Yesterday I half-heartedly went to see the Pixar / Disney (NYSE: DIS) movie "Ratatouille" with my 11-year-old son. To my great surprise it was fantastic. The story, quality of animation and superb writing were cleverly executed. If Pixar continues to produce this highly imaginative level of animation then the first class Walt Disney tradition lives on.

It may appear that the entertainment industry is being diluted, fragmented and slowly surrendering to the Internet via vast amounts of "product" created by amateurs and wannabees, but this is deceiving. The Web has allowed for the immediate distribution of a diverse range of ideas in new media such as YouTube (Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). It has created a platform to launch what otherwise might be undiscovered talent. But we deceive ourselves if we think this will ever be a substitute for the top talent assembled by Pixar / Disney.

For example, we know that there are more people playing basketball then ever before and they have greater skills too. However, we still pay top dollar and flock to see Kobe and Shaq, even though they now play on opposite coasts. We want to see the best. While the web has proven to be informative, entertaining and democratizing it is not Hollywood. While it has exposed us to new ideas, (and garbage) and provided opportunity to millions of people and new artists, for the most part it is a new delivery system and a new marketing platform. It is not Disney or Dreamworks and it never will be.

Continue reading Pixar Ratatouille extends Disney magic

Pixar Ratatouille extends Disney magic originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last Sunday I posted the funniest comment I received during the week that stimulated me to write: Pamela Anderson is a headline - not news - but SIRIus. This week I thought I would follow-up with another amusing story stimulated by a comment I received informing me that "Google earnings growth will most likely continue to run at 50%+ for the next few years." I had given Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) credit for a 50% increase in earnings this year trailing to 25% next, but I was corrected.

So what would 50% growth actually mean in real dollars and cents. By my definition I would categorize "few years as at least three or four. So lets run the numbers: Google closed Friday, February 2, 2007 with a capitalization of $134,305,000.

If you anticipate 50% growth this year (even from Google's current depressed level) you reach $201,457,500, my outside limit. A few years more after that means another 50% spurt brings you to $302,186,250 in 2008 followed by $453,279,370 in 2009 and $679,919,500 in 2010. For some perspective, ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) the largest company in the world by capitalization has reached approximately $440,000,000. I do not think we have to add the fourth year at 50% -- it's silly enough already!

Google has taken quite a hit this week, but if I used the valuation from the time of the comment it would have handily passed $700 billion. I just cannot envision Google as the largest company in the world, now or in a few years.

Check out my other posts for BloggingStocks here.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the vice president for design and research at an architecture & planning firm.

Sunday Funnies: Google 50% growth - for how long? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 04 Mar 2007 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.