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coronamouseman
11-29-2001, 09:18 PM
Assume for a moment that you and your friends control enough Disney stock to uproot Mr. Eisner from his perch (he escapes, of course, with a ridiculously golden parachute .......)

Who do you now tab as the new leader of the Disney empire (and remember that the Disney family will have to live with them?)

J. Katzenberg (a great talent for developing animation projects, which, by the way, was WD's background)

S. Spielberg (a great movie talent who has, in many cases, payed tribute to Disney by using themes, music or scenes derived from Disney creations)

Corporate types from Disney, Vivendi (Universal's parent)

Corporate types from major movie studios (WB, MGM, 20th)

George Lucas (no end to his imagination and he has already developed projects with Disney before)

Corporate types from Cedar Point? Busch parks?

One of the common arguments in corporate board rooms where management is being criticized is to contemplate who is needed to do a better job - and in some case, the answer is that there may be no clear-cut choice for turning something around and therefore the show must go on as is ...........

Anybody out there have any thoughts on this?

cemeinke
11-29-2001, 09:42 PM
That's an intriguing question. Personally I tend to be more forgiving of Eisner. I recently saw the Disneyland 25th Anniversary special and it reminded me just how bad things got between Walt and Michael Eisner.

I think we all really want another Walt, but I wonder if that's possible anymore considering what "Disney" has become. It's now such a huge entertainment/media conglomerate with so many inter-connected components that none of them have the freedom they once had. I'm not sure Walt would know what to do running Disney 2001, way to many distractions.

Running a company like what Disney has become needs more than a visionary like Walt, it really also needs a ruthless businessman to keep the place from being swallowed up by yet another larger company. This business is extremely competitive.

Now what I'd like to see is a CEO that puts visionaries in charge of it's creative products, such as Disneyland. Someone like Walt, who loved to build it because he wanted to play in it. Someone who could build excitement in others sharing his/her vision.

So who? Maybe someone from Pixar since they seem to be a major creative franchise for Disney at the moment. On the other hand, maybe Pixar should go it alone like Walt & Roy once decided to do and build their own dream.

zapppop
11-29-2001, 09:46 PM
I'm not sure who exactly should be in charge but definitely NOT Eisner.

SimpTwister
11-29-2001, 09:56 PM
Why, SimpTwister, of course!

Ace
11-30-2001, 06:20 PM
ha ha ha simptwister.... in your heart, you know that it is SQUINKY who will lead the Disney company to the glory that it experienced in it's heyday, so many years ago!

innerSpaceman
11-30-2001, 06:57 PM
SimpTwister and Squinky, I'd be glad to have you as high ranking Imagineers once they wise up and hand the reigns of Disneyland to me. Merlinjones and a few of the others who have posted wonderful imagineering ideas on these boards will also be made Imagineers Delux. I have refrained from posting my intricate plans for a Disneyland Renaissance, but trust me - it would be a Disneyland beyond our wildest dreams and the world would flock to it. All I need is a wild twist of fate and about $136,890,873,789,483,876.53.

Ace
11-30-2001, 07:02 PM
silly, silly, sick, sad little people. IT IS I WHO WILL FOLLOW IN WALT's FOOTSTEPS!!!! ANYONE WHO GOES AGAINST ME WILL BE FED TO THE DUCKS IN THE ROA!!! MUHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

beanpole
11-30-2001, 08:56 PM
I'd interview Steve Jobs for the position. Jobs views his companies as extensions of his own ego and is willing to spend whatever it takes to make products that he finds personally satisfying. In addition, as the head of Pixar, he's proven his ability to run a company that produces high quality entertainment products. Of course, he'd have to pass the interview with flying colors. For example:

Question: An Imagineer comes to you with a project plan for a Disneyland attraction that will cost over $200 million to build. What do you do?

Wrong Answer: Slash the budget to $35 million and send the Imagineer out the door.

Right Answer: Ask the Imagineer if $200 million is enough.

Rider
12-01-2001, 06:56 AM
Hehe. Hey, as CEO I could make the board happy. :) All they would have to do is pay me $100K a year (thats it, no bonus, no nothing) and I would do the job. Sounds like a good money saver to me.

