I saw Michael Eisner on the Today show this morning.

[grumpymakesmehappy]

What is your opinion of Mr. Eisner and what he did or didn't do for Disney? I will be the first to admit that I know very little of the Eisner/Disney story. I would love to know more. Do you think Michael Eisner was a genius who turned Disney around? During his reign, Disney rebuilt it's animation department and as some say brought on a golden age with box office hits such as Lion King. ABC, ESPN, Miramax, and other companies were aquired during his tenure with Disney. Or do you think he was a manipulative, self-centered CEO who undercut those who worked with him? Tell me what you think.

 

[bicker]

Eisner was indeed a genius who turned Disney around. Without him, I doubt there would be any reason for The DIS to even exist, as what was the Disney theme parks would have been mere shadows of their former selves by now. 90% of his decisions were right on-the-mark, and as a result the Disney Company is a world leader today, instead of just a footnote.

 

[eeyore45]

Why was he on the Today show?

I know there are books about his reign, I think like anything, or anyone, no one is entirely good or evil...

 

[dmk1021]

This may cause some gasps, but I grew up revering Walt Disney and Michael Eisner.

In the 80s, the Wonderful World of Disney was on every Sunday at 7 and before the show, Michael Eisner would always talk to the audience and interact with the characters. I always did my book reports on WED, and I idolized him, but the face of Disney to me was Eisner.

My earliest memories of WDW are from when I was 5 years old, and I went with my family. We watched the parade, and the grand marshall was none other than Michael Eisner. I can still picture it, this was a big deal to me as a kid, and it's a big deal to me now, that I saw him.

Maybe I don't want to know all of the corporate stuff. It might ruin it for me. I think it has for my brother. He was a CP, and worked at Skyway. Last year when he went with me to WDW, he asked a CM at HOP what happened to the nice guy who walked around as Ben Franklin. "Michael Eisner happened," he retorted. A lot of people (and especially long time CMs) feel that way.

"The Disney Decade," that Eisner declared for the 90s, was absolutely huge. I don't think anyone can deny that. It completely revitalized the company.

There's my thirteen and a half cents

 

[grimley1968]

I think he's a bit of both. I agree with Bicker in that Eisner made many, many wise strategic decisions, at least early in his tenure with Disney. He also very much strikes me as manipulative and self-centered, from what I can tell by his attitude, and, well, gossip.

Before Eisner, Disney's animation really was the pits, and they really had a rebirth. They seem to be on the downward slide again, but at least Eisner showed it could be done again.

I think a lot of the ticketing modernization occurred during his time.

He also modernized the WDW resort system. Before Eisner, you had the Poly, CR, the campgrounds, and maybe GF (I could be wrong on GF). All except the campgrounds were too expensive for the average middle-class vacationer. During Eisner's time, these choices grew exponentially, with the addition of more affordable Value and Moderate resorts that still have "magic" to them, and also some other nice Deluxe resorts (WL's my fave addition).

And you can't forget the transportation options. Before Eisner, WDW had the monorail system, a ferry boat, and maybe the small water taxis between GF, Poly and MK. I'm not sure any of the current busing system existed before him. The upgrade in the transportation infrastructure has really improved the quality of WDW vacations, about as much as the newer resorts, IMHO.

But I have to admit, I think Eisner did a lot of coasting in the mid to late 90's, all the way to his retirement. There just don't seem to be as many accomplishments later in his tenure as early on. I can't really blame him. If I'd done that much, I might be a little tired too. But I think he should have realized he was becoming less effective, and maybe left a few years earlier.

 

[wdwguide]

For the first ten years of his tenure, he was a genius - sometimes a bit naive, but he did almost everything right and at high quality. Then things went WAY downhill, especially with the parks and in animation. Eventually I decided that I would no longer support the cheapening of the company under Eisner and stopped going to WDW and refrained from buying Disney products. Now I am very happy to be able to go back, despite the fact that I am no big fan of either Iger, Jobs and Lasseter. I'll always appreciate what Eisner did during his early years, but think he should have left well before he actually did.

