News Josh D’Amaro Named Next CEO of The Walt Disney Company

[Sirwalterraleigh]

While I wasn’t his biggest fan (large critic actually), his parks contribution with Shanghai Disneyland, California Adventure’s redo, the Disney Dream/Fantasy Disney Cruise Line cruise ships, and Pandora: The World of Avatar were nothing short of extraordinary, so I’ll always be thankful to him for leading and approving them.

Parks guy is in control of nothing…which is why parks guy has trouble…IF he’s ever put in control

Get ready for it

 

[Tha Realest]

And that’s why last week was bad (I’ve been holding my tongue as much as possible )…

Some things are outside the normal parameters. While “most business” can all be tossed in a blender and come out looking the same there are those that Have a unique spot meant for them.

I say it all the time about Star Wars (tangent)…and the evidence has continued to pile in on that case

Well…Disney is a unicorn…it has always been. It has direct competitors - now more than ever - but it is the lone one with an entire century of addictive emotional attachment that people can’t separate themselves from in its corner…

So while your list is 100% true…it’s a Mistake to operate that way…for them

Which is why you have talk directly to thE CUSTOMERS first. Even if you don’t mean it at all…which none of these guys do…you have to. They’re eroding their pull.

Joshie poo failed the sniff test right out of the gate.

The bobs were painfully incapable of talking to the customers with any sincerity at all. Just terrible. When you think you’re Steve Jobs and yet come off as far less personable and a way worse salesman?…you’re lost.

Well talking to random investors and kissing bobs 2.5 feet off the ground keister as your “intro” is about as bad as you could Draw it up

I would be interested to see how the attendance is affected by oil and gas prices.

 

[GhostHost1000]

While I wasn’t his biggest fan (large critic actually), his parks contribution with Shanghai Disneyland, California Adventure’s redo, the Disney Dream/Fantasy Disney Cruise Line cruise ships, and Pandora: The World of Avatar were nothing short of extraordinary, so I’ll always be thankful to him for leading and approving them.

Bob is that you?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I would be interested to see how the attendance is affected by oil and gas prices.

The crunch on the parks market is likely going to amount to a lot more than a spike in oil prices.

Still something we’re not being told about the state of things…my spidersense says…

 

[HMF]

And that’s why last week was bad (I’ve been holding my tongue as much as possible )…

Some things are outside the normal parameters. While “most business” can all be tossed in a blender and come out looking the same there are those that Have a unique spot meant for them.

I say it all the time about Star Wars (tangent)…and the evidence has continued to pile in on that case

Well…Disney is a unicorn…it has always been. It has direct competitors - now more than ever - but it is the lone one with an entire century of addictive emotional attachment that people can’t separate themselves from in its corner…

So while your list is 100% true…it’s a Mistake to operate that way…for them

Which is why you have talk directly to thE CUSTOMERS first. Even if you don’t mean it at all…which none of these guys do…you have to. They’re eroding their pull.

Joshie poo failed the sniff test right out of the gate.

The bobs were painfully incapable of talking to the customers with any sincerity at all. Just terrible. When you think you’re Steve Jobs and yet come off as far less personable and a way worse salesman?…you’re lost.

Well talking to random investors and kissing bobs 2.5 feet off the ground keister as your “intro” is about as bad as you could Draw it up

Michael Eisner interestingly was one of a very select group of CEOs who actually felt genuine as a person. Bob Iger could have been on the cover of generic businessman weekly without much problem and Chapek was more plastic than the stuff he sold as head of consumer products.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Michael Eisner interestingly was one of a very select group of CEOs who actually felt genuine as a person. Bob Iger could have been on the cover of generic businessman weekly without much problem and Chapek was more plastic than the stuff he sold as head of consumer products.

I was gonna include that Eisner was the last executive who actually knew the value in talking to the consumers…

But I don’t think the kids are ready to hear it yet…as it goes against the self soothing”he was terrible! ” coping narrative that has been fostered on forums for 20 years because Bob is an obvious stiff…and it’s all about their vacation countdowns and trip reports…so we have to act like he’s great.

Totally frivolous and that’s the level of investment and insight.

 

[HMF]

I was gonna include that Eisner was the last executive who actually knew the value in talking to the consumers…

But I don’t think the kids are ready to hear it yet…as it goes against the self soothing”he was terrible! ” coping narrative that has been fostered on forums for 20 years because Bob is an obvious stiff…and it’s all about their vacation countdowns and trip reports…so we have to act like he’s great.

Totally frivolous and that’s the level of investment and insight.

I won't defend his mistakes but even post-Wells he did have some successes. Most of his failures affected California more than WDW anyway not that that excuses them but yeah, the post-Save Disney years did bring about a lot of historical revisionism which people who weren't there at the time tend to buy as gospel. Again, if Roy had managed to live another decade, we might have been spared a lot of the drama of the last decade most likely.

 

[WaltsTreasureChest]

I was gonna include that Eisner was the last executive who actually knew the value in talking to the consumers…

But I don’t think the kids are ready to hear it yet…as it goes against the self soothing”he was terrible! ” coping narrative that has been fostered on forums for 20 years because Bob is an obvious stiff…and it’s all about their vacation countdowns and trip reports…so we have to act like he’s great.

Totally frivolous and that’s the level of investment and insight.

Much of the nostalgia people yearn about the parks comes from the Eisner era. He expanded them like no one else, and that is what I will remember him most for. We wouldn’t have so much of what we love about the parks if it weren’t for him. Was he perfect? No CEO is, but he undeniably stood out, especially for frequent park visitors.

