CNNfn Article: Vultures Circling Disney

[HorizonsFan]

I do see things that Eisner does (has done) from a business perspective and understand them and often support the fundemental decisions, but this doesn't mean that I'm happy with rides being built only in conjunction with movies or reducing Pak hours to promote PI spending, or skimping on projects because the public will accept it, etc. I would like "guest first" initiatives to be of higher priority, too...I just don't think Eisner is ALWAYS a dope for doing some of the business things he has to do...

Thank you, Cap'n!
What he said...

 

[tiggerstheman1]

Marketing over Magic, perhaps that's the real rub.

Make me WANT to spend my money on Disney products, don’t be content to tell me Disney is just a better product than Brand X.

I've been reading the book "Brand Warfare" and A.V.'s quote reminded me of a passage about Levi's. Levi's lost a ton of market share in the 90's because their marketing basically said "Hey, we invented jeans - buy them from us" when the jeans buyers wanted a product that was hip, not traditional. Their arrogance was their Achilles heel.

Is that the Disney message today - "Hey, we invented theme parks - come to ours"? A lot of large corporations have fallen, or nearly fallen with the same mentality. Look at IBM - remember the saying "No one ever got fired by buying from IBM" - they are trying to completely remake themselves after their arrogance got the better of them. So perhaps Disney's problem these days is they quit being hungry.

I'm not sure that I can say that Disney has expanded into generally the wrong areas. Too much competition in the marketplace makes it hard to be a "content-only" company, so I can see them needing to own more channels (if only they don't make them them all rerun channels). I see the cruise line as an extension of the resort business, you can get a room on land or on the sea and have a great vacation either way.

In the film business I'm very excited to see P.D. do so well it's opening weekend. It truely is a wonderful movie - just what made Disney successful. The film business is one in which I think Disney has lost it's way and perhaps it's now found it. Good, simple, fun, family movies are what Disney used to do best. They need to come home. Is P.D. going to win Academy Awards for best screenplay? Don't think so. However, it will do what it is supposed to do, give people a fun time for a couple of hours.

My feeling is that the films, and I see it in the animation lately, tried to be cool and trendy. It's like someone trying to join the in-crowd and always looking out of place. That's Disney of late. Remember some of the interviews surrounding Atlantis? While a beautiful piece of work, they forgot some of the elements that sets a Disney Animated Film apart. They wanted to get rid of the songs, tell a cooler story with action. Okay, guys, you just abandoned your base.

Perhaps it's just a cynicism in general, that people think that if they make a movie with a happy ending, that makes you feel good, you haven't made anything good. Only by showing life as it is, harsh, and hard, have you made something worthwhile. That's where they are wrong. How did Disney lose it in the first place? Abandoned family stories and tried to move into "serious" films (like The Black Hole). How many times do people have to forget that a movies that families can see tend to do better.

Okay, the soapbox is now free.

 

[Another Voice]

There are “rumors” going around town that a couple of new business books are been written about how “Disney lost it” – a classic case study in brand management. I truly do wish that everyone could see California Adventure so they can see just how lazy Disney has gotten. At its core, Disney is a content creation company but it has lost it willingness to try to create. Instead it’s been slapping its name on any product that it can find, hoping that the public won’t notice.

And Captain, sir. Remember that Mr. Eisner did not have any Disney connection when he and his gang took over the company. If he could “learn”, why couldn’t a new person?

 

[Captain Crook]

And Captain, sir. Remember that Mr. Eisner did not have any Disney connection when he and his gang took over the company. If he could "learn", then why couldn't a new person?

He could and I'm ok with that, but isn't it ok for me to worry that it could be a "worse case scenerio" as well?

I hope if Eisner is replaced it is by somebody who revered Walt, is a business maven and a man of incredible imagination and forsight...Do we know of anyone like that? I'm not saying Eisner is even close to these attributes but (for me) I know what Eisner is and I'm still scared of that guy we don't yet know...