 

[NCHeel23]

2 Words ... DISNEY DECADE! Eisner set the 90's aside with this theme. During this time disney world became how it is known today with many new resorts, new attractions and a new park with Animal Kingdom. Who knows what disney would be with out Eisner. Eisner has put Disney on a firm foundation. With out him Disney would still of course be around but more than likely a relic themepark and not an everchanging oasis of adventure.

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

dmk- If someone asked me to describe the face of Disney, I would also say Michael Eisner. I remember growing up and watching the Wonderful World of Disney. Yes, I thought it was pretty awesome that he talked to me (I know..I know.. the audience) and the characters. I remember MGM and Euro Disney opening up. I remember the lack of Disney resorts. Personally, I think Mr. Eisner did a whole lot for Disney. He really did lead Disney in the right direction. I was just wondering how everyone else feels and why.

 

[LoveMickey]

dmk- If someone asked me to describe the face of Disney, I would also say Michael Eisner. I remember growing up and watching the Wonderful World of Disney. Yes, I thought it was pretty awesome that he talked to me (I know..I know.. the audience) and the characters. I remember MGM and Euro Disney opening up. I remember the lack of Disney resorts. Personally, I think Mr. Eisner did a whole lot for Disney. He really did lead Disney in the right direction. I was just wondering how everyone else feels and why.

And I - being a bit older - remember Walt talking to me. I think that ME took the philosophy (sp) from Mr. Disney and while he had that, things worked well.

I believe when ME veered off that track, WDW felt the impact, less attention to details, more cutting corners to reduce costs, etc.

Remember it was all started by a Mouse.

 

[grimley1968]

This "being the face of Disney" stuff makes a lot of sense as to why Eisner was so successful early on. He seemed to believe in what he was doing, believed he was carrying on WED's traditions, etc. and was proud enough in what he was doing to put his name, and his face, on everything, even the WWOD for a while, just like Walt used to. He seemed more insulated from the public later on in his tenure, and not so coincidentally, that seems to be about when Disney started suffering.

Unfortunately, this Iger guy sure doesn't seem to want to be the "face of Disney". I have no idea what this guy looks like. When I hear Iger's name mentioned, it just conjures up an image for me of a corporate suit. At least for a while, Eisner had a more substantial image and seemed to revel in it. But he seemed to revert to being more of a corporate suit later on. I can't see Disney reviving WWOD and having Iger host it. The times have definitely changed, but you could also say that in the 80's when Eisner put his face on an ailing WWOD and revived it for at least a little while.

 

[KatheeME]

Mickey Mouse, Roy Disney, Walt Disney's ghost, WDW, movies, music, DL, you name it, all are better overall with him gone! Yes, resorts, better transportation, and a FEW things he did right, but overall, so much magic has disappeared to his "expertise". Read Disney War....

 

[peter11435]

Read Disney War....

And don't base everything off of one book.

To say that only a few things were done well under Eisner is absurd. Look at AK, DCL, and hotels such as AKL, WL, BW, and the Grand Floridian. Or attractions like Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones and Expedition Everest.

Without Eisner there may not even be a Disney today.

As Mark Twain says in the American Adventure - "the golden age never was the present age." Just because you remember things being better or having more magic prior to Eisner, doesn't mean thats true.

 

[wdwoldtimer]

He's a little of both. Initially he had great vision and a great supporting cast. During the Disney Decade he brought the company out of the dumps and made it world class in just about every division. But like others have said, he stayed too long....his vision became stale, his ego got in the way and all the creative people around him left or were silenced. In hindsight, I'm glad he took the helm and think overall he did great things for the company.

As for the reason he was on the Today show...believe it or not, he's going to start hosting his own bi-monthly talk show on CNBC, generally about business and entertainment. I heard his first guest will be Martha Stewart.