Anyone is into Disney for the money should not run it.

merlinjones
12-01-2001, 09:25 AM
George Lucas, Steve Jobs and John Lasseter as the triumverate of a combined Disney/Lucasfilm/Pixar/Apple empire (sell ABC to Eisner and send him away).

Spaceman: I accept the job of Imagineer Deluxe... And please post your fabulous ideas for a total Disneyland Rennaissance!

BiggJakeMoney
12-01-2001, 07:30 PM
Hmmm.....tough one.

I may get flamed on this one, but I'd have to say that Eisner is the best man for the job. When you think about it, aside from a few other men in this country, no one has had the time and experience running a huge corporation like Mike has. Even before Disney, he was head of Paramount for several years.

Now, Mike may have lost his creative intuition a bit over the past few years, but I honestly think that who in his position wouldn't have? When you're charged with running a company as huge as this one, and your other half (Frank Wells) has passed on, face it, you have a huge weight on your shoulders. Oftentimes, you'd probably be forced to put the business aspects before the creative aspects.

Now, obviously, that's not to say Mike is a saint, because he's not, there's sure to be a lot of things he's able to improve. Looking at it from a business standpoint, though, some of his tough decisions that anger us Disneyphreaks have had to be made. Let us not forget that Disney is, and always has been, a business. We gripe and complain about all the cutbacks, but sometimes, it's the only way to go. You can't completely sacrifice the statistics and well-being of the company just to attempt to appease it's customers 24/7.

In the end, we just have to admit that running Disney is an incredibly tough job, and although Mike may not do everything to our liking, he sure deserves a bit of gratitude from us for his tireless efforts and will to keep the company afloat all these years.

Wow. That was a bit longer than I intended it to be. :D


-BJM

FantasmicFan82
12-01-2001, 07:45 PM
Originally posted by Rider
Anyone is into Disney for the money should not run it. Jigga.
Just give me a pad and some food, and i'll run it.

donkthemagicllama
12-01-2001, 08:23 PM
I think whoever gave TDS the go-ahead should take over the Parks division... :)

Ace
12-01-2001, 09:00 PM
ha ha ha.... his name is donk the magic llama....

I'd take the job for 1% of what Eisner gets...

Morrigoon
12-02-2001, 12:46 AM
Best man for the job (but one who'd never take it) :

Steve Wynn-

The visionary who led the renaissance that turned Sin City into the "Adult Disneyland". He was the one who built the Mirage, when everyone thought he was crazy for wasting the money. A fountain that pretended to be a volcano, what was he thinking? (He was thinking it would make him a lot of money!) He also did Treasure Island, Monte Carlo, and (my favorite) Bellagio. Since MGM bought him out, he's gone off and bought the old Desert Inn and is full speed ahead building his next masterpiece. This one will also feature a grand lake in the front, but he has yet to reveal the theme. Proof that if you spend the bucks up front, and in the right ways, the money will come back to you. HE is the man I'd love to see heading up Disney, even if it was only for a 5 year span to turn the company around. In the meantime, promote Cynthia to head of parks and give me her current job ;)

Come on folks, don't you think I'd be totally awesome as head of the DLR? :D

Lost Boy
12-02-2001, 12:10 PM
Tony Baxter as he is one of the few who still carries the spirit of Walt Disney within him. After all, he has been there since he was 18. He created Big Thunder, Splash, New Fanastyland, EPCOT's favorite little Dragon, Figment and the original ride, Paris Disneyland - all of it was his vision, Indiana Jones, and the original idea for the new Tomorrowland at Disneyland which Paul Presslor cut and cut and cut the budget on until Tony wanted out of being associated with it. It is nothing like what was originally planned. So he certainly has the brains, and the imagination to run the company. And the Parks (which are what we are most concerned with) would certainly benefit.

merlinjones
12-02-2001, 12:38 PM
>>Looking at it from a business standpoint, though, some of his tough decisions that anger us Disneyphreaks have had to be made. Let us not forget that Disney is, and always has been, a business. <<

Of course it is, and Walt & Roy made it a bigger business by putting creative quality first, as the company also did during its brief Rennaisance in the 80's-early 90's (see today's LA Times if you have forgotten about Walt). No message here?

