Hong Kong Parade Gave Iger the Idea

Hong Kong parade clinched decision to buy Pixar

By Vivek Shankar | Bloomberg News
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<!-- End related content rail -->Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger decided to buy Pixar while watching a parade at the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, he said.

Disney, home of Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Cinderella, hadn't created any recognizable animated characters in the past decade, Iger said at a Bear Stearns & Co. media conference broadcast on the Internet. The recent animated characters in the parade were from Pixar, Steve Jobs' animation studio, which Iger agreed in January to buy for $7.4 billion.

"It really hit me hard that we had had 10 years of real failure," Iger said. "Keeping animation strong is incredibly vital."

Animation "creates more of a ripple effect" than any other business at Disney, the world's second-largest media company, Iger said Monday at the conference in Palm Beach.

Characters from Pixar's Toy Story movies create opportunities for merchandising and theme-park rides, such as the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride at the Hong Kong park, which opened in September.

Iger, 55, played an increasingly visible role at Disney before taking over as CEO in October. His predecessor, Michael Eisner, had clashed publicly with Jobs over negotiations to extend a Disney agreement to distribute Pixar films.

Iger also said he will spend more money to strengthen the Disney, ABC and ESPN brands. Disney will invest in branded content and technology, and alter existing business relationships to provide content delivery methods consumers want, he said.

Iger pointed to agreements with Jobs' Apple Computer Inc. to sell episodes of ABC television shows Desperate Housewives and Lost that can be downloaded onto the video iPod device. He wants the ESPN sports network to migrate "from a traditional network to a multidimensional experience in sports," delivering up-to-date scores to fans who may be waiting in line at a Starbucks he said.

The potential for Disney's theme-park business is "enormous" because the unit represents less than 5 percent of the family vacation market, Iger said. The company is seeking branding agreements for the parks and plans to invest more money in the business, he added.

Don't let the Stitch fans hear this one!!! :lol:!!

I guess Iger was thinking the same thing as Universal when they said that Disney's characters are outdated

I like the fact that Iger is willing to face up and basically say "yea Disney has really screwed up the past decade but were gonna do our best to turn it around". If Eisner was still around he would be spoon feeding himself his own garbage saying "oh nono Disney is so Wonderful we have such Amazingly popular hit films like Chicken little and Stich II: Stich has a itch and our guest surveys show that everyone loves Stich's Great Escape...Everything is just perfect at Disney lalalala". Its always good to face up to screw ups and rebuild from there.

Chicken Little & Lilo and Stitch were popular movies and they made money for the company... Both took home about $300M.

Good point wannab@dis. Furthermore, Lilo and Stitch was fairly well reviewed. The public liked both movies. I work with a secretary that has Chicken Little stuff all over her desk.

ASJHLJ said:

Good point wannab@dis. Furthermore, Lilo and Stitch was fairly well reviewed. The public liked both movies. I work with a secretary that has Chicken Little stuff all over her desk.

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Yeah, they were very well received. Those numbers don't include merchandising or DVD sales either.

It's easy for Iger to admit to Disney's failures for the past 10 years when he wasn't the one on the chopping block.

looks like hes taking steps into the right direction:sohappy:

I liked Lilo and Stitch. And it made a lot of money.

Ghostbuster626 said:

I like the fact that Iger is willing to face up and basically say "yea Disney has really screwed up the past decade but were gonna do our best to turn it around". If Eisner was still around he would be spoon feeding himself his own garbage saying "oh nono Disney is so Wonderful we have such Amazingly popular hit films like Chicken little and Stich II: Stich has a itch and our guest surveys show that everyone loves Stich's Great Escape...Everything is just perfect at Disney lalalala". Its always good to face up to screw ups and rebuild from there.

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Well, Iger wants Eisner to look bad. If it was his own failure, you can be sure he wouldn't be so straight foreword with it...

Connor002 said:

Well, Iger wants Eisner to look bad. If it was his own failure, you can be sure he wouldn't be so straight foreword with it...

