy Cat," "The American Dog," and "A Day With Wilbur Robinson" in its own CGI hopper.
Ironically, if "The Incredibles" is a smash, the success will jar investors apprehensive at the pending divorce, even as it lines Disney's pockets.
If the pic's a dud -- which seems a near impossibility given the tremendous buzz -- Disney's pocketbook would feel it, yet the Mouse would be somewhat vindicated.
"Stocks are valued on future expectations," says one investor.
Sometimes chickens are too.
