Storming the Magic Kingdom

[Another Voice]

The current reality show craze is a creation of the networks. Broadcast television has been in a drastic freefall for more than twenty years now and there is no end in sight. The top rated program to is drawing only a third of the viewers of even marginal shows in the past. Often cable shows have higher ratings than broadcast shows at the same time. It’s even hard to say that broadcast television is better quality television when ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Mad Men’ and other full-blown series are on cable as well.

Naturally lower ratings bring lower revenues. As I wrote, Hollywood is awash in money but it all flows to individuals. Between the guilds, production companies, actors and others, network television is an extremely expensive product. It’s also filled with tremendous amounts of waste. I know of one series where more than $100,000 per episode was paid to family and friends of the lead actress as part of her deal to star in the show (that’s the “associate producer” credits you see).

“Reality” shows, with no “stars” and no “writers” are cheaper to make. Hollywood hates them (in fact the Writer’s Guild has been disrupting the filming of a new celebrity “reality” series all week – the ‘stars’ are out shopping so the writers pulled fire alarms in nearby shops, picketed and did everything else they could to make noise). Already the guilds are starting to get their claws into “reality television” and costs are soaring. Right now shows like ‘Survivor’ have been able to offset these increases by ramping up the product placement – some shows like ‘Project Runway’ are little more than commercials already.

In the end, my guess is the same “how much money is it to me” attitude is will take over the “reality” area.

It’s really a last gasp for the networks. They’ve already slashed the number of episodes that make up a “season”. Half of the lead actors now seem to be cheaper English and Canadian actors come to play American. For a long time production had moved to Canada because of the favorable exchange rate and massive tax breaks the Canadian government gave. But the exchange rate has flipped and, let’s face it - there are only so many good actors in British Columbia. The entire crew of the Battlestar Galactica seems to have come from Smallville and people are starting to notice.

because I know of few other people that put the amount of detail as you do.

Thank you for that.

The reason I post these things is just to remind people that “the magic” just doesn’t happen. It’s one thing to view Disney as a consumer; it’s something else entirely to see behind the curtain. The “magic” is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work by a lot of people. It is so amazingly difficult to create that no sane person would attempt it – and it can be shattered by even the slightest of breezes.

So many people on these boards just somehow assume “the magic” will always be here. It won’t – just ask anyone who worked in Disney Feature Animation how quickly the audience disappeared between The Lion King and Home on the Range. The theme parks are no different.

 

[deej696]

I picked up a copy on half.com for $1 tonight. Looking forward to refreshing myself on this book.

 

[deej696]

So I spent the last couple days reading this book again. I walked away with a greater admiration of Roy Disney and also Stanley Gold. In the year that was the books focus, it is clear that the Company was very much on the brink. At any given moment, Steinberg, Jacobs or Bass could have decided to "Go all in." As Gold put it, he and Disney were fighters, and in my opinion it was this mindset and devotion to the cause that made them come out on top. Had they not, its not likely any of us would be spending time on an internet forum writing about the company and places we love.

It is also clear that Disney's management, especially Ron Miller, were in over their head. It seemed that it was Watson making all the big decisions, not Miller. He was the chief executive of the company, yet Miller deferred to Watson on everything during the crisis. Watson asked him to make one decision, the Gibson acquisition, and he flopped.

One thing I found interesting, management took a lot of flack for the Arvida purchase during Steinbergs raid. According to Wiki, Disney sold the unit 4 years later for $400 million, which would have been a $100 million profit. Granted I dont know the terms, but if that is the case, it didnt turn out to be such a bad deal afterall.

I will admit to being in the Michael Eisner Fan Club, but it is clear that the company was bound to do great things, they just had to get freed from the mud they were stuck in. Once the Company got passed the Wall St. raids and worrying what "the dead guy" would do, they were free to execute on the ideas already out there. Euro Disney, expanding WDW, and creating more "adult" movies through Touchstone were all things in motion, but the Company pre-Eisner either would not or could not do them. Therefore, I can understand the argument by some that anyone could have accomplished what Eisner did. But I'm still in his fan club

Overall this was a nice easy read. Of course its easy to fly through a book when you love the topic.

 

[Another Voice]

Euro Disney, expanding WDW, and creating more "adult" movies through Touchstone were all things in motion, but the Company pre-Eisner either would not or could not do them.

