THE Walt Disney Company has held out an olive branch to Pixar, the computer-animation firm behind hits such as Finding Nemo and Toy Story, in the hope that the two might resume talks over a lucrative distribution deal.

Bob Iger, the president and chief operating officer of Disney, told The Times that the media conglomerate would like to continue distributing films for Pixar when an existing deal, which has generated more than $2.5 billion (£1.4 billion) in box office receipts, ends next year.

The two companies fell out in January after spending more than a year trying to agree on the terms for a new contract. Pixar has since held informal talks with several rival distributors, including Time Warner, Sony and Viacom.

The loss of the deal with Pixar increased the pressure on Michael Eisner, Disney’s long-serving chief executive, at a time when the former board members Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold were mounting a campaign for his removal.

Steve Jobs, Pixar’s chief executive, is not thought to have had good relations with Mr Eisner. However, Mr Iger, who is seen as a strong candidate to succeed Mr Eisner and spoke of his ambition to do so, said that he was interested in reopening talks.

“The door is certainly open, from our perspective,” Mr Iger said. “It has been a very successful relationship between Disney and Pixar, and I think it would be better for us to be partners than apart.”

Analysts estimate that the Pixar deal has accounted for up to half the profits at Disney’s film division in the years when one of the Pixar titles has been released. Finding Nemo, released last year, generated more than $850 million.

Disney currently distributes all of Pixar’s films in exchange for 12.5 per cent of box office revenue, and the two companies split the profits from spin-offs.

Disney also has the future rights to make sequels of all movies made by Pixar, including the forthcoming Cars and The Incredibles. However, the deal ends after the release of Cars next year.

Earlier this month Mr Jobs indicated that a fresh deal between Pixar and Disney was not impossible. “We try to stay flexible. We’re willing to rethink anything, but so far our phone hasn’t rung with any new thoughts from anybody,” he said. Pixar was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Disney’s financial returns have beaten market forecasts for the first two quarters of the year, but its film division is one of two business units that are worrying investors. The other is ABC, its underperforming US television network.

Disney Studios has followed up a record year in 2003 with two films that failed at the box office — Hidalgo and The Alamo. However, Mr Iger said he was confident that forthcoming films such as King Arthur and The Incredibles would offset earlier disappointments.

Meanwhile, Mr Iger said he was hopeful that Disney’s investment in Euro Disney, the loss-making French theme park operator, would eventually pay off. “It’s the most popular attraction in Europe, but it’s always been saddled with enormous debts,” he said.

Disney, which owns 39.1 per cent of Euro Disney, is thought to have committed €100 million to a €250 million rights issue at the company and is helping to negotiate a new deal with banks covering €2.3 billion in debts.

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