Disney Woes

Lori Lancaster | February 11, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | February 11, 2004
I'd never seen it before now, and it seems a bit odd to me. I can't really see realistic goals on the site.

Dave Stoppenhagen | February 11, 2004
I've been hearing about it all day on CNN, COMCAST offered 54 Billion for the company.

Lori Lancaster | February 11, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | February 11, 2004
The thing is, though, why is Disney not allowed to behave like any other mega-corporation? I know that they used to be better, but they have no other obligation than to make money, and if their current way of doing business can help them do that, then so be it, and I see nothing wrong with it. (I don't have to like them, but I see nothing wrong with it.) Disney has been losing money for years now, so obviously, things have definitely changed. I read somewhere that Disney makes more off of video sales in one year than they do off of every other venture combined. I don't know if that's true, and I can't find the source now, but wow, if it's so.

Lori Lancaster | February 11, 2004
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Dave Stoppenhagen | February 11, 2004
Roy Disney is a former board member that was forced out. If I remember correctly there is a set number of years that people are allowed to be on Disneys board of directors (10 years?). After he was forced out, Michael Eisner didn't have much opposition in how the company was run. Eisner just lost a distribution deal with Pixar as well, and is the main opposition to the purchase by COMCAST.

Lori Lancaster | February 11, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | February 11, 2004
Well, if they can get the majority of shareholders, than they should see their changes implemented. But if not, then I see no reason why the current owners in charge can't do what they want with the company.

Kris Weberg | February 12, 2004
I find it deeply ironic that the same image created through decades of skillful marketing techniques that made Disney (in recent years, quite falsely) the only name most Americans trust in family entertainment is now producing strong opposition for the company's latest profit-oritented ventures.

C'mon, folks, Disney is a moneymaker. From overpriced burgers in Disneyworld to cruise lines to their aggressive litigation regarding anything resembling a copyright or trademark infringement, they exist to make money. They have a division, Touchstone, that makes R movies and MA-TV shows. Disney is simply a brand name, if one enshrined in American pop culture in a certain way, much as Coca-Cola was one or two generations ago.

Scott Hardie | February 12, 2004
Roy Disney has been calling for Eisner's resignation for a long time, which had a lot to do with why he finally forced off the board. Now he and Stanley Gold, the other ousted member, have been making comments nearly every day to the press that Eisner is damning the company to a poor future, and their savedisney.com site is the web site of the campaign.

Disney the corporation certainly exists to make money, but Disney & Gold argue that Eisner is focused on short-term profits at the expense of long-term profits. For instance, he wouldn't give Pixar the concessions they desired now in order to save tens of millions in the present (Eisner claims hundreds of millions), but obviously a long term deal with Pixar would be worth much, much more to the company than that. Disney & Gold sometimes phrase their argument that Eisner is destroying the "Disney magic", but mainly their campaign is about company profit.

I'm don't have an MBA or anything so maybe I'm way off, but it seems to me that Disney & Gold have the company's best interests in mind. Eisner knows his days at the company are numbered (he has named a successor), and he seems interested in making it as profitable as he can during his tenure as chairman, the future be damned. Disney & Gold no longer even work for the company and they're still arguing for its best possible future. If I were Comcast and I acquired Disney this month, I know what I'd do about the management.

Anna Gregoline | February 13, 2004
This discussion reminds me of a Family Guy episode I saw last night, where Eisner says sweetly, while hopping into a car, "See you at Disneyworld!" and then very gruffly as he zooms away, "BRING MONEY."