News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

[Basil of Baker Street]

It is really fascinating to see how they're strip-mining their IP for poorly-recieved D+ series these days. Two weeks ago it was Willow, last week it was National Treasure. In a way it's reverting to the mean, like how they made terrible DTV sequels of popular films, except now they're basically throwing major motion picture budgets for D+ series that are somehow worse than those terrible Sunday night films they used to churn out.

Is National Treasure not hitting the marks? I saw the trailer and it looked interesting.

 

[fgmnt]

The reason I have some hope (though not necessarily an expectation) that things might get better in the parks in the short term is that discontent with how the parks are being run has been such a big part of the narrative about why Chapek was failing and Iger had to be brought back.

Whatever the ins and outs of who is responsible for what between Chapek and Iger, it wouldn't surprise me if he wants part of his legacy to be restoring their parks to their former glory. After all, that was part of the story the first time with the overhaul of DCA. It also probably felt nice to wander through Disneyland and have people treat him like a hero and if he was at all involved in stoking the narrative of the parks' decline in the press it makes sense he wants the narrative to now be that he is their saviour.

We shall see, but I think there's also plenty of room to throw more money at the parks without it causing much of an issue with investors.

I don't know how measurable it is or what is to happen next, but it is definitely my perception that the poor state of the parks has breached into sections of more public discourse than places like this website and discussions in other niche places with niche people. It definitely means something will change. Whether it be an internal changing of the status quo, a public reckoning of the CEO Iger really is, or some level of papering over the reputation with some changes, something will happen about it.

 

[_caleb]

I don't know why you think there's some relevant difference. Just because it wasn't his original contract doesn't make the extension any less of a contract. In 2017, the Board extended his contract through 12/31/21. He stepped down in February 2020. Therefore, he stepped down with 22 months remaining on his contract. Calling it an extension doesn't make that fact any less true.

A CEO's contract extension is a temporary solution negotiated between the CEO and the Board. A CEO leaving abruptly in the middle of a 10 year contract might be a different scenario than someone retiring (however abruptly) after a couple extensions only to retain Chairmanship of the Board and then into a $10M consulting role after multiple extensions of an existing contract after that.

All I'm saying is that if you're going to speculate, you may want to take things like this into consideration and if you're going to speculate, just admit that it's speculation. Like you did here:

Sure, it's speculation, but it's speculation based on knowledge of how other large publicly traded corporations typically handle these types of transitions when the departing CEO wasn't fired.

My feelings about the speculation game are similar to how I feel about armchair Imagineering: it's fun to dream sometimes, but many who do engage take it way too seriously, and few really seem to know what they're talking about.

 

[_caleb]

which further depletes the perceived value of a movie ticket

Almost as if they're doing it on purpose

 

[Slpy3270]

The 20th Century/HBO Max deal ends this year, so Avatar 2 is likely going to D+ whenever it hits streaming.

It will be likely on both, like West Side Story and Ron's Gone Wrong are.

 

[TalkingHead]

Almost as if they're doing it on purpose

Are they also tanking the stock on purpose? After today it’s down 45% YTD.

 

[_caleb]

Are they also tanking the stock on purpose? After today it’s down 45% YTD.

I'm sure someone here has crafted a narrative where that's the case!

 

[brb1006]

It is really fascinating to see how they're strip-mining their IP for poorly-recieved D+ series these days. Two weeks ago it was Willow, last week it was National Treasure. In a way it's reverting to the mean, like how they made terrible DTV sequels of popular films, except now they're basically throwing major motion picture budgets for D+ series that are somehow worse than those terrible Sunday night films they used to churn out.

Not all of DTV sequels movies were terrible. I actually enjoyed 101 Dalmatians 2 and Bambi 2.

 

[brb1006]

What’s even crazier is the Eisner-era DTV sequels almost always had substitutes for the celebrity voice actors from the feature films which helped the theatrical films retain prestige. Now they put the live-action star talent in series which further depletes the perceived value of a movie ticket. Talk about an industry in disarray.

I loved Patrick Stewart's performance as The Great Prince of The Forest.

 

[lazyboy97o]

A CEO's contract extension is a temporary solution negotiated between the CEO and the Board.

