Dear Walt: - From Mickey

[DVC-Landbaron]

A letter from Mickey to Walt or What’s a Kingdom without Magic?

WOW!! Word seems to be spreading. This from the St. Petersburg Times. Click here for the article.

Comments? Great thoughts? Rebuttal?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Such a sad letter...

 

[BRERALEX]

DVC-I love reading your posts but next time let people know that the link might bring tears to the eyes and heart.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

I'm sorry. But you'll notice that my post was rather short this time. Hard to write with misty eyes!!

 

[BRERALEX]

The worst part is and im sure this has been said a zillion times is; everyone is starting to notice the magic is slipping away not just "diehard" "hardcore" fanatics like most people who subscribe here.

It's sad to read such a well written article like that one but good because more and more and more people will become aware of what is happening and has happened to my beloved company.

I hate to see such articles BUT hope more and more articles like these in towns all across america are written and read so that one day your "boy"(hahaha i had to) Ei$ner finally opens his eyes and sais GWARSH this empire is crumbling. And more and more customers start writing their discontent and stop visiting the parks, for lack of the MAGIC.

That way we get back to Walts way. I read a thread where someone said every board member should be forced to memorize the quotable disney. I thought that was a great idea and I'm waking up early to visit the post office to mail Ei$ner his.

 

[Captain Crook]

I could refute the article point by point but whats the use? You'll see what you want...

But let me say this, who put the Company in the position of defending itself in a public marketplace? Anyone? Come on now? Of course, it was Walt! He needed the money to finance his ongoing pursuit of his dreams whether they were profitable or not. He had to go public or lose the Company to creditors after many big failures...These are things that today's Walt worshipers refuse to acknowledge. Had he listened to Roy a little more often and stayed within the boundaries of sound business practices then perhaps the Company could still be closely held today. But he didn't and it isn't.

Eisner inherited a crappy company about to become dogfood for some rotwiler and played the game. He's had ups and he's had downs. Sometimes the good and the bad come so quickly we can't see the forest for the trees, but Eisner is running the Company on the track Walt left it on...Big business. So if the magic suffers, if the expectations of profit are too high, if Disney isn't the same as it was, don't blame Eisner, blame the guy who put it on the path of its future...Walt Disney.

 

[Laurajean1014]

DVC -

Where can I view the letter?

 

[WorknFires]

Laurajean1014, click the blue "here" in DVC Landbaron's top letter.

Cheryl

 

[Another Voice]

Mr. Captain, your history of Hollywood is rather interesting. For all of Walt’s failures, his studio was one of the few studios from the “Golden Age” to remain independent. Remember MGM – went bankrupt and has been sold dozens of times. 20th Century Fox – bankrupt as well. Paramount went to Gulf+Western long before anyone heard about Viacom. Universal was eaten by Music Corp. United Artists went to Transamerica. Republic, RKO, and many others simply vanished. Funny how Walt was able to steer his company through when all of his contemporaries hit icebergs a long time ago.

What gave Disney its independence was Disneyland (which the business people were against), the move to television (which the business people were against), and continuing to produce animated films (which the business people were against). Perhaps if Walt had stayed making Laugh-O-Grams, the business people would have been happy, but things might have worked out differently.

To say that Walt set the current path is akin to claiming that General Electric is doomed because Thomas Edison never thought of the jet engine. At what point did Walt decide on buying a fourth-place network, spending the gross national product of Peru on the internet, building theme parks no one will pay to see, and giving the CEO three quarters of billion dollars? I just can’t find that chapter in the Bob Thomas book anywhere! It is up to the current management to solve the problems that they created, not shift the blame on those long dead.

If the only defense of the people now in charge is to simply trash everything that came before them, then Disney truly is finished as a company.

 

[Captain Crook]

Sorry, Voice but you're still inferring too much. Pure & simple, who took the Company Public (even though he didn't want to) in order to save it?

Walt had tremendous successes & was a true genius & I know people are reading my posts and wondering, "why is the Captain trashing Walt?" Well, I wouldn't be if you guys would just see the logical progression. The days of the old" Disney were fried when Walt went "public," Eisner had nothing to do with that and has little choice as to how he runs this publically held corportation (i.e. for profit). If you think he's just a bad CEO, OK. But most of the discussion around here centers on Eisner as the blame for the loss of the magic and I contend that just isn't so. You could get a guy with a lot less magic than Mike at the helm and after nearly 20 years of Eisner rule & nearly, what?..35 years since Walt's death, I think there is little chance of finding that Harvard Business school grad with a degree in "Busniess & Magic."

Further, while my Hollywood knowledge is definitely shaky, I don't think my knowledge of Disney is. DL may have been the catalyst for going public but it followed the "bankruptcy (term used literally) of the animation Department. Do you dispute the "flops" that Walt encountered? Not that they weren't quality and didn't become classic, just do you dispute the flops?

 

[Another Voice]

Again, what do Walt’s failings have to do with the current situation? Yes, Walt swore and drank and smoked and was a jerk to work for and made his share of flops (and he might even have disliked his wife). So what? At what point does any of that affect how Mr. Eisner is running the company today? It seems like you are trying to make Mr. Eisner look good by knocking Mr. Disney down a few notches. That exercise seems neither particularly interesting or relevant.

No one talks about the theater or Celebration because their audience size is pitifully small. Broadway has long ceased to have any impact on American culture and so few people actually see any of these shows. It’s really hard to work up any excitement for something that isn’t seem by anyone. Celebration is a housing subdivision and not any different from hundreds of such developments around the country. Without the brand name, it would be just another “master planned” community for wealthy white people in Florida. There’s nothing really “Disney” or special about it (drive to Seaside and you’ll see). Again, it’s hard to get excited about because its impact is so very limited.

