Lasseter may return to Disney

[skier_pete]

I know there's people on here that are saying "We don't know the whole story" or "Is it really as bad as Weinstien / Lauer" but if you read the articles that have been published about this - sure it doesn't seem we had sex with women but beyond that it was a case of:

1) He behaved towards women with sexual overtones - women that worked for him - touching and making comments.
2) The company - under his supervision - held women back from positions of power. The most public example was firing the director of Brave, but there are other cases cited.
3) His behavior was covered up and excused by others within the organization for many, many years.

So - take away the actual SEX - and it looks EXACTLY like Weinstien and Lauer.

Now if Disney investigates and it turns out the allegations are FALSE then I could see bringing him back - but if it's TRUE...well sorry I'm with @amberpi here - there's forgiveness from a personal standpoint, but he should not be allowed back into a leadership role with a publicly held company. And I am not in anyway going to feel bad about it. The man will leave the company with tens if not hundreds of miilions of dollars. But he should just be gone.

This will be the last I say about this...it really is a subject for it's own thread.

 

[TexasKiwiPrincess]

Well and that's just it isn't it. Being the head of something doesn't make you the reason something is successful and if anything it's a bit irritating we DON'T know some of the other Pixar main players - why don't we? This fact is only punctuated by the departure of Rashida Jones on TS4 because of her frustration with diversity at Pixar.

As has been previously pointed out, Lasseter is hardly a household name and he has been a very big part of the Walt Disney Company for decades now. It seems unrealistic to expect people to know "other Pixar main players." Some of us do know them- Pete Docter is an easy one. Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird, and Meg LeFauvre are others that I am aware of. I'm sure if I looked it up there would be other familiar names. They all have contributed to Pixar's success and I enjoy listening to many of them on the bonus features of Pixar DVDs. If you have some time, I highly recommend watching those and maybe checking out some interviews available on YouTube. However, Lasseter was chosen as the lead for Pixar so he gets the credit.

 

[rteetz]

It seems like a lot of the most recent offerings (not all) are just sequels...of course, we all know how much I know about children's movies. I was however recently in the room when Toy Story was on, so I'm starting to catch up.

Sequels yes but thats what the general public seems to want as of late. Every studio is doing remakes and sequels.

 

[amberpi]

Sequels yes but thats what the general public seems to want as of late. Every studio is doing remakes and sequels.

Truth.

Don't forget spinoffs too.

 

[rteetz]

Sounds like a nice vacay. You bring up a great point that Disney's silence on this doesn't really help! I get that this is how they roll with it comes to controversy within the company, but with everything that has happened recently with so many people speaking out regarding harassment in the workplace, and Disney being known as a place that celebrates and embraces diversity, it makes them look bad when it seems like they've done nothing to improve the situation.

Completely agree. I obviously have no experience with something like this but I have to wonder if someone came out publicly would Disney be so quiet and would John even be looked at to come back. I think part of the problem is we haven't had anyone come out publicly and there were no reports of formal complaints within the company.

Obviously something was wrong because you don't just take a 6 month sabbatical while being accused for nothing.

 

[rteetz]

This will be the last I say about this...it really is a subject for it's own thread.

Which was created

 

[amberpi]

3) His behavior was covered up and excused by others within the organization for many, many years.

I agree with all your points, but this one, in particular, is the most problematic in my view. The behavior was covered up for years and if he goes back, it could go back to that exact same type of secretive situation. I've personally lived this from colleagues while traveling that would show up at my hotel room door in the middle of the night. Found out later; those guys did that often to many of the women in the firm and because they were awesome producers HR looked the other way.

 

[Farro]

Regardless if he comes back or not, I can honestly say I don't think there is a cloud over Pixar due to this. People won't/haven't even noticed outside of people who are following the harassment issues as of late, or people "very" into Disney (you know, us on the message boards!).

Not because what he did wasn't wrong, but people are more focused on the Weinsteins, Spaceys of the world at the moment.

For the record, I'm not going to cancel any Disney trips over it. And to be honest, that's the only money we spend on Disney.

 

[skier_pete]

I agree with all your points, but this one, in particular, is the most problematic in my view. The behavior was covered up for years and if he goes back, it could go back to that exact same type of secretive situation. I've personally lived this from colleagues while traveling that would show up at my hotel room door in the middle of the night. Found out later; those guys did that often to many of the women in the firm and because they were awesome producers HR looked the other way.

Yes, I have not encountered this behavior in my career and that is not to say it doesn't happen in my company but I have not observed it at least at our location. I have only recently been promoted to a management position and it has made me hyper aware of how my behavior can be perceived. I work in a fairly male dominated business. (There are only maybe 15 women on site for 130 employees.)

Perhaps another reason this bothers me so is having a 15-year old daughter who is very interested in getting into animation. Clearly Disney/Pixar is in her view the pinnacle on where you would want to work in that business. I haven't really talked to her about the Lassiter stuff at this stage, because I don't want her to get dissuaded since it's unlikely she'd ever even work there if she makes it that far - but the idea that she would have to deal with that kind of environment makes me shiver.

