News Chapek FIRED, Iger New CEO

[comics101]

I feel like Iger's recent emphasis on his role as a "creator" type is an effort to burnish his legacy to put him on equal footing with Jobs and Walt himself. Iger's "creative" legacy involved creatively using the books to make huge acquisitions of existing, externally-created IP. You could argue in-house creativity at Disney (or Disney acquired properties, like latter day Pixar, the Muppets, etc) has languished or flatlined.

I too found it curious how much Iger has supposedly been emphasizing the creative side of the business. Creativity and Iger are not two words I'd usually list side-by-side. He spent his entire tenure acquiring outside properties while seeming shocked at the success of Disney hits like Frozen and Moana. Iger, to me, always seemed sort of ashamed of Disney's legacy. He needed to supplant it with something new, whether that be Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel or Fox.

 

[Lilofan]

After Iger being at the helm for 15 years, leaving on his own accord, and choosing to stay heavily involved in the company upon recommending Chapek, I think the board’s approval was a rubber stamp at that point. Will it be going forward with Iger’s requests? Probably not, but I certainly think it was at the time.

Then why did Staggs who Iger highly recommend get shot down by the Board at the time? At the time Rasulo got passed over by Iger to get the CEO job, he resigned , when Staggs got passed over by the Board, he resigned too.

 

[Lilofan]

I too found it curious how much Iger has supposedly been emphasizing the creative side of the business. Creativity and Iger are not two words I'd usually list side-by-side. He spent his entire tenure acquiring outside properties while seeming shocked at the success of Disney hits like Frozen and Moana. Iger, to me, always seemed sort of ashamed of Disney's legacy. He needed to supplant it with something new, whether that be Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel or Fox.

And TWDC grew because of his acquisitions and so did the stock price.

 

[Ayla]

It's no coincidence that a lot of talent has gone elsewhere since Chapek became CEO.

 

[hopemax]

Did you read the article? What do you think of this:

Marvel boss Kevin Feige won’t address the Johansson litigation, but, while he is not known for discussing Disney internal politics, he says the still-new CEO is being underestimated. “I think he is a creative guy, a nice guy, a real guy,” Feige says, adding that Chapek offers “just enough of an opinion to give good feedback” on early cuts of movies and shows.​

Someone would have to be intensely stupid to interfere with Feige's track record of success. Despite what we may think of Chapek's CEO capabilities, I don't think we think he's that level bad. He just has a range, and CEO is not part of it. So I'm not sure Feige's words are the best judge of ability. His experience is likely very different than anyone else's in regards to what Chapek offers him. Feige wants to have control, with some hot takes to make sure things are on track, meeting expectations, etc and Chapek can give that to Feige. But Feige can't possibly know if Chapek is capable of identifying the next Feige. The person who is so good at their job, so in tune with what they are being asked to develop, that they can be given a long leash and a big playground and be successful. Iger obviously tried that with Star Wars and it blew up in their face. Feige can't know if Chapek is capable, when presented with a brand, new story world that it has the potential to blow up into something as big as Marvel.

My impression with Chapek is that he will rely on the kernel of something that has a proven track record of being marketable. The new stuff, the never been done before stuff, he's not going to have the confidence to pull the trigger. And it's something Disney desperately, all of Hollywood actually, desperately needs.

 

[hopemax]

I too found it curious how much Iger has supposedly been emphasizing the creative side of the business. Creativity and Iger are not two words I'd usually list side-by-side. He spent his entire tenure acquiring outside properties while seeming shocked at the success of Disney hits like Frozen and Moana. Iger, to me, always seemed sort of ashamed of Disney's legacy. He needed to supplant it with something new, whether that be Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel or Fox.

Right, Iger did one thing... Correctly identify that Disney had not "expanded the bench" since the Renaissance era. But since then Pixar is turned into a shell of itself, and the properties Disney / Pixar did create that had the potential to resonate with current audiences if cultivated properly, seem mishandled. Not just the two you mentioned but Tangled, Inside Out, Zootopia, Coco maybe Big Hero 6. We hear things from time to time, not in an "expanding the bench" way, but as replacements for other beloved uniquely Disney properties which breeds ill will. Imagine if Cinderella pushed out Snow White, Aurora pushed out Cinderella, Ariel pushed out Aurora, Belle pushed out Ariel and so on. That seems to be the path to judge new properties...are they strong enough to push something else out? No, then don't invest in it.

