Disney/Pixar Partnership Uncrtain

The team that produced some of the biggest box office hits in recent years, including Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc., is showing signs of further strain. According to The L.A. Times, Pixar has been taking meetings with rival studios eager to jump in and fill Disney’s lucrative distribution role.

Pixar is still under contract with Disney for three more films, including this summer’s Finding Nemo. Toy Story 3 may never get made unless Disney allows Pixar to count it among the three. Disney contends that sequels aren’t part of the deal and believes it should get the third installment in addition to the three-pic agreement.

While Pixar CEO Steve Jobs has publicly expressed his desire to stay with Disney, the digital animation powerhouse will have plenty of suitors to choose from should re-negotiations fall through. Among the studios that may be waiting in the wings are Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox.