I miss Michael Eisner

[dreamer17555]

I was thinking about this today with the current leadership vacuum while everything is imploding. I enjoyed several things Iger did and I disagree with several things Eisner did especially towards the end of his tenure. However overall I just really miss him. He really did do so much for disney -him and Frank Wells. Anyhow that is all. Carry-on.

 

[fla4fun]

I liked the combo of Eisner and Wells. They balanced each other out in a way similar to Walt and Roy. It was sad on so many levels when we lost Wells, not just because Eisner lost that opposing force that kept him in check, but because we lost the WDW they could have created together.

 

[BrianL]

I liked the combo of Eisner and Wells. They balanced each other out in a way similar to Walt and Roy. It was sad on so many levels when we lost Wells, not just because Eisner lost that opposing force that kept him in check, but because we lost the WDW they could have created together.

Yeah, Eisner was great but really only with Wells. After that, he made some blunders. Anything's better than what we have now.

 

[Planogirl]

Sometimes you don't know what you have until its gone. Eisner seemed to at least care about the parks even though he made mistakes. The current guys don't imo.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Iger started playing the chip away game from day one. The Bobs are a disaster…one was bad enough.

 

[JLTraveling]

I could not stand Eisner in the post-Wells era. But I agree 100% that the partnership was magical. I feel like the decline of Disney started with Wells' death, and it's only gotten worse through Iger and now Chapek.

 

[jujubiee4]

Eisner had faults and but I will be forever grateful for him for putting Disney Cruise Line on
the map. Yes he had flaws but he also had some vision.

Unfortunately after Wells died there was no one to balance him. No Ying to his Yang so things
went downhill. I have always believed there should be a balance in power otherwise you deal
in a lot of headaches and HUGE egos not to mention a bunch of yes men.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

I also kinda miss Eisner. He seemed to care, if in a cold kind of way. I don't know what to make of the current lot. The parks are a lot more expensive, but there IS a lot of regeneration going on.

 

[superme80]

I LOVED Eisner. I was a child and a teenager during his time. The excitement he gave me for Disney, I will forever be grateful. Yes he had issues. Yes I understood why he had to go. Man Iger was bad, but Chapek has been worse.

 

[tvguy]

Well, just remember Eisner was the one who drove the Disney family away.

 

[dreamer17555]

Well, just remember Eisner was the one who drove the Disney family away.

Not every member of the disney family was actually good for Disney the business…. I think also it’s easy to forget how close Disney came to ruin before Wells and Eisner stepped in to helm the ship.

 

[tvguy]

Not every member of the disney family was actually good for Disney the business…. I think also it’s easy to forget how close Disney came to ruin before Wells and Eisner stepped in to helm the ship.

Disney under Walt was always on the brink of ruin. He ran it on pixie dust. And there is a reason Walt's daughter built the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, not near any of the parks.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I don't miss Eisner at all. He's the one that created the debacle of California Adventure. It was Bob Iger who fixed it.

 

[BrianL]

Iger wasn't great from a parks perspective, but he had the studios making a lot of magic under his watch. Of course, I might chalk that up to Alan Horn, but it was absolutely working.

 

[Alicefan]

I'm curious as to what are some of the bad decisions he made after this Wells guy that you guys are talking about? I'm not savvy to the timeline lol.

 

[BagOLaughs]

I'm curious as to what are some of the bad decisions he made after this Wells guy that you guys are talking about? I'm not savvy to the timeline lol.

There is a great book called 'Disney War' by James B Stewart, very readable and goes through Eisner's full time at Disney. It is very critical of Eisner but if you take the writing with a pinch of salt I found it a very enjoyable read. It goes through all of Eisner's decisions.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

There is a great book called 'Disney War' by James B Stewart, very readable and goes through Eisner's full time at Disney. It is very critical of Eisner but if you take the writing with a pinch of salt I found it a very enjoyable read. It goes through all of Eisner's decisions.

Random but is that James B Stewart any relation to the actor Jimmy Stewart? Cuz th at would en an epic connection (also thanks for the book recommendation-the history buff in me wants to read it immediately!)

 

[BrianL]

I'm curious as to what are some of the bad decisions he made after this Wells guy that you guys are talking about? I'm not savvy to the timeline lol.

Wells died in 1994 after "The Disney Renaissance" had taken hold. It was later when Eisner was steering the ship alone that things got micromanaged. He opened the original California Adventure on the cheap and almost lost exclusivity with Pixar when they didn't like his edict to concentrate on sequels only. He just didn't have the vision to sustain the company. From Wikipedia:

After relations with Eisner began to sour, Disney's influence began to wane as important executive posts were filled by those friendly to Eisner. When the board of directors rejected Disney's request for an extension of his term as a member, he announced his resignation on November 30, 2003, citing "serious differences of opinion about the direction and style of management" in the company. He issued a letter criticizing Eisner's alleged mismanagement, neglect of the studio's animation division, failures with ABC, timidity in the theme-park business, corporate mentality in the executive structure turning the Walt Disney Company into a "rapacious, soul-less" conglomerate, and refusal to establish a clear succession plan.

Sounds familiar.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

This is why I wish the imagineering story on Disney plus would have more seasons just to really go into things. Yes it did an incredible job describing the build up in 6 episodes, but really honing in on each park or each section or each CEO (and not just like behind the attraction) would be a very interesting thing to see.

 

[BagOLaughs]

I had some fun writing this

Eisner's 'good' decisions 1984 - 1994 (approx.):
When he joined the company it was in really bad shape, the movies were not doing well, only the parks were mostly profitable
He started the Touchstone live action films which started making profits
This allowed animation to start again with the Disney Renaissance
At WDW he started Downtown Disney for shopping and invested in the parks

Eisner's 'bad' decisions 1994 - 2005 (approx):
Euro Disney was built with far too many hotels, 1 park and 7 hotels! and took years to even break even.
Because of the issues with Disneyland Paris he scaled back and cut costs in all other parks
He cut the costs for the second gate at Disneyland aka California Adventure, same issue with the second park at Disneyland Paris.
He also started cutting animation budgets and began the cheap direct to video sequels
He refused to negotiate a fair deal with Pixar which means Steve Jobs stepped in for distribution deals.
There was the whole issue with Jeffery Katzenberg, which deserves a list of its own