News The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors Extends Robert A. Iger’s Contract as CEO Through 2026

[Vegas Disney Fan]

They've had a losing streak at the box office while pivoting to streaming, but you're trying to say the guy who hired Kevin Feige, Pete Docter, Ryan Coogler, Jon Favreau, Shonda Rhimes, Gareth Edwards, etc. "doesn't hire people who know about making movies?"

I think Disney has the talent in place to make movies, they just put too many conditions on them.

Making a good movie is hard enough, having to include a social agenda on that work makes it that much harder. It’s not enough to just tell a good story anymore, it has “to drive meaning cultural change”.
(Quoted from the Disney 5th key press release)

Disney changed their focus in 2020, and we’re now seeing the results.

 

[TalkingHead]

Listen, I am not a fan of Mr Iger, but we need to be accurate. In 2019, 7 of the top 10 movies were Disney. So Iger does not make the movies, but when the professionals are allowed to run the studio the results have been pretty good. One of the big moves made by Iger upon his return was to give back more control to Studio executives. Before I dump on him for the current state of movie released, I want to see what is offered going forward.

Funnily enough, the Iger recipe for success in the 2010s largely contributed to the hole the company finds itself in today. They trained audiences to show up for one kind of expensive VFX movie. When the audience tired of that, the company had no Plan B except “watch these mega-budgeted VFX streaming series” for $8/mo. You see the problem?

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think Disney has the talent in place to make movies, they just put too many conditions on them.

Making a good movie is hard enough, having to include a social agenda on that work makes it that much harder. It’s not enough to just tell a good story anymore, it has “to drive meaning cultural change”.
(Quoted from the Disney 5th key press release)

Disney changed their focus in 2020, and we’re now seeing the results.

 

[Mr. Engagement]

You're right. And Iger agrees with you. That is why he is never leaving.

Regardless of how you feel about the state of the parks or about Disney's recent losing streak at the box office (while pivoting to become a major streaming platform), Iger has been in charge while Disney cranked out some of the highest grossing, most popular films and franchises in box office history.

Iger will eventually leave one way or another. His record has both highs and lows. But the hate is blinding many disgruntled folks here (and causing them to post a bunch of nonsense).

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I’m a few pages late, but I don’t think Disney should divest from ABC. Maybe ESPN, but ABC has been a part of the company for decades and selling it off would also cut off content for D+. I also think it’s an asset Disney is no where near ready to let go of.

Disney sold off billions of assets that they acquired during the Fox acquisition, and while I personally do agree that the Fox acquisition was a poor decision and diluted the focus of the company, I am not the CEO.

With that being said I don’t think the Fox acquisition “diluted” the brand. Disney doesn’t market any of the Fox products as “Disney”, and while the same could be said for Star Wars & Marvel, those are “Disney” brands. Family Guy & The Simpsons are not, and I don’t think Disney will ever integrate them in the same way. I think if that was their intention they would’ve combined 20th Century TV into ABC Signature. Same goes for 20th Century Studios, they rebranded and did not combine it into Walt Disney Pictures.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Regardless of how you feel about the state of the parks or about Disney's recent losing streak at the box office (while pivoting to become a major streaming platform), Iger has been in charge while Disney cranked out some of the highest grossing, most popular films and franchises in box office history.

Iger will eventually leave one way or another. His record has both highs and lows. But the hate is blinding many disgruntled folks here (and causing them to post a bunch of nonsense).

Hate is a strong word. I do not hate Iger. I don't care enough about him to have any feeling either way.

I was thinking how I would use the word hate......

I got one.. I hate that the Osborne lights are gone

 

[Mr. Engagement]

Funnily enough, the Iger recipe for success in the 2010s largely contributed to the hole the company finds itself in today. They trained audiences to show up for one kind of expensive VFX movie. When the audience tired of that, the company had no Plan B except “watch these mega-budgeted VFX streaming series” for $8/mo. You see the problem?

If audiences are now trained (thanks to the evil Bob Iger) to ONLY turn out for "expensive VFX movies," how do you explain the recent success of Barbie, Oppenheimer and Mario? And how does it explain the poor response to Disney's recent animated films? And have you seen all the content on Hulu and Disney+ that isn't "expensive VFX movies?"

Hulu's The Bear is fantastic! Only Murders in the Building has been killing it (sorry)! How have these managed to be hits if Bob Iger trained us so well?

 

[Cliff]

I'm team Peltz all the way! Restore the Magic!

The current Burbank group is running Disney straight into the ground. 90% of Disney's problems today are COMPLETELY self induced. It's ALL a chain of horrible decisions by executives completely out of touch with reality.

 

[Mr. Engagement]

Hate is a strong word. I do not hate Iger. I don't care enough about him to have any feeling either way.

I was thinking how I would use the word hate......

I got one.. I hate that the Osborne lights are gone

Well, whatever you call it, it seems to be a pretty strong motivator for loads of posts that conveniently ignore the company's successes simply because they happened under Iger.

 

[Brian]

I'm team Peltz all the way! Restore the Magic!

The current Burbank group is running Disney straight into the ground. 90% of Disney's problems today are COMPLETELY self induced. It's ALL a chain of horrible decisions by executives completely out of touch with reality.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I'm team Peltz all the way! Restore the Magic!

The current Burbank group is running Disney straight into the ground. 90% of Disney's problems today are COMPLETELY self induced. It's ALL a chain of horrible decisions by executives completely out of touch with reality.

Peltz and his "team" will sell the entire company for parts. There will be no "magic". I don't disagree that the company has problems, but Peltz is not the solution.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Regardless of how you feel about the state of the parks or about Disney's recent losing streak at the box office (while pivoting to become a major streaming platform), Iger has been in charge while Disney cranked out some of the highest grossing, most popular films and franchises in box office history.