 

[Captain Neo]

In hindsight I think we were too hard on Eisner. Yes those past 5-10 years were rough especially for the parks with poor maintenance and new attractions being barebones carnival rides but Eisner has made the case he made those decisions because of the decline in tourism after 9/11 and overall slowdowns in consumer spending in order to keep Disney profitable so that it could survive. Pound for pound though he was the better CEO when compared to Iger. He greenlit original attractions that were non IP based and protected the overall prestige of the brand whereas Iger didn’t give a f and would do things like put a high school musical show in Tomorrowland, shut down magic kingdom for a Hannah Montana day, and rip out the rivers of America for a cars ride.

Igers big advantage was that he was a people person that helped him maintain good relations with people like Jobs, Lucas, and Murdoch so that when they were interested in selling their companies they called Iger first. He’s somebody talent could trust and because he wasn’t a micromanager he would put people in positions and give them the room to make business and creative decisions which was a key driver for success in the 2010s movie wise at least.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Much of the nostalgia people yearn about the parks comes from the Eisner era. He expanded them like no one else, and that is what I will remember him most for. We wouldn’t have so much of what we love about the parks if it weren’t for him. Was he perfect? No CEO is, but he undeniably stood out, especially for frequent park visitors.

I’m in the Choir, Reverend

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Again, if Roy had managed to live another decade, we might have been spared a lot of the drama of the last decade most likely.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I posted about this too... Airlines are starting to cut back on flights, prices for plane tickets will go up even basics like food....

It will be great again.... as in the next Great Recession.

The biggest failure in Disneys park tactics over the last 10 years has been to intentionally shrink their prospective customer pool.

Any shock to prices will rip another hole open in that pool and gravity will drain it.

years ago…the standard excuse was “for every one that leaves…5 line up to take their place…”

Anyone member that tired Disboard trope?

…anyone heard it in the last 5 or so years?

Hell of a coincidence

 

[JD80]

In hindsight I think we were too hard on Eisner. Yes those past 5-10 years were rough especially for the parks with poor maintenance and new attractions being barebones carnival rides but Eisner has made the case he made those decisions because of the decline in tourism after 9/11 and overall slowdowns in consumer spending in order to keep Disney profitable so that it could survive. Pound for pound though he was the better CEO when compared to Iger. He greenlit original attractions that were non IP based and protected the overall prestige of the brand whereas Iger didn’t give a f and would do things like put a high school musical show in Tomorrowland, shut down magic kingdom for a Hannah Montana day, and rip out the rivers of America for a cars ride.

Igers big advantage was that he was a people person that helped him maintain good relations with people like Jobs, Lucas, and Murdoch so that when they were interested in selling their companies they called Iger first. He’s somebody talent could trust and because he wasn’t a micromanager he would put people in positions and give them the room to make business and creative decisions which was a key driver for success in the 2010s movie wise at least.

Iger will mostly be remembered for his acquisitions and how much money they brought the company. Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and starting down the path towards streaming.

I don't know why greenlighting original attractions vs. IP ones has anything to do with how well a person does as CEO of a major corporation like TWDC.

Iger's resume like anything else has it's good and bad side. Prior to him leaving the first time, the parks were in the highest demand through 2019 having the highest attendance and Disney just finished a run of eight 1+ billion dollar movies in the same year including the 2nd highest grossing film of all time. (Avengers, Lion King, Frozen 2, Spider Man, Cpatain Marvel, Star Wars, Toy Story, Aladdin).

I'm not some Iger-stan here but he's had some extremely large impact in the media landscape as well as the parks globally. So you need to consider that along with the bad.

 

[UNCgolf]

Iger will mostly be remembered for his acquisitions and how much money they brought the company. Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and starting down the path towards streaming.

The interesting thing about Iger vs. Eisner here is that people don't seem to talk about acquisitions much with Eisner, but his acquisition of ESPN was probably bigger than any of Iger's acquisitions in context (i.e. relative to the size of Disney at the time, among other factors). Maybe that's because ESPN is no longer the cash cow it once was, but at one point it was apparently bringing in more profit for Disney than the rest of the company combined.

 

[HauntedPirate]

No truth to the reports that Bob was seen watching this scene of "Star Wars" over and over in the past 48 hours:

 

[Casper Gutman]

Disney Exits OpenAI Deal After AI Giant Shutters Sora

The studio giant will no longer move forward with its OpenAI investment, as the AI company exits the video generation business.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Have fun, Josh.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Disney Exits OpenAI Deal After AI Giant Shutters Sora

The studio giant will no longer move forward with its OpenAI investment, as the AI company exits the video generation business.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Have fun, Josh.

Ha, maybe Iger knew this was happening and its why he got out early, like he left just before the global shutdown due to COVID, LOL, LOL, LOL

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Disney Exits OpenAI Deal After AI Giant Shutters Sora

The studio giant will no longer move forward with its OpenAI investment, as the AI company exits the video generation business.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Have fun, Josh.

Good. With any luck at all we’ll see more of these AI dominos start falling. Let’s burst that bubble, baby.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Ha, maybe Iger knew this was happening and its why he got out early, like he left just before the global shutdown due to COVID, LOL, LOL, LOL

Well, no. This is an inconvenience Josh is gonna have to manage but

1) This will be a drop in the bucket compared to what COVID did to the company

2) The succession was not only well underway, but nearly finished by the time this deal was even finalized. Iger would have no reason to run from this in the first place, but even the suggestion that he was does not fit the timeline.

 

[BagOfGroceries]

Ha, maybe Iger knew this was happening and its why he got out early, like he left just before the global shutdown due to COVID, LOL, LOL, LOL

This is honestly gonna be a positive for D’amaro. He can easily spin it as a “pro-artist” move, get some early public goodwill.