News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
WRT parks: Iger was always concerned about Guest Satisfaction Surveys (GSAT). That is why Park Reservations aren't going away. Not only does that allow them to control costs with matching the right number of guests to attendance, but, an overcrowded park is a park that gets low GSAT, and that hurts the brand, and Iger carefully protects the brand.

So, look to Iger to give the go ahead to fix what is currently getting low GSAT. If they weren't already axing the Stargate and DE, I'd say they'd be on the chopping block.

And look for popular IPs to make an even stronger appearance in the parks.
 
MrPromey

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
The Moles Family said:
Not sure who Daniel is.

Josh I hate to say will probably survive this and has probably already disappeared up Iger's Rear end
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That would be Kareem Daniel.

Bob C turned a lot of heads both in the company and in the industry when he put this bean counter with absolutely zero experience ever managing a creative project in charge of almost everything creative in the company and instantly capping every creative executive in the knees in the process by taking away their autonomy and putting this guy in control of them.

This didn't get a lot of play in mainstream media (why would it?) but it was one of his more tone-deaf moves which really showed he knew nothing about the company he'd worked for over the span of nearly 30 years.
 
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zombiebbq

zombiebbq

Well-Known Member
Why exactly is bringing in the same CEO yet again exciting? It screams of poor Board leadership. I'm happy Chapek is leaving but Iger coming back is "meh" news. This is more to try and stave off further losses than for Iger to come in and reverse any poorly received decisions the company has made recently. Who honestly believes fast pass is coming back? C'mon.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
One has to wonder what happens to Brian Chapek, Bob's son who has had a meteoric rise at Marvel Studios (Surprise! How'd that happen?) for the past decade? Brian Chapek is now an Executive Producer for Marvel Studios.

At the very least, it's gonna be a little awkward when Brian checks back in at the Burbank office next Monday after Thanksgiving with the family. :oops:
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
zombiebbq said:
Why exactly is bringing in the same CEO yet again exciting? It screams of poor Board leadership. I'm happy Chapek is leaving but Iger coming back is "meh" news.
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Agreed. But I think what this shows is that the Board knows they made a mistake by approving the Chapek promotion in the first place (obvious), and there's NO ONE who isn't too attached to Chapek who can take over on short notice (less obvious, but truth).

Since Bob Iger now realizes he can't get into politics (wrong race/gender for Diane Feinstein's Senate seat, and Gavin Newsom already has hotel reservations to attend the 2023 Iowa State Fair against his will), I am sure Bob Iger was lured back with a very lucrative 2 year contract.

If Iger does his fix-it job correctly in the next 12 months and finds a new leadership team, he can be out in half the time and get the two year mega-contract paid out to him with his executive cred even stronger. Bob Iger's ego is happy, Willow Bay is happy, the Board is happy, and for comic relief Gavin Newsom still has to pretend to be interested in butter molds at the Iowa State Fair. A Disney Fairytale Ending! :D
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
zombiebbq said:
Why exactly is bringing in the same CEO yet again exciting? It screams of poor Board leadership. I'm happy Chapek is leaving but Iger coming back is "meh" news. This is more to try and stave off further losses than for Iger to come in and reverse any poorly received decisions the company has made recently. Who honestly believes fast pass is coming back? C'mon.
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It's not intended to be exciting for us. It's supposed to calm down the executives and shareholders. From their perspective, Iger is good because they made money while he was CEO. And they made less money while Chapek was in charge, so he's bad. Now they're all flailing around like headless chicken trying to figure out what to do. Iger is the only answer they can come up with.

For those who care more about the company other than its finances, there's a very significant chance that hings remain the same as they did under Chapek, very possibly getting even worse. For this to be good news from a fan's perspective, Iger would have to run the company entirely differently from how he did before. And I don't see that happening. The statement also says that his term will be short while he helps search for a replacement. Iger fired all the other people intended to be his replacement because of his massive ego and god complex.

I'm doubtful anyone involved really know what they're doing. Iger will keep on doing what he's always done budget-wise (which is largely the same as what Chapek tried to do), perhaps even more aggressively slicing budgets apart and hiking prices. And remain there for as long as the board lets him and he feels it's safe to be there (strategically fleeing again if another crisis brews).
 
MrPromey

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
It was the intention of Marvel TV to connect Netflix Marvel to the MCU. The tv division of Marvel certainly tried to make it happen and would continually update their world to match the MCU.

But since movies and tv were separated departments, neither could definitively say they definitely were or were not part of the MCU. Attempts to do crossovers generally failed (with the exception of appearances of Fury and Sif) with the excuse that movies and tv were on different production schedules.

With the cancellation of Netlix Marvel shows and the consolidation of all things Marvel under Feige (except for Sony Marvel Spider-Man and friends), then it was up to Feige to say if Netflix Marvel was in the MCU or not. And he remained silent on that for a long time.

