Okay, so there's this big ol' semi-covert grudge match between Disney's Michael Eisner and Apple's own Steve Jobs, right? You know the drill: Eisner called Jobs a Shiite Muslim, Jobs took the Pixar ball and went home, Eisner unscrewed the caps on all the salt shakers in Steve's house, Steve badmouthed Eisner during the Pixar earnings conference call, Eisner TP'd Steve's front lawn, Steve cut the brake line in Eisner's Mercedes, etc. It's pretty darn clear that, whether or not Steve is jockeying for Eisner's job, these are two guys who just plain don't like each other. So you'd figure that the last thing we'd see are any funky new partnerships between Disney and Apple, right?

So what's up with this new joint press release (pointed out by faithful viewer Danny Cohen) announcing the addition of a metric ton and a half of Disney music to the iTunes Music Store? As of right now, the entire catalog of Walt Disney Records is reportedly "available exclusively on the iTunes® Music Store through September 30th." Moreover, the executive veep of Walt Disney Records's parent company says, "We chose to deliver our digital music catalog exclusively on iTunes because it is the leading global online music store." Notice the total lack of any sort of Eisner-mandated smack-talk. It's like these guys are running actual businesses or something.

Sure enough, if you fire up the iTMS and enter Browse mode, you'll find that "Disney" is now its own freakin' category nestled right between "Dance" and "Electronic." Poke around in there and you'll find everything from the original Peter Pan soundtrack to Toy Story 2 narrated by that guy from Wings to such classic recordings as Let's Get Together with Hayley Mills and Ukelele Ike Sings Again. (Try to ignore the fact that people buying the Hayley Mills album are also buying Pink Floyd's The Wall, or else you might blow a head gasket or two.)

So what do you think-- does this deal represent some kind of freaky cease-fire in the longstanding Jobs-Eisner feud? We're guessing no. After all, just because you want somebody's head on a stick doesn't mean you can't sell his stuff in your store, and Steve has never exactly shied away from using his position at Apple to promote Pixar flicks 'n' merchandise. Notice how the press release manages to mention no fewer than five Pixar movies-- meaning, all of them-- by name? Steve even manages to squeeze in a second reference to Toy Story, deftly wedging it in between The Lion King and Mary Poppins. We figure this latest team-up is all about the Benjamins, and it won't have the slightest impact on the flaming bag of dog poop Steve'll find on his doorstep-- just as soon as Eisner gets out of traction.