Really?

Expanding WDW -

EPCOT Center opened before Eisner took over and did more to "expand" WDW than all the efforts of Eisner and Iger put together. Before 1982, WDW was a day stop on a family's vacation to Florida. It's market was seen as families, attendance was firmly tied to the school calendar (much to Disney's financial distress).

EPCOT Center made WDW a true destination. The resort was no longer just a day stop - it was a reason to go to Florida in the first place. EPCOT Center also brought in adults in record numbers. Suddenly WDW was a place for everyone to visit - not just kiddies dragging their parents. Along with the adults can conventions, professional association meetings and conferences. Disney's "off season" business soared and WDW became a year-round destination.


"Adult" Movies -

Again, already successful before Eisner showed up. Splash was a massive hit that was still so popular when the Disney/MGM Studios took over that it was used in all the film clips and props were placed all throughout the studios. Country had achieved very strong critical reviews. The only thing that happened was Eisner shut Disney's "adult" movies down to focus exclusively on his "zany comedies".


Euro Disney

How could any outcome have been worse than what we have? Eisner's EDL has been a financial disaster for more than sixteen years now. And even you have to admit that Ron Miller would not have been stupid enough to put it in France!


You also left out all the tremendous programs that became a gift to Eisner. The Disney Channel was started long before Eisner showed up. It provided a tremendous marketplace for Disney, quickly became the #1 cable channel and - most important - reintroduced American's to Disney animation and paved the way for the success of films like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Tokyo Disneyland proved that Disney's appeal could expand internationally and set Disney up as a major company in the second largest media market in the world. ALL of Eisner's plans were based on junk bonds sold to Japanese investors (anyone remember Touchstone Partners) - something that agian would not have been possible without the success of Tokyo Disney and the efforts of prior management.

Fan of Eisner or not, it is important to keep everything that happened in context.

 

[deej696]

Euro Disney, expanding WDW, and creating more "adult" movies through Touchstone were all things in motion, but the Company pre-Eisner either would not or could not do them.

Perhaps I didnt articulate this point clearly enough. I agree AV that all of these things were already happening at the Company. The problem was that they were happening at a snails pace because management could not execute. How long did it take to create Touchstone and make Splash? Yes it was a hit, but based on the history of the Company at that point, does anyone really think it would have been enough to change direction and keep it alive?

And yes I do think that Ron Miller would possibly have built EDL in France, because he was quoted as saying so in this very book. He thought buying a greeting card company for twice its actual value made sense, whats to say he would have thought any different about a theme park in Paris? As far as expanding WDW, yes Epcot was enormous, but what were they going to do beyond that? There was no plan for development. They had no business plan to outline the direction going forward. Ray Watson woke up one day to realize there were 2000 employees at WED with nothing to do beacuse Tokyo was about finished.

The jist of my point was that almost all of the things Eisner is credited for were already in motion. But in spite of these things, the Company was still being raided and nearly dismembered. Something had to be done to restore faith on Wall St and perhaps its unfair, but Ron Miller was not going to be the guy to do that. The Anti Eisner League feels that they could have made Charlie Brown CEO and the same results would have happened, and I agree with that opinion. But the change had to be made, as the alternative was Saul Steinberg owning the theme parks, and Kirk Kerkorian owning the Studio. What would Walt think then?

 

[DisneyKidds]

AV, you've made the point several times over the years that EDL was Eisner's idea and his debacle. In Storming the Magic Kingdom it outlines that Watson/Miller pointed to ongoing negotiations with the French for a theme park there as one of their successes in the early 80's and a sign that things were moving forward. I'll look for the quote and exact reference. It may be Eisner who controlled the actual implementation of the park in France after he took over, and he may have fumbled that one, but it doesn't seem that it was his idea alone.

One thing I find interesting in reading this book after having read Disney War and having followed the Save Disney campaign of a few years ago.....is that Gold and Roy Disney were hot to trot to get Eisner into the company. Yes, they wanted an Eisner/Wells combo, which they eventually got and which worked quite well for a while, but when it looked like there was no position for Wells once Gold and Disney made it onto the board and forced Miller out, they seemed content to have just Eisner. We all know how that relationship would end up, but they brought Eisner into the fold in the first place.