 

[hopemax]

I'm sorry, I can't follow the Captain's logic either?

Maybe Walt shouldn't have spent so much money on Pinocchio. But what would have happened to the movie if Jiminy Cricket wasn't added? Would the movie have been even a bigger flop it's original release and what would it have done in it's other releases? Where would Disney be without "When you wish upon a star". The other big thing that affected the financial success of Pinocchio was World War II and the loss of the overseas market. Well, darn it Walt should have predicted the war!

I'm just not sure that keeping a closer eye on the purse strings would have prevented the need for the stock going public. It might have delayed it a year or two, but the war was still there.

The stock did go public in 1940, so we have 26 years of seeing how Walt and Roy handled their stockholders and the threats of lawsuits. Was big business then really less ruthless than today?

 

[HBK]

I believe the company was public when Splash, TOT, et al were built.....so don't use the stock market to excuse what the current regime is doing.

They proved then that magic could be made. Now they just choose to disreard their guests for a short term fix to please analysts and stock holders.....and niether of them appear to be too happy as of late....which begs the question of....

Just who the heck is pleased with the current state of the company?

Guests? Nope. Reservations are down, parks are empty, movies are disregarded, Internet sites are closed, Retail stores are closed.

Analysts? Nope. More and more are downgrading the Disney stock

Media? Nope. Articles similar to the one above are cropping up more and more....

Stockholders? I've heard more and more grumbling about Ei$ner's ouster than ever....

 

[YoHo]

I think what The good captain is trying to say is that Mike Eisner didn't turn the Disney ship on to the course its on. Walt and Roy did that.

Unfortunatly, that does not equate with Mike being a superb Sea Captain. The logic is that Walt is the one that put Disney on a crash course with Financial troubles. That doesn't justify poor decisions by Current managment.

 

[HBK]

ok....let's play with this...

Everyone credits Ei$ner for saving the Disney company from a take over when he took over....

Wouldn't that mean he righted the ship which appeared to be off course?

And since he got it back on course, the mess the company is in had NO bearing on previous management? The company was "fixed".

Now we're right back where we started....a ship which has run off it's course...only instead of just being a ship which is lost, it looks like there are leaks starting to form in the hull as well.

 

[YoHo]

Unless of course, Walt and Roy Ran it aground and Mikes Pumps and bailers that were keeping the water out have finally failed on him.



(Why is the ballad of the Edmund Fitzgerald suddenly in my head? )

 

[Captain Crook]

I had a long post but deleted it in favor of thanking Yoho, that is precisely what I'm trying to say. Walt & Roy charted the course and left us. Eisner has steered in and out of trouble and now is in very shallow water, but remember he started steering after the original course had been altered. He is simply playing the cards dealt him (oh no...Another analogy! LOL).


As to whether it IS time for Eisner to go, well that's a different argument when Walt's ghost isn't invoked, IMO.

 

[HBK]

you can't be saying that the current problems (low attendance, low reservations, poor movie performance, etc) are attributable to Walt & Roy....can you?

Where did ANYTHING Walt or Roy touch affect Atlantis or Pearl? Where did ANYTHING that Roy or Walt touched affect the low reservations @ DL & WDW?

Come on....the whole "Walt took the company public and that's the problem" arguement is absurd.

The company was in shambles when Ei$ner took over. He patched the holes and made the ship float again.

Then he took a canon, fired it directly into the ship (ABC, DCA, Pearl...) and made new holes.

The problem is he hasn't seemed to notice the sinking ship. The rats have. Ask Schnieder.

You know what....Walt and Roy are responsible for something....the brand name recognition that keeps people trying DCA, Atlantis, etc on Blind faith. Imagine if these products didn't have the brand name attached to them.

If Six Flags created DCA....would you plan your vacation to go see it?

What about if Warner Bros developed Atlants....would you have been rushing out to see it?

Be honest....I think you'll suprise yourselves.

 

[Captain Crook]

HBK, I'm certainly NOT saying that Walt or Roy are responsible for causing the current poor decision making plauging Disney, only that the course of big business taken was a course charted by Walt. It would be absurd to argue that (and if I did it was a case of literary license), but it is equally absurd to blame Eisner for not leading Disney in a "Disney" way as if it were a privately held Company. Walt's initial models are moot as the Company is now a huge public company (as Walt decreed).

Eisner should be held accountable for poor decision making but evoking Walt's model is not the way. Further, the name recognition or branding was established by Walt (as family, quality entertainment) but flourished under Eisner. Now once again, maybe he's lost touch with what is necessary, and if so, should be held accountable...But not held to comparisons to Walt, which as I've tried to point out, wouldn't even be accurate.

 

[YoHo]

I am suggesting that Walt & Roy Took the company down the path of no return They chose to chart a course through the rapids, the scary dead trees the evils of going public when they could have travelled the prettier conservative path of being closely held (and not building as much) The problem is, that even if we ignore Walt and Roy's missteps elsewhere, we mustt lay the blame for the corporate mindset at their feet. When Walt was alive, no-one dared to doubt him. Once he died, the Public holdings became a problem for the not as carismatic leaders after him.

So NO, I can't blame Walt, nor would I for the failures of DCA, Pearl and Atlantis. BUT, I can and surely will say that it is his fault they we are now in a position where money means more then magic. He took Too much of the magic with him.