I would argue that this is more about the departure / firing of John Lasseter then a side effect of Disney. Lasseter's mandate was to rescue Disney animation, and while Pixar went down a bit, it very clearly re-emerged for a while.
Where Disney is now is more about destroying the parks as cultural touchstones in the USA.
Pixar used to work on one movie at a time, and each one that came out was technologically ground breaking[1], a huge media event, and an instant classic beloved by adults and children.