San Antonio Stockholders Meeting

[ilovedisney1]

So my parents just got back a couple hours ago from the meeting. Did anyone else go? I like the pin they got.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I was there. I was the second person to ask a question.

 

[jlmarr]

I was there. I was the second person to ask a question.

What was the question and answer? Any perks like theme park tix?

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

I was there. I was the second person to ask a question.

That is so neat that you were there! What was the question that you asked?

I read a couple of updates online from the meeting but I'm interested in what happened overall.

 

[ilovedisney1]

Oh cool! I'm going to ask my parents if they remember you?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

My name is Mike T, from Orlando, Florida and I have been a shareholder for over 20 years.

Now, as you will see, I’m not much of a salesman, but I am going to try to sell you something that you already own.

This is what Michael Eisner used to call a “Figment question”.

Once upon a time, Epcot had an attraction called Journey Into Imagination.

The original had two exclusive characters; Figment - a cute purple dragon who represented the spirit of creativity, and Dreamfinder – a Santa Claus type who was Figment’s creator, mentor, friend and guide, on a uniquely Disney tour of the process of invention and discovery.

It was Imagineering’s way of sharing with the Guests how they make the Disney Magic.

Because of its family appeal, its whimsical nature, and catchy song, it was known as the “It’s A Small World” of Epcot.

In 1998 Epcot closed the endearing attraction, completely discarding the characters, and replaced it with possibly the most despised attraction in Disney Parks history. A grass roots fan movement, spearheaded by an Internet campaign, influenced the return of the Figment character to Epcot in 2002 with a new storyline.

Five years ago, at the Shareholders’ Meeting in Minneapolis, I asked your predecessor, Michael Eisner, about the status of the extremely popular character, Dreamfinder. Calling it one of “the best questions of the year”, he then expressed this regret: “I have not been able to elicit the passion you expressed in our animation department, in our live-action department, and in Mr. Iger to my left.”

I’ll bet that you never got that opportunity to talk with Eisner about this during your transition period, as you were both busy with the bigger picture.

Regardless of his assessment of the feelings in animation and live-action, the passion lives on.

To many in Imagineering they are unofficial “mascots”; at the Imagineering Complex, Figment is featured with Dreamfinder at Mickey’s of Glendale. Figment has also been used in two books written by Imagineers about the creative process: “The Imagineering Way”, and “The Imagineering Workout”. You see, they are Imagineering’s own babies, and that division has many good folks who would love to recreate the Original Imagination experience for our guests to enjoy again.

In our Parks, both Cast and Guests long for the return of the original ride and characters.

At the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the opening of Epcot, in October 2007, a fan conceived and driven event that attracted enthusiasts from all over the world, then Disney Imagineering Ambassador Marty Sklar, much to his delight, was greeted with a chorus of chants of “BRING DREAMFINDER BACK” from fans in attendance for his presentation. The repeated overwhelming and enthusiastic pleas stopped the show and caused quite a stir. At that time, Marty then stated that the reason it could not happen was “K-O-D-A-K”.

This is ironic since Kodak, in addition to sponsoring the attraction, was involved in the development of the characters as well as the original show.

But the copyrights belong to Disney, not Kodak. Now, I love Kodak as much as the next guy - but, if they don’t want to be involved in restoring the show, maybe we can find someone else with more imagination.

To add insult to injury, an episode of SOUTH PARK titled “Imaginationland” made a mockery of the situation with an obvious Dreamfinder knock-off character, a blimp-like flying machine and an “Imagination Song”, all elements from the original ride.

Fortunately, Merchantainment has kept the Dreamfinder character alive through a series of extremely limited edition collectible releases, mostly pins that sell out rapidly.

This loyalty is well earned. Most cherished and missed by fans was a character meet-and-greet with Dreamfinder and a Figment puppet. His unique way of relating to the guests is the stuff of Disney Parks legend, and many Guests claim that their visits with these Disney friends helped them through traumatic emotional times. Doctors are on record as stating that the visits extended the life of a terminally ill child. If that isn’t Disney Magic, what is?

As CEO, you are a lightning rod for blame. If you have to assume the blame, you should be able to bask in the credit of your achievements as well. All of us were eager to see what the Iger era would bring to our company.

It is said that “you can judge a man by his character”. Since joining the company as President and COO in January 2000, you have added several significant characters to the Disney stable.

There have been three new Princesses added; Princess Mia from “The Princess Diaries” in 2001, Princess Giselle from the wonderful comedy “Enchanted” in 2007, and, most recently, Princess Tiana from “The Princess And The Frog”.

In May 2004 you acquired The Muppets, no less!

Then you become CEO in 2005, and the next year sees the return of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. Most important of all, the PIXAR characters also bear the Disney label.

We now have Pixie Hollow and Tinker Bell’s new Pixie companions.

And how about last year getting the MARVEL Superheroes on board!

In a year that brings us both “Captain EO Tribute” and “TRON Legacy”, we feel confident asking for the return of another Disney classic.

With Epcot’s 30th anniversary coming in 2012, the time is right to BRING OUR DREAMFINDER and the original concept BACK.

So, my question to you is twofold:

How do we elicit the passion in you that Eisner couldn’t, and how soon can you get somebody working on this?

Perhaps Spiderman could rescue The Dreamfinder…

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Followed by this response

IGER:

(Chuckles) Thank you.

Well, thank you very much for your interest in Dreamfinder.

I do recall back in the early part of the decade talking about Dreamfinder, and Jay Rasulo who ran Parks And Resorts until the end of last year reminded me that we actually tried to create a new concept for Dreamfinder.

We weren’t particularly enamored of that concept, and decided that we would essentially spend our resources both on the creative side and on the financial side, on other characters - both new and older characters.

To my knowledge, there is no other activity right now going on at the company to support the character that you obviously have so much passion about.

I do not in any way want to get your hopes up, but the one thing that I will promise you is: I’ll have a discussion with the Imagineers, and see whether there is any real interest there.

You were great in pointing out how many great characters that we have in the company, either new or newly acquired, or those who were created over the years.

And, I don’t think that our entertainment offering suffers all that much by not supporting Dreamfinder but, given the fact that you are so interested in it; I feel obligated to at least ask the question, which I’ll do when I get back to Burbank.

MIKE:

Thank you, sir.

IGER:

Thank you.

 

[Kathi OD]

Whoops, you answered my question while I was reading!

thanks

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Wow! I'm very impressed by your question, Cheshire Figment!