Iger will eventually leave one way or another. His record has both highs and lows. But the hate is blinding many disgruntled folks here (and causing them to post a bunch of nonsense).

I like to think a Disney fan is like a sports fan. We love our team and we root for our team and we are happy when we are winning. We complain about our team; we complain about folks who are running our team when things are doing bad. When our team comes back and is winning, all is forgotten and we are happy.

You are right, I write nonsense because its fun and entertaining. You are right, these boards are nonsense. We like to think Disney reads these boards, and knows @_caleb is a loyal Disney fan and is some one who gets it. For others, they like to think they can show Disney the right things to do to make Disney the best ever. I would like to think, if Disney is reading these boards, they get a laugh or a smile out of it. In case you are reading this Disney, please bring back the Osborne lights!

The reality is, Disney is not reading the nonsense on these boards, they are not even reading the good stuff @_caleb is posting. Disney will do what they will do and we are all just fans and/or spectators.

 

[Lilofan]

Peltz and his "team" will sell the entire company for parts. There will be no "magic". I don't disagree that the company has problems, but Peltz is not the solution.

Even before that, Iger in so many words is looking to unload parts of the company. That's nothing new.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Even before that, Iger in so many words is looking to unload parts of the company. That's nothing new.

I won't disagree that Iger has discussed unloading parts of the company, but Peltz would dismantle the company.

We can all go back and forth in here, but in this day and age the company is worth far more together than separate.

Star Wars & Marvel for example, they spent nearly $8B (if not more) to acquire them, Forbes estimates that the MCU is worth $53B and Forbes estimates that Star Wars is worth $65B. However, that really isn't my point, these are producers that diversify the content Disney is creating, so does their 20th Century acquisitions. Their goal was to diversify and broaden their reach to try to make D+ more successful. Did they succeed? Not yet. I'm kind of rambling here, so I do apologize, but Star Wars & Marvel are integral parts of the brand now.

DPEP (While this should be restructured again), the parks are the most profitable part of the company and almost always have been. Selling them off may sound like a good idea in the short term, I just think this would further Disney's issues in the long term.

Selling off the Studios (their IP) which one could argue is more valuable than anything else, makes no sense.

If I was Disney, I would sell off ESPN, further consolidate their Fox acquisition assets and restructure the company again. The company overall is just very bloated in all the wrong places.

Iger's replacement(s) need to be a dual CEO/COO type deal. One person can not right this ship, and honestly one person should not be steering it. It's too diverse & large.

 

[Nubs70]

Peltz and his "team" will sell the entire company for parts. There will be no "magic". I don't disagree that the company has problems, but Peltz is not the solution.

They need to divest the low EBITDA entities

 

[Disstevefan1]

the parks are the most profitable part of the company and almost always have been. Selling them off may sound like a good idea in the short term, I just think this would further Disney's issues in the long term.

Selling the parks off is such a short sighted, stupid thing, it sounds EXACTLY WHAT IGER'S DISNEY company would do sadly.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Some in here seem to really be advocating for a world where Disney no longer exists, and their IP sold off to various other corporations, to do who knows what with.

No thanks. I think Disney can fix their issues, they've had many a rebound before.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Iger has been in charge while Disney cranked out some of the highest grossing, most popular films and franchises in box office history.

So what changed?

 

[Mr. Engagement]

I like to think a Disney fan is like a sports fan. We love our team and we root for our team and we are happy when we are winning. We complain about our team; we complain about folks who are running our team when things are doing bad. When our team comes back and is winning, all is forgotten and we are happy.

You are right, I write nonsense because its fun and entertaining. You are right, these boards are nonsense. We like to think Disney reads these boards, and knows @_caleb is a loyal Disney fan and is some one who gets it. For others, they like to think they can show Disney the right things to do to make Disney the best ever. I would like to think, if Disney is reading these boards, they get a laugh or a smile out of it. In case you are reading this Disney, please bring back the Osborne lights!

The reality is, Disney is not reading the nonsense on these boards, they are not even reading the good stuff @_caleb is posting. Disney will do what they will do and we are all just fans and/or spectators.

Disney aren't my audience (real or imagined) when I post, YOU are (well, you and all the other members/lurkers of WDWMagic). I'm not an activist, and I'm not trying to perform for anyone. I'm just a fan.

I enjoy many aspects of the Disney Parks and films, so I hang out here to discuss them with others who enjoy them. I want people to recognize some of the things I enjoy because I want them to enjoy those things too.

So when posters fixate on the negative, I try to point them to things that I find interesting, hoping they might find some enjoyment in discussion. But if what people enjoy is complaining or overreacting, that's not something I find fun.

Folks are free to post whatever this site allows, but I would prefer we at least try to engage with one another rather than continuing the common pattern of dropping in, sarcastically mocking Bob Iger, complaining about everything Disney does, self-righteously mocking other posters, and then jumping out.

 

[Mr. Engagement]

So what changed?

I've posted my perspective on this in a few different threads here, but I think the entire world has changed: technology (and our use of it for entertainment), demographics/segmentation of audiences, and competition have all changed pretty dramatically in the last 10 years or so. The pandemic seems to have accelerated these changes.

Disney is pulling back on its increasingly volatile and expensive businesses (linear and box office), leaning into its stronger business (parks), and building a new business (streaming). Disney is in the middle of a major pivot to its Direct-to-Consumer strategy. During this time, box office will necessarily take a lower priority than it historically held and parks are going to receive less investment and be milked for all they're worth.

When Paramount and Warners merge or fold, maybe we'll come to appreciate the foresight Disney had in making the change. I just think many have grown impatient during this lackluster in-between time.