With a name like BiggJakeMoney, your priorities are clear enough... too bad you don't know how to make it in an additive, rather than subtractive manner.

>> You can't completely sacrifice the statistics and well-being of the company just to attempt to appease it's customers 24/7.<<

Neither can you completely sacrifice the aesthetics and creative well-being of the company just to attempt to appease it's financiers and apparratchiks 24/7.

Gemini Cricket
12-02-2001, 02:41 PM
Originally posted by coronamouseman

J. Katzenberg (a great talent for developing animation projects, which, by the way, was WD's background)

S. Spielberg (a great movie talent who has, in many cases, payed tribute to Disney by using themes, music or scenes derived from Disney creations)

George Lucas (no end to his imagination and he has already developed projects with Disney before)


I don't think Katzenberg would ever come back to be affiliated with the Mouse. There's too much bad blood.

Spielberg would try to combine things. Combine Disney and Universal things together. I don't think that would work. Besides, ET doesn't belong at Disneyland. That Ride at Universal is the pits.

Even though Lucas has lost touch with his audience, he could take Disney over. However, I haven't seen anything he's done in a while that I was impressed with... Some of the DL rides could use some updated effects...

merlinjones
12-02-2001, 04:19 PM
>>In the end, we just have to admit that running Disney is an incredibly tough job, and although Mike may not do everything to our liking, he sure deserves a bit of gratitude from us for his tireless efforts and will to keep the company afloat all these years. <<

Maybe if he gave out a bit of gratitude (or credit) to those creatives in his employ for their tireless efforts and will to keep the company afloat all these years, he might get some back. As it is - - they get fired and tossed aside like a old glove at the slightest whim - - so should he. Karma.

MDE is the man at the top, he sets the nasty, competitve tone for that corporate culture. What's good for the goose...

>> You can't completely sacrifice the statistics and well-being of the company just to attempt to appease it's customers 24/7.<<

If pleasing the customers 24/7 is not the goal, just what is the point of the whole thing beyond money, power and ego?

coronamouseman
12-02-2001, 09:10 PM
LB: What is Tony Baxter's current role within (or is it outside) of Disney? I had the impression he was more of an attractions guy/imagineer than an "overlord" type ...........

When I first started this thread, I was interested to see if other folks came up with the same answer as BMJ - maybe Eisner is one of the few people out there with the blend of experience needed to guide the Disney empire. But I also agree with mj that ME's attitude and ego needs a major adjustment ......

So perhaps the issue here is not getting Eisner out, but getting someone in to run the parks division with a vision that can be painted out for ME in the language he understands (yeah - I know some of you are thinking Braille or crayon .........)

Morrigoon
12-02-2001, 10:57 PM
The problem is you really need someone with a multitude of skills. You need someone capable of managing three film studios, a tv network, several cable networks, a merchandising arm, and a theatrical production company. Baxter would make an interesting head of parks, but I'd have my doubts about head of the whole company.

CEO really needs to be a person who understands the financial side of things -BUT- also need to understand how the entertainment/quality end affects the financials. There are a great many things the company could, and should, be doing which would be profitable, yet they are not doing them. I can name off the top of my head at least three things they OUGHT to be doing just in Disneyland right now, which would make them money.

The question of where to find a multi-talented person like that is NOT an easy question by half. I still maintain that the company could use a Steve Wynn type - good with the financials but also has a creative vision.

Rocketeer64
12-03-2001, 04:33 AM
Yup, the Fab Five........

Al Lutz

Jim Hill

Michelle Smith .... Hey fabby. Miss ya!

David Koenig

Kevin Yee

Board of Directors......................................... .....................

Sue Kruz

Adrienne Phoenix

Roy E. Disney

Diane Disney Miller

Christopher Disney Miller

Michael Jackson

Rocketeer64
12-03-2001, 04:35 AM
A man I have always admired.

Marty Sklar ........ Imagineer extrordinare emoritus!

Rider
12-03-2001, 12:34 PM
Originally posted by Rocketeer64
[B

Michael Jackson [/B]

I know he loves DL, but could you imagine?

3894
12-03-2001, 01:08 PM
How about a job share?

Paul Rubens - Creative

Michael Ovitz - Financial