No, it is not. High level executives are not hired for indefinite periods. They don’t work at will. They are hired for set periods of time and when that continues it’s often described as an extension.

Here’s an article about a recent contract extension. The very first sentence contradicts your claim.

MSN

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

See I think you are far less likely to get this because of the “cash cow”…they are looking to extract more off them based on economics…

And the customers (always to blame) have accepted it.

Sadly…the only way to get more “quality” is to have bookings go down, cancellations increase, and tie it back to the quality decline.
The most - and only - powerful weapon the Disney customer has is to NOT GO

Possibly, we just got off a sold out Disney Wonder though and that service was incredible.

DCL is a cash cow too but probably the best service I’ve experienced in years, not sure why the parks have gone downhill while DCL hasn’t, DCL shows it’s possible for the service level to remain exceptionally high even without a customer backlash forcing it.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Possibly, we just got off a sold out Disney Wonder though and that service was incredible.

DCL is a cash cow too but probably the best service I’ve experienced in years, not sure why the parks have gone downhill while DCL hasn’t, DCL shows it’s possible for the service level to remain exceptionally high even without a customer backlash forcing it.

DCL's prices have reached a level for me personally where I want to explore other options. The kids get one last DCL cruise to enjoy Vibe and then it's off to other cruise lines. Prices rose steadily after Chapek took over P&R. Then there's the Wish... Oh boy.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I'm sure someone here has crafted a narrative where that's the case!

Not here, but I reckon someone on the two main clickbait sites have.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Might have to do with some unprecedented longterm price gouging…everywhere…and people running out of cash and credit?

Nah. Everything is great! People are vacationing as much as ever before! The parks are fine! The Disney Brand© is unbeatable, untouchable, and unbreakable!! Nothing could go wr... oh wait...

 

[lazyboy97o]

DCL is a cash cow too but probably the best service I’ve experienced in years, not sure why the parks have gone downhill while DCL hasn’t, DCL shows it’s possible for the service level to remain exceptionally high even without a customer backlash forcing it.

Cruising is a respectable leisure activity. Theme parks are not.

 

[Slpy3270]

If Disney stock was down solely because of Avatar WoW only slightly missing the lower end of projections then Warner Bros. Discovery wouldn't have dropped worse, nor would other media stocks be in the red.

This is pure "recession coming"/"sell the news" garbage. Whatever Iger plans in terms of layoffs and cost cutting come 2023 (hopefully not Zaslav-style) was likely decided before WoW was released (the film is still on track to reach the $1 billion-$1.5 billion break-even point, all things considered).

 

[Jambo Dad]

Counterpoint: nothing Chapek did over the last two years was as bad as 8-Bit Christmas or The Matrix Resurrections.

Strange World and She-Hulk were worse, among others. It was close though. Not a fight you want to win.

 

[Tha Realest]

If Disney stock was down solely because of Avatar WoW only slightly missing the lower end of projections then Warner Bros. Discovery wouldn't have dropped worse, nor would other media stocks be in the red.

This is pure "recession coming"/"sell the news" garbage. Whatever Iger plans in terms of layoffs and cost cutting come 2023 (hopefully not Zaslav-style) was likely decided before WoW was released.

I don't know. WBD only dropped .64% today, and Netflix 0.83%, compared to Disney's 4.32%.

 

[Tha Realest]

Is National Treasure not hitting the marks? I saw the trailer and it looked interesting.

Disney Plus’s New ‘National Treasure’ TV Show Is Getting Roasted In Reviews

While Disney Plus is a great resource for familes with its huge back catalogue, in terms of new releases it lags behind its competitors, and something like National Treasure: Edge of History does not seem like it’s changing that conversation for the better.

www.forbes.com

 

[Jambo Dad]

Well, I can imagine several. But I’m not the one playing speculation games.

And Iger wasn’t “mid-contract.” (ETA: Maybe “mid-extension:”)

From Wikipedia:


Iger stated many times that he was ready to retire. Then he retired and continued on as a $10M consultant.

I’m just tired of speculation being posited as fact. We’re fans who follow this stuff, and it’s great fun to discuss, but the truth is that we just don’t know why Iger retired (the first time) when he did.

I also get tired of the group here assuming everyone is badly intentioned and Machiavellian.