MUMBAI: Just a few days have gone by since Disney and Pixar announced that they would go their separate ways and already the barbs are flying forth. Pixar's CEO Steve Jobs has hit out at his counterpart at Disney Michael Eisner stating that the little big mouse was suffering from a lack of creativity.

Jobs understandably was also peeved at Pixar being treated by Disney in the last few months of their relationship as a sort of "second class citizen".

Jobs has been quoted in a Reuters report as saying, "Not even Disney's marketing and brand could turn its last two animated films, Treasure Planet and Brother Bear into successes. Both bombed at the box office. We feel sick about Disney doing sequels because if you look at the quality of their sequels, like The Lion King 1-1/2, Peter Pan sequels and stuff, it is pretty embarrassing."

Jobs also criticised the lack of creative collaboration at Disney. An AP report quotes him saying,"You can compare the creative quality of Pixar's last three films, for example, with the creative quality of Disney's last three animated films and gauge each company's creative abilities for yourself."

Disney issued a statement saying, "It is sad and unfortunate that he has resorted to insults and name-calling in the wake of the disagreement. We expected better of him." Meanwhile Pixar reported net income of $84 million for the quarter ended 3 January compared to $17 million in the same quarter last year. The sharp difference was due to the performance of the Oscar nominated Finding Nemo. The irony here is that before the film's release Eisner had told his board not to expect a blockbuster. He went so far as to suggest that Pixar was heading towards a reality check.

Another report in the Los Angeles Times stated that while Disney maintained that financial terms were the main reason for the break up people within and outside the two companies felt that the situation could have been retrieved had Jobs and Eisner not allowed their egos to get the better of them.