From all i can read it isnt as simple as 'Pulling a Family Guy'.
I think the issue is the Contract Lucas Films had with Cartoon Network, or Warner Bros as they really are. Disney just don't want their IP shown on a WB channel. Right now it doesnt even look clear who has the rights to show the backlist of episodes. That said Disney have deep pockets so if they wanted to buy out the contract i am sure they could. But also wasn't it said that the CW were amongst the most expensive cartoons ever made and without the synidaction revenue WB were paying Lucas they can't justify spending that much for no income. If you look through most of Disney's cartoons (and those of us with kids of an age saddly do) the production values are quite low, some of the Junior stuff in nice but all very low cost. The revenue all comes from the spin off merchandising. Which leads me to another thought. Does the end of the CW cause Hasbro and Lego a headache? Here are two companies that have recently paid out for massive 10 year licences on SW but now find that they have no media to base their ranges around. This years SW Lego is mainly based on Episode 2 and the Clone Wars, both of which have been pulled. Likewise a lot of the Hasbro stuff is CW based. With no new film until 2015 at the earliest that is several years without media exposure. Both companys make toys for kids and if kids, who lets face it aren't known for long term memories, start watching other shows then they will want to buy toys in line with their new viewing habits. I doubt that Lego SW or Hasbro SW toys will go away but i can see all these cancellations really hitting their bottom lines in some way.
