CNNfn Article: Vultures Circling Disney

[barreloflaughs]

Check out this article on CNNfn.com:

Mickey's house on block to get bought out, Vivendi, MSFT, GE, Comcast likely buyers

Vultures circling?
Eisner entrenched?
Takeover 3-5 years off?

I believe this is the just the beginning of a very ugly time for Uncle Walt's company.

Any thoughts?

barrel of laughs

 

[mmdisney]

My thoughts....

After reading that article I feel ill.... The look of Las Veges added to the EPCOT ball and now the awful looking Sorcerer's hat come to mind.... This all started when they painted the Castle pink in 97!

My trhoughts are pretty much summed up in 2 words.
FIRE EISNER

He has had his rise and now his fall. Creativity at Disney is at an all time low. We knew Atlantis was a bust before it ever it the screen. You take away Love and music from a flick and replace it with a G.I. Joe looking muscle man, that is what happens. This company has really drifted far away from what I called "magic" not so long ago. They had it all, they had something that worked. Then they went nuts and started wasting $$flow on things like the word EPCOT to Spaceship earth and a HORRIBLE looking woodcut of mickey's hand. That was an outrage. It cheapened the look. Furthermore, Disney has struggled quite a bit in getting people to even utter the word Disney lately. And now it will be Microsoft World. That is SCARy!

Makes me ill. EISNET GET THE HECK OUT OF THERE.

Another thought comes to mind, though.....

Ovith and Katzenberg..... and that company, um, ya know the one that has the real nice opening on just about EVERY HIT movie now..DREAMWORKS....

They screwed us when they got rid of Jeff.

And Mike has just let it go.... they do not even paint the posts on main street every night anymore, or change lightbulbs.... on the trainstation, but heck, lets put an awful looking yellow starred hat in the middle of MGM.... arghhhhhhh

The parks are starting to look like the ALL STARS resorts.....

MMC

 

[DisDuck]

This article is just a bunch of analysists speculating on what 'they' think will/would happen. NOT NECESSARILY WHAT 'DISNEY' WANTS.

 

[johare]

Disney has spent the past few years putting themselves in a position where what they WANT isn't going to matter. They are a publicly held company and investors are getting tired of Eisner doing everything he can to sink the company.

 

[barreloflaughs]

Originally posted by DisDuck
This article is just a bunch of analysists speculating on what 'they' think will/would happen.

Exactly. The article is nothing but 'informed' speculation. The problem for Disney is that the Wall Street recognizes that there are issues and are openly speculating on what the consequences may be. Speculation and rumor on an internet discussion board like this is one thing. When the analysts start getting into the game the audience gets much larger. Eisner and company do not need bad press from these guys right now.

Hopefully the added pressure will force some change for the good!

barrel of laughs

 

[Another Voice]

You know that video all of the news programs are showing with the sharks frenzy and the dead whale? Remember that image in six months…

Like the whale, Disney won’t be eaten in a single bite. There will be several players involved.

Expect interesting times after the AT&T Broadband affair is settled. The pack likes to go after only one meal at a time.

The FCC has already made it know they don’t want a single media corporation owning two of the four networks, and the WB network might be included in this group as well. But, the ABC network is highly disposable and Vivendi/Universal has enough cash to buy whatever changes Congress needs to make.

The idea that Eisner is entrenched is laughable – he’ll pull the plug the very second someone empties a truckload of cash on his desk.

Disney gets into trouble every time its parts become more valuable than Disney as a whole. With film and the stores sucking the life out of the parks, with the library of old films worth more than the new output from the studio, and with a swarm of non-profitable, non-core business that are kept alive only through constant theme-park cash infusions, the company is back in the same situation it was before Mr. Eisner showed up with cup in hand.

 

[*Robin*]

Ok, please forgive me, I'm truly not very business savvy, but don't the stockholders have something to say about what Eisner is doing? I somehow thought that they could get rid of the creep...and if things are this horrible, why aren't they?

I seriously don't understand...sorry if it's a not so intelligent question...



Robin

 

[Testtrack321]

First, to buy Disney will cost all of those componies BILLIONS, if not TRILLIONS. Most of those componies are worth less than it will cost to buy out Disney. Second, Comcast is planning to buy out AT&T cable which will cost a few billion and Microsoft is under hot fire. Buy buying the biggest name in entertainment will just get the feds just more PO'd...

