akadada
I respect the "team of" Eisner, Wells etc because my reality (truth and reality aren't the same as you know, that's why I respect your commitment to truth) was that Eisner assembled (or was the face of) a great team and Wells to me seemed to run the place (The Tangible), while Eisner was a good face for capital markets management which seemed needed (Intangible) at the time whether we liked him or not. Please tell me #1 how I'm wrong and #2 what the solution should have been at that time, not what we know today.
I dont object to any of the nouns in your paragraph. Its the adjective with which I have a problem! (You also havent spelled his name right even once!!! Its E-i-$-n-e-r. You should try it! ITS FUN!!!!!) Anyway
You say, Ei$ner assembled a (GREAT) team. He assembled a team. Great? I dont know. Katzenberg was there. And he knew some good properties when he saw them and had enough sense to let Ron Miller finish Mermaid. But I dont think Ei$ner could pick his nose let alone pick a team!! Maybe Wells had more to do with it. And what bugs me about it, is that if it was true and he did pick this GREAT team, well
They werent all in that fateful helicopter! What happened to this GREAT team the next day! All of a sudden they turned into brown-nosing yes-men? Every one except Katzenburg, who got the axe!!! Nah! It doesnt happen that way. They were, for the most part, toadies and yes-men to begin with. NOT a great team!! Katzenberg and Wells made a great team. Not a Disney team perhaps, but a better team than one with Ei$ner in it!
I reviewed your thoughts on how Disney would not have allowed the Eisner evolution (which I want to also believe), but respectfully, that's AdHoc. He's dead unfortunately and so we have no idea where he would have gone. We "believe", but we don't know.
You are right. We have no idea what he would have done, EXACTLY. No one does. But we have his legacy, writings, quotes, film clips and other first hand knowledge. And most important we have his examples! His films, his technique and
Disneyland!! We have his philosophy in Traditions (that used to be a 3 day course for every new Cast Member, until that great team you mentioned cut it down to a half a day orientation!!!!)
So you are right. We dont know specifically what he would do. But we know the HOW he would do something very well. And that doesnt take belief; it just takes research in how he did similar things. And all of that is very well documented.
Would he have been the same running a public company; what pressures would have been put on him? And, he eventually would have died, what succession plan would have been in place?
Again, none of that matters. We have the answers and examples of HOW hed do something. And that is really all that matters. Some creative guy, and they are all over the place, says, Boy oh boy!! I want a ride that
. (Fill in the blank)
and then you apply Walts principles to it, or what I call his PHILOSOPHY!! Its easy!!
The worst thing could have been simply Disney going public,
Ah! Wait a minute! You do know that Disney was a publically held company when Walt was alive, dont you? And he had a harder time with investors than the faceless wall street that Ei$ner faced. Another Voice had a post somewhere comparing publically owned companies from the 50s and 60s and those of the 2000s. It was pretty interesting. Ill see if I can find it. in the mean time:
From "Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire" by Bob Thomas:
"Walt had long opposed a public stock offering, fearing that his total autonomy over creative matters might be challenged by investors. At Roy's insistence, Walt agreed to issuance of preferred and common stock in April, 1940."
The history we know is the one of Team Eisner "reality" a better place than pre-Eisner for someone my age. Perhaps not your age and reality. Eisner was the face, but I infer it was because Wells was the better man at the job.
Now, here we have a problem. How can you say that? I can understand your praise of them for DEFENDING THE MAGIC KINGDOM from those big bad corporate raiders!! But your personal experience? Really? I dont know how old you are, but even for the oldest (or youngest) amongst us, I find this unfathomable. Lets take a walk down memory lane, because Im confused again!
OK, lets see. Pre-Ei$ner we had Disneyland open in 1955. It grew steadily, but not greatly until 1964 when the Worlds Fair hit and Disney had the big three in it: Small World, Carousel of Progress and Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. (The birth of human AA figures, Tiki was first.) Then we got Pirates and Haunted Mansion soon after. That brings us to the close of the 60s.
In 1971 we had WDW open!!! WOW!! The Poly, The Contemporary, The Golf Resort, The Market Place and TA-DA!! The Magic kingdom!!! All opened on the same day!! Not bad! Soon after Space Mountain was added. A couple years later Thunder Mountain. Then in 1981 E.P.C.O.T. opened!! The single biggest private construction project EVER!! (There may be another since, but at the time, that was it!!) And three short years, more like two and a half, later Ei$ner entered.
I do not understand how you could say that Disney was a better place after Ei$ner! What happened next? Euro-Disney!! MGM!! AK!! DCA!!! YUCK!!!!!
Post Wells, I felt within a few years the spiraling, (symbolic). The parks lost their "magic" whatever reality we each want to call it. Eisner scrambled it seemed, typical Venture Capital flipper mentality.
You know, I had a boss once that was a retired Navy guy. In his history in the navy he was once the Captain of an aircraft carrier. We were working on a project and we were having a hard time having people buy into it. They werent overtly resistant, but on some primal level they did not want this change! He told me that this was going to be like turning his ship. Those things are so big, he said, and carried so much momentum that it took a half a day for a 90 degree course correction. And its fighting you all the way!! He said that this project, like any corporation would take the same time and effort. We had been rolling ahead in our mindset for so long, that this change in course, this change in attitude, would not happen quickly.
So how long after Wells died did you notice the change? I noticed it right away! (Heck! I noticed it before when they priced me out of the Poly by DOUBLING the cost!!) My point, of course, is that it takes time to change the culture of a corporation. And I think it happened too quickly after Wells death to have started then. What do you think? Make sense?
The insult on Disney legacy drove me nuts. I used to think Disney (corporate) mission was to try to create a perfect place in an imperfect world. I felt and lived that when I visited. Reality, maybe not truth.
On this we agree. Wholeheartedly!!! The only bone of contention that I can see is when it started!!!
The reality is I had a darn good time in the early to mid 90's in Disney and at that time, I wasn't smart enough to perceive another way that could be better. Post Wells, not grateful. Pissed. Since then, still pissed.
Almost the same here. I always have a good time there. Well, almost always. Its hard not to notice the UN-Walt things, but for the most part I ignore them until I get back here and VENT!!!!
I hope the edits above come out clear (as well as my thoughts). We'll see where this goes.
The edits were HORRIBLE!!! But it came out clear anyway. I think we agree more than disagree.