 

[Chuck S]

For a company like Disney, an entertainment giant, it really takes 2 people to run it. Someone to watch the bottom line (which both Eisner and the elder Roy Disney did) and imagination/design, which was supplied by Walt Disney and during the earlier years of Eisner's tenure, Frank Wells. Eisner and Wells worked great together, just as Roy & Walt did. Mr. Wells was killed in a helicopter accident in April 1994. Just as Roy was somewhat "lost" as far as how to proceed with WDW without Walt, so Eisner also lost the creative input from Frank Wells. Eisner was not a "bad" person, but lacked the creativity...just as Roy did. Much was accomplished under Eisner's leadership, the Studios and AK both opened under his supervision, many of the Disney hotels were built and operated by Disney rather than being sold off to outside management/operating companies (like Swan & Dolphin). Eisner AND Wells, together, made the company what it is today. Neither could have acomplished as much with out the other.

 

[dixiegirl]

Simply put - did some good, did some bad, stayed too long, time to move on.

 

[Linzybrooke]

For a company like Disney, an entertainment giant, it really takes 2 people to run it. Someone to watch the bottom line (which both Eisner and the elder Roy Disney did) and imagination/design, which was supplied by Walt Disney and during the earlier years of Eisner's tenure, Frank Wells. Eisner and Wells worked great together, just as Roy & Walt did. Mr. Wells was killed in a helicopter accident in April 1994. Just as Roy was somewhat "lost" as far as how to proceed with WDW without Walt, so Eisner also lost the creative input from Frank Wells. Eisner was not a "bad" person, but lacked the creativity...just as Roy did. Much was accomplished under Eisner's leadership, the Studios and AK both opened under his supervision, many of the Disney hotels were built and operated by Disney rather than being sold off to outside management/operating companies (like Swan & Dolphin). Eisner AND Wells, together, made the company what it is today. Neither could have acomplished as much with out the other.

Yep! When Wells died I don't think Eisner knew what to do with himself. His ego got in the way and he tried to run the company by himself. Creativity wasn't his thing and I think he was afraid to admit it.

It pains me to hear people make comments about how horrible he was and how he did nothing for the brand, parks, etc. (Not on this thread, mind you). In my opinion, without the Eisner/Wells team of the late 80's, early 90's I don't think Disney would be the big deal it is today. It's possible that instead of new parks and rides we would have seen current attractions, resorts, and parks bite the dust as a result of a stagnant company that hadn't produced anything of merit in many years. Even if he became greedy and blind in the final decade of his reign the good he did at the beginning is why some of us are such Disney fans to begin with.

Either way, I wish him luck in his future endeavors!

 

[Tarheel Tink]

Eisner was indeed a genius who turned Disney around. Without him, I doubt there would be any reason for The DIS to even exist, as what was the Disney theme parks would have been mere shadows of their former selves by now. 90% of his decisions were right on-the-mark, and as a result the Disney Company is a world leader today, instead of just a footnote.

Totally agree.

 

[KatheeME]

You are certainly correct on one thing, and yes I have read others books, many, on the subject, some having the same opinion as you. My opinion is hardly ubsurd as well. No more Disney Stores, many CMs in the parks don't love what they are doing, just to name 2 of many. I don't know about you but I miss the sparkling clean, magical atomspere. Yes, it's still magical, but certainly far from the same. And if I wanted more thrill rides I can always go to a theme park. I will never believe that Walt would want the classics to disappear, as they slowly are. Like I said earlier, it's my opinion, based on lots of research and reading, on BOTH sides! Thanks for your reply!

And don't base everything off of one book.

To say that only a few things were done well under Eisner is absurd. Look at AK, DCL, and hotels such as AKL, WL, BW, and the Grand Floridian. Or attractions like Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones and Expedition Everest.

Without Eisner there may not even be a Disney today.

As Mark Twain says in the American Adventure - "the golden age never was the present age." Just because you remember things being better or having more magic prior to Eisner, doesn't mean thats true.

 

[jngwright]

Periodically they show a program on the Travel Channel about behind the scenes at Walt Disney World. It is an interesting look at what Michael Eisner did for Disney at the peak of his reign.

 

[Matt]

Eisner's brilliant decisions were all based on money. New parks, etc. There's nothing wrong with that of course. I agree with Chuck S. He was at his height while Wells was alive.

He's also responsible for the devalueing of the products with all these inane direct to video movies like Bambi 2, Cinderella 2, etc..

I respect him as a financial guru but he made plenty of shortsighted decisions that ran off many talented people.