Highly douht that Disney will EVER get bought out. Think of the New Coak thing, only this time about Disney (mass anti-(insert name or buyer) rallies)

 

[Coronado Williams]

Originally posted by *Robin*
Ok, please forgive me, I'm truly not very business savvy, but don't the stockholders have something to say about what Eisner is doing? I somehow thought that they could get rid of the creep...and if things are this horrible, why aren't they?

I seriously don't understand...sorry if it's a not so intelligent question...



Robin

The overwhelming majority of Disney's shares are owned by an ultra-rich power elite that are either too rich and/or too busy to be overly concerned about Disney's performance, or are somehow connected with Eisner. Frankly, what Joe Blow the Stockholder thinks about Disney's performance means little if nothing to the company.

 

[johare]

First, to buy Disney will cost all of those componies BILLIONS, if not TRILLIONS.

I'm not so sure there is a single company in the world which would cost even $1 trillion, let alone TRILLIONS.

AOL is worth about 4 times what Disney is worth and Microsoft is worth about 7 times the value of Disney. Even Vivendi Universal has a higher market cap than Disney does right now.

Think of the New Coke thing, only this time about Disney (mass anti-(insert name or buyer) rallies)

I don't think many would care if Disney were to be bought out...in fact, I'm sure that many would be happy if it was.

 

[Testtrack321]

I don't think many would care if Disney were to be bought out...in fact, I'm sure that many would be happy if it was.

I know 28749 people off the top of my head who would oppose it.

But even people who never went to WDW or DL have some respect for Disney. Most of them grew up with him in Wonderful World of Disney. When they went to war they saw the pro-American Disney fillms and drank pro-American Coke. The fact is that anyone who tries to buy out Disney will be demed anti-american. This is a unique compony and the american would not support such a fendish deed.

 

[johare]

Sorry, you are WAY wrong. If another company buys Disney, few will care and even fewer (if any) would deem that company anti-American.

 

[supamaki]

What I don't understand is why Disney doesn't re-release classics like Snow White as they did in the past. These are already made movies, that the only cost they would have attached is advertising. They are like instant cash influxes, that aren't being used.

 

[All Aboard]

Supermaki, two words - home video.

 

[YoHo]

the Comcast Deal isn't set and done last I heard. It seems we are cursed to live in interesting times.

 

[supamaki]

Home video aside, people would still pay to go see classics on the Big Screen. Or what about Non released titles like Lion King, or hard to get one's like Song of the South.

 

[YoHo]

Ion King was released to Home Video, I have a copy. Song of the south will never be shown or sold publicly in any form again.

 

[supamaki]

Oh, right, I forgot about Lion King's release. But still I think people would go see Pinnichio, Snow White, and other classics if they were on a big screen. Parents seeing them w/their children the way they saw them, maybe. Or is the price to bring a family to the movies too much these days??

 

[All Aboard]

Actually, there are no unrealeased Disney animated features, I've got all of them. I guess that selling video tapes (now DVD's) periodically generates more $ than theatrical re-releases.

However, we might see some of the neo-classics back in theaters. Isn't Beauty and the Beast supposed to hit the big screen next year? I've heard rumor that several others may, as well. AV, any "insider" info??

 

[Another Voice]

Disney’s strategy on home video and theatrical releases changes every year as they struggle to find a way to maximize the amount of revenue from each film. The current plans goes like this: A “classic” film will have its home video terminated for several years (likely between five and seven) in an attempt to build up demand: tapes break, discs are lost, new families start up collections, etc. As a way of “launching” the video re-release, a “plussed” version of the film will be put into theaters as a marketing vehicle. After the theatrical release, the film will be put out on DVD (high-end) and video tape (medium end) for a limited time before it gets put into the vault again.

For ‘Beauty and The Beast’, the film will be released into IMAX theaters in a similar fashion to ‘Fantasia 2000’ was. And the ‘Human Again’ scene, which was cut from the film but reappeared for the stage play, will be put into the new version of the film. Following the IMAX run, the film will be re-released onto home video for everyone to re-purchase. If this works, expect other classics to follow roughly every year.

As for ‘Song of the South’ – this film will probably be released at some point in the future when its potential revenue exceeds the controversy. There was the beginnings of a plan for a release, but Disney’s trouble with the incident with a radio station here in Los Angeles nixed those plans. With the growing controversy that’s starting to form around ‘Dumbo’, ‘Song’ has been pushed way into the back of the vault. Although ‘Song’ is current release in Europe and Japan if you really want a copy

I just love a double standard.