Hollywood and Silicon Valley have never mixed well. You've got cinéastes vs. nerds, celluloid vs. digital, silicone vs. silicon. Then there is Pixar, the delightfully confounding combination of the two: part high-tech shop, part movie studio. Headed by Apple Computer's Steve Jobs and run by John Lasseter, an animator hailed as the next Walt Disney, Pixar has made exactly six computer-animated features in its 20-year history, from Toy Story to The Incredibles. Every one was a smash. Every one was distributed by Disney, which also shared costs and profits.
So how much is the wonderful world of Pixar worth? More than...