Tom Staggs, but Iger was scared of him and decided to force him out.
Two things here.
He's not anti-park by any means, but he's from the consumer products division. He wants everything to scream intellectual property because it trickles down to toys, clothing, video games, streaming, etc. Chapek lacks an appreciation for the nostalgia and magic that makes
Disneyland and Walt Disney World great. He doesn't relate to that. He's a bottom line guy.
That's why there's Incredibles at the Contemporary, Moana at the Polynesian (I actually like this theme.), Mary Poppins at the Grand Floridan, etc. You're going to see more of this.
Some people hate this. Some people love this. I'm in middle.
He thought the parks were bloated when he was chairman and was eager to make significant changes when he became CEO. No previous Disney CEO has ever taken the P&L (Profit & Loss) authority of division executives (like Josh D' Amaro) away from them. Not even Eisner. That's significant.
And don't give him credit for Pandora. That was all Tom Staggs even James Cameron said so. Chapek never would have greenlit two rides with such low ride capacity (both roughly 1200-1400, well below the Disney E-ticket standard of 1700-2000).
That's one area that may be a positive with Chapek. He's only going to approve rides that are high capacity—like Tron (shortest ride ever), Guardians, Everest, Tower, Splash, etc. You're not going to see a lot of E-ticket attractions like Rise of the Resistance or Flight of Passage under Chapek's watch.
He's smart and knows the data. He wants guests moving in those parks, buying his merchandise and eating his food—not standing in lines.
As for the studios, that's his weakest link (other than political but I won't get into that). He screwed up with Marvel and Scarlett Johansson. That was a major blunder and never would have happened under Iger. You don't undercut one of Marvel's only female lead films. I don't care if you know it's a weaker Marvel film. Hollywood noticed and it backfired.
Based on rumors, he has brought up concerns that Marvel's next slate of films (and shows) are based on lesser known characters. Apparently, that upset Feige, but he's right. Wouldn't you rather see a next generation Iron Man than Miss Marvel?
Also, while I sympathize with Chapek over Pixar, I'm not sure forcing them to release their content only on
Disney+ was the best idea. It cheapened Pixar's brand. In all honestly, he likely saw Soul, Luca and Turning Red early and knew they would be theater flops (pandemic aside) while allowing Walt Disney Animation to release Encanto in theaters (even though it too flopped).
He should have let Pixar flop on its own.
20th Century is a mess. So far, their highest ranking film is like 21 on the domestic box office chart this year. It's needs to be cleaned up and the animation division merged into Pixar or Walt Disney Animation.
