As mentioned earlier this week, times are a-changing at Walt Disney Animation and Pixar. Their fearless leader John Lasseter is reportedly unlikely to return to the studios, after accusations of sexual misconduct led him to a “six-month sabbatical.”

Unfortunately, replacing Lasseter will be no easy feat, as this is the man that was not only instrumental in establishing Pixar’s reputation for quality storytelling, but was also a key factor in Walt Disney Animation Studio’s uptick in quality in the latter half of the 2000s. Now, the quality of their movies is on par with that of their best work in their Renaissance years.

With Lasseter out the door, who do they have waiting in the wings? We’ve mentioned in the past that Monsters, Inc. director Pete Docter has taken over during Lasseter’s sabbatical, but is this a long-term solution? It doesn’t sound like it. In fact, it sounds like there will be no one man taking over Lasseter’s duties at all

According to THR, Docter will likely be joined by Finding Dory and Wall-E director Andrew Stanton, and perhaps one other person, to help guide Pixar’s future. Disney will be handled separately, creating their own team of co-heads that is speculated to consist of Frozen co-director Jennifer Lee and Zootopia co-directors Rich Moore and Byron Howard.

Admittedly, this doesn’t seem ideal at first. The idea of uniting them under one vision has certainly helped in making Walt Disney Animation as great as it is today, but ultimately separating them is a move that makes sense. First off, all of these filmmakers have done amazing work, so their talent is without question. Plus, in separating them out, it will also help Disney and Pixar to re-establish their own identities. As it stands, the two are almost interchangeable in the public eye at this point, and allowing them to change up their identities more can only be a good thing, right?

What do you think of this possibility? Is creating a few co-heads of each studio the way to go, or will this lead to a problem of too many cooks? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: THR