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I don't know if that's the case or not. But I think he was speaking a little more generalized about the past 10 years of animation. There have been more failures than hits, but that doesn't mean everything was a failure.

When you compare the previous ten years, the didn't seem to be a way for them to miss. Everything was a hit and I think it was a lot of luck involved. Timing is everything sometimes and recently, they had a lot more competition that had more luck. Treasure Planet & Brother Bear are both considered failures, but I think both were decent movies. Brother Bear was much better and I wish it had done better. If those two movies had come out several years earlier, things may have been different.

The Difference between Brother Bear & Treasure Planet and Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, or Aladdin is not that the movies were better or worse, it is how the character is loved by the public.

Most people know The Little Mermaid had Ariel and Beauty and the Beast had Belle.....most people do not know the name of the bears in Brother Bear, or of the Princess in Atlantis......the characters were just not that special.

I'm surprised he so candidly admitted that WDFA has been less than stellar. Let's be honest, beyond Lilo and Stitch, Disney animation has struggled over the past decade or so. There have been some successes, but very few and far between. Compared to the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Tarzan, etc. hardly anybody remembers the characters from Treasure Planet, Atlantis, Hunchback (one of my personal favorites though), Home on the Range (worst Disney film ever imo), etc.

It shows that he means business. To come out and say it, it gives me that much more faith Iger is set on reviving Disney animation. His decisions so far have backed up his words.

People need to face reality: Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Lion King are extremly well made films with high production values. Stich, chicken little, home on the range, etc. are extremly poorly made films marketed towards and designed for babies with no "all ages" appeal. And for your information Chicken Little is HARDLY a hit and Stich will go the way of Oliver and Company mark my words.

Stitch is not the best.....just the "best in a long time"

speck76 said:

Stitch is not the best.....just the "best in a long time"

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Its just a mediocre movie with alot of inflated hype and people want to grasp at it and say "OOOOH see Disney's still got it!". Its like a starving person...any food no matter what quality, will taste great to them.

Ghostbuster626 said:

People need to face reality: Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Lion King are extremly well made films with high production values. Stich, chicken little, home on the range, etc. are extremly poorly made films marketed towards and designed for babies with no "all ages" appeal. And for your information Chicken Little is HARDLY a hit and Stich will go the way of Oliver and Company mark my words.

Click to expand...

Ghostbuster626 said:

Its just a mediocre movie with alot of inflated hype and people want to grasp at it and say "OOOOH see Disney's still got it!". Its like a starving person...any food no matter what quality, will taste great to them.

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Show me your proof... I gave numbers to back up my information. Show me something other than your opinion as facts. Don't tell me what you think as if it's some friggin fact. Whether YOU consider them hits or not is beside the point. Whether the movies made money at the Box Office, DVD Sales and merchandising is what's in play. The movies did what they were made to do... generate revenues... and they did it pretty darn good.

Lilo and Stitch was in the top 10 box office for several weeks and again in the top ten for rentals for several weeks. Most movies don't fare so well. Chicken Little topped the box office for two weeks and stayed in the top 10 for a couple of months. Again, not very shoddy.

Now, give us something other than your opinion with these blanket statements you like to make.

As much as I didn't like the movie or the character, L&S was a pretty nice hit for Disney. It didn't break any records and it wasn't a HUGE hit (Like Disney would want us to believe), but it was a nice hit and had a nice box office run.

I think Disney could have had financial hits with Emperor's New Groove (Which really I would consider a nice hit considering the circumstances), Brother Bear, and Treasure Planet if they had recieved decent marketing and a better opening slot. Remember Brother Bear was released on a Saturday, because the Friday was Halloween. Major movies are NEVER released like that and I thought it was a slap in the face. It would have finished number 1 at the box office that week if it had Friday recipts and that is something people look at when they are going to the theater. They TOTALLY dropped the ball with Treasure Planet, but I will admit that it wasn't the easiest film to market honestly.