 

[TexasKiwiPrincess]

Regardless if he comes back or not, I can honestly say I don't think there is a cloud over Pixar due to this. People won't/haven't even noticed outside of people who are following the harassment issues as of late, or people "very" into Disney (you know, us on the message boards!).

Not because what he did wasn't wrong, but people are more focused on the Weinsteins, Spaceys of the world at the moment.

For the record, I'm not going to cancel any Disney trips over it. And to be honest, that's the only money we spend on Disney.

Speaking for myself, my comments alluded to the internal atmosphere at Pixar, not an external cloud of perception from fans.
I agree the world at large isn't aware of this at all.

 

[Farro]

Speaking for myself, my comments alluded to the internal atmosphere at Pixar, not an external cloud of perception from fans.
I agree the world at large isn't aware of this at all.

Ah, got it!

 

[amberpi]

Yes, I have not encountered this behavior in my career and that is not to say it doesn't happen in my company but I have not observed it at least at our location. I have only recently been promoted to a management position and it has made me hyper aware of how my behavior can be perceived. I work in a fairly male dominated business. (There are only maybe 15 women on site for 130 employees.)

Perhaps another reason this bothers me so is having a 15-year old daughter who is very interested in getting into animation. Clearly Disney/Pixar is in her view the pinnacle on where you would want to work in that business. I haven't really talked to her about the Lassiter stuff at this stage, because I don't want her to get dissuaded since it's unlikely she'd ever even work there if she makes it that far - but the idea that she would have to deal with that kind of environment makes me shiver.

I work in a very male dominant industry, and harassment is pretty prevalent. I think some of it may have to do with the amount of travel and drinking done to entertain clients; it still sucks though.

 

[rteetz]

Regardless if he comes back or not, I can honestly say I don't think there is a cloud over Pixar due to this. People won't/haven't even noticed outside of people who are following the harassment issues as of late, or people "very" into Disney (you know, us on the message boards!).

Not because what he did wasn't wrong, but people are more focused on the Weinsteins, Spaceys of the world at the moment.

For the record, I'm not going to cancel any Disney trips over it. And to be honest, that's the only money we spend on Disney.

There is a cloud inside the company. People who work at Pixar certainly know and think about this. There is also an issue with females being able to move up at Pixar. Several big names in film/animation have left Pixar because they have felt they couldn't do anything more due to that nature. It is very male dominated at the moment.

 

[rteetz]

Speaking for myself, my comments alluded to the internal atmosphere at Pixar, not an external cloud of perception from fans.
I agree the world at large isn't aware of this at all.

Same for me.

 

[JaxDad]

Yes, I have not encountered this behavior in my career and that is not to say it doesn't happen in my company but I have not observed it at least at our location. I have only recently been promoted to a management position and it has made me hyper aware of how my behavior can be perceived. I work in a fairly male dominated business. (There are only maybe 15 women on site for 130 employees.)

Perhaps another reason this bothers me so is having a 15-year old daughter who is very interested in getting into animation. Clearly Disney/Pixar is in her view the pinnacle on where you would want to work in that business. I haven't really talked to her about the Lassiter stuff at this stage, because I don't want her to get dissuaded since it's unlikely she'd ever even work there if she makes it that far - but the idea that she would have to deal with that kind of environment makes me shiver.

In a previous job, I had three young women complain to me about a Senior Manager. There was no sex or even touching, but still very inappropriate and demeaning behavior. They did not want me to use their names, but I still reported it to the other Senior Manager with as much detail as I could. He claimed he would talk with him about it, but they were retired Army buddies, and I doubt he really did. I felt ashamed, like I let those women down, and I left that organization. I still see those two guys at luncheons and such, but avoid them the best I can since it makes me feel sick.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

and it doesn't just come from men.

Of course it doesn't just come from men. My comments were intentionally gender neutral because power, influence and esteem are nowhere near confined to one gender over the other.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

I just think about the things that "normal" people can get fired for. People say something around the office that comes across as racist, sexist, etc., either ignorantly or unintentionally, and they get the boot. I want to be clear in saying that I don't blame companies for doing this at all. You have to snuff out any hint of harassment as soon as possible. The fact that immediate action isn't always taken is frustrating. I think that you can be an excellent worker and visionary and make a mistake (or series of mistakes) and learn from it, but that doesn't mean you deserve to have your life go "back to normal." Even when you are really really sorry, you still have to face the consequences of your actions.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Of course it doesn't just come from men. My comments were intentionally gender neutral because power, influence and esteem are nowhere near confined to one gender over the other.

I was just agreeing with your post, and adding my two cents. I was in no way inferring that you thought differently.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Sequels yes but thats what the general public seems to want as of late. Every studio is doing remakes and sequels.

Actually, after Toy Story 4, Pixar has no more sequels in the pipeline...only originals. WDAS is another story, but still less than their biggest rival Universal/Illumination.

 

[rteetz]

Actually, after Toy Story 4, Pixar has no more sequels in the pipeline...only originals. WDAS is another story, but still less than their biggest rival Universal/Illumination.

I am talking about right now. Most studios are doing sequels and remakes. Toy Story 4 isn't out until 2019 so we still have until 2020 to get those originals.