Until.. the multiverse was introduce into the MCU. And then, Feige can have it both ways: The Netflix Marvel is a separate universe from the main MCU making it canon multiversally, but not canon to the main MCU.

It's been now establish that the Daredevil and Kingpin of the MCU (in Hawkeye, No Way Home, and She-Hulk) are not of the same universe as their Netflix Marvel counterparts.
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Very simple, really.

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addacollier

addacollier

Member
So how do we think this news will affect our experience at WDW? I can’t see Genie + being scrapped. Might we be able to book our individual Lighting Lane selections weeks in advance instead of having a 7am bun fight?
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Findus said:
Many a year lurker and reader of this place but my first post.

In terms of the parks what are your opinions on what will change short and medium term with Bob’s return.

Does Iger need or have the power to implement “quick wins” for the parks? And if so what would you want to see first?
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Absolutely nothing will change short-term. There could be changes mid-term, but this is happening because there are divisions in Burbank that are hemorrhaging red ink, namely the flagship animation studios and the live action studios. Only Marvel seems to make money at the box office now.

The Parks are a cash cow, even during economic tough times. Burbank knows that, and puts them on auto pilot for awhile in times like these. There will be no changes seen or felt in the parks because of Iger's return until a year from now at the earliest.

Short term, Bob Iger and the Board will be happy to let the amusement parks and cruise ships (that Burbank senior executives don't even like to visit, especially with all those middle class folks) keep providing monthly cash flow while they focus on the real problems at hand:

Bob Iger's Real Problems For 2023
  • Studio entertainment's bloated budgets and/or box office flops
  • Streaming is a bottomless money pit (see above)
  • Complete lack of talent development in the senior executive ranks
  • No showmen are leading a showman's company (see above)
 
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MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
addacollier said:
So how do we think this news will affect our experience at WDW? I can’t see Genie + being scrapped. Might we be able to book our individual Lighting Lane selections weeks in advance instead of having a 7am bun fight?
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I don't think they'll scrap Genie+. They make money off of that. And as far as I can tell, it unfortunately doesn't seem like attendance has been negatively impacted by their swindling schemes.

I assume the leadership swap has more to do with the movie/tv/streaming financial situation than the parks. If anything, I expect them to continue the way the parks are being handled, and very likely push the limits even farther to help cover losses elsewhere in the company. That's how Iger covered costs of his acquisitions, FP+ and Shanghai's out of control budget.
 
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Vegas Disney Fan

Vegas Disney Fan

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Absolutely nothing will change short-term. There could be changes mid-term, but this is happening because there are divisions in Burbank that are hemorrhaging red ink, namely the flagship animation studios and the live action studios. Only Marvel seems to make money at the box office now.

The Parks are a cash cow, even during economic tough times. Burbank knows that, and taps into it in times like these. There will be no changes seen or felt in the parks because of Iger's return until a year from now at the earliest.

Short term, Bob Iger and the Board will be happy to let the amusement parks and cruise ships (that Burbank senior executives don't even like to visit, especially with all those middle class folks) keep providing monthly cash flow while they focus on the real problems at hand; studio entertainment, streaming money pit, and a complete lack of talent development in the senior executive ranks.
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The rumor of the activist investor is the only scenario that makes sense to me, if someone wasn’t threatening a boardroom takeover I think the board would have been happy to continue on the same path with Chapek.

I don’t think guest satisfaction, financials, or any of the other possible reasons justify a surprise weekend change at the top level but the board fighting off a boardroom takeover and trying to save their own jobs sure does.

That said I doubt we’ll see major changes in the parks, probably better maintenance, cleanliness, staffing, etc. Nothing substantial, just a better product.
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
The most filthy and dilapidated i've ever seen the Florida parks was right smack in the Iger era between 2010-2012. That even includes the soon-to-be-gone Splash Mountain (the current condition is also quite bad but still nowhere near as bad as 2012). The parks might have been that way or worse for even longer beforehand, but I didn't visit from 1998 to 2009. So 2010-2012 are just my own personal lowest standard for how bad things can get.

So I would advise people who are hoping the condition of the parks might improve with Iger's return to put expectations very firmly in check. Things can get a lot worse. Especially if they're looking for ways to improve finances wherever they can.
 
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CaptinEO

CaptinEO

Well-Known Member
Tay said:
Wow! Imo, Chapek got to much hate for the poor financial decisions Iger made that became worse once the pandemic hit. However, dude was just a nasty jerk. You need some type of decent people skills and personality to run a company like Disney and he had 0. I don’t feel bad for him. I’m sure he’s got and will get millions. I’m interested in what Iger can do since all of this is his fault anyway.
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This describes my thoughts exactly. A lot of the issues with Disney people have now are a result of Iger's decisions. But Chapek's personality was definitely not right for this role.

I mean Iger's last major role as CEO was hiring a successor, the same successor the board now deemed unfit for the job. No idea why they chose Iger again.
 

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