 

[FantasiaMickey2000]

I feel zero sympathy for Chapek. The person I felt sorry for after reading that was Staggs. He got royally screwed by Chapek.

Then why did Staggs who Iger highly recommend get shot down by the Board at the time? At the time Rasulo got passed over by Iger to get the CEO job, he resigned , when Staggs got passed over by the Board, he resigned too.

My answer to both of you is I always thought Staggs resigned because Iger made it clear he wasn’t resigning anytime soon. Chapek didn’t become CEO until 4 years after Staggs resigned and even then here we are a year and a half later and Chapek is still in Iger’s shadow. I admit I’m not as tuned in on the Iger era as the Eisner one, but that was always my understanding.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I feel like Iger's recent emphasis on his role as a "creator" type is an effort to burnish his legacy to put him on equal footing with Jobs and Walt himself. Iger's "creative" legacy involved creatively using the books to make huge acquisitions of existing, externally-created IP. You could argue in-house creativity at Disney (or Disney acquired properties, like latter day Pixar, the Muppets, etc) has languished or flatlined.

As far as a “creator” goes…Iger created nothing. He bought IP in an era of buying ip and shuffling stocks with corporate buybacks. He is what he is and that isn’t necessarily a slight.

but he’s not close to that level or the other elephant in the room.

did Iger buy a major television operation? (He got bought…in fact)
Did he launch a timeshare?
Did he expand parks into two new countries/areas?
did he start a cruiseline?

no…not even close.

he acquired somewhat undervalued IP and increased the yield from products. Credit where credit is due. But not creative.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Then why did Staggs who Iger highly recommend get shot down by the Board at the time? At the time Rasulo got passed over by Iger to get the CEO job, he resigned , when Staggs got passed over by the Board, he resigned too.

Iger wasn’t ready to consider going…and one lesson he learned was to keep the subordinates down.
That was on his old boss who he avoided - successfully.

rasulo and staggs weren’t great…but if you follow the trail of bread crumbs it seems they were pushed out because Bob made it known he wasn’t leaving and succession was moot.

which is exactly what Roy E warned of and how they got to a potential mess now

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

My answer to both of you is I always thought Staggs resigned because Iger made it clear he wasn’t resigning anytime soon. Chapek didn’t become CEO until 4 years after Staggs resigned and even then here we are a year and a half later and Chapek is still in Iger’s shadow. I admit I’m not as tuned in on the Iger era as the Eisner one, but that was always my understanding.

Your understanding is correct.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I just finished reading Disney War, and those skills were held by none other than Michael Ovitz. And we see how that turned out (though, admittedly, he was undercut at each step by Eisner himself)

That and Project Future are the best books ever written about Disney and/or their business dealings

 

[FantasiaMickey2000]

That and Project Future are the best books ever written about Disney and/or their business dealings

I second that recommendation of Disney War. I thought it was fantastic. I’ll have to check out Project Future.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

The most interesting aspect of this article for me is that Iger chose to provide comments. That suggests to me that he is supportive of the narrative Chapek is screwing things up.

We shall see if it's true or not, but there does seem little indication Chapek is creatively inclined. Must say that I also don't like the way he talks about Disney park fans or how the company responded to the Scarlett Johannessen lawsuit by accusing her of being insensitive to those who suffered due to COVID. His claim that the pandemic allowed them to throw off old taboos in the running of the parks and then the price rises and slashing of benefits also feeds into the narrative of him being a person driven by metrics and a little insensitive to the experience of guests.

Spoiler: Miss me yet?

View attachment 591539

You want Eisner back? Ok, back to the future of Disney theme parks then...

 

[MisterPenguin]

Chapek was announced as CEO suddenly in February after SDL was already closed due to Covid-19 in January. We were pretending here it wouldn't be a thing, but the Bobs were well aware. It seemed like an opportunity play at the time with no downside to Iger

Iger said that his decision to finally retire for realz this time and to promote Chapek was made in the late Fall of 2018. Months before COVID.

No one on the Board or any of their advisors have disputed that or leaked otherwise.

 

[VJ]

if iger is behind the anti-chapek rhetoric, then... what's the motive? iger's gonna be gone in a few months. he hand-picked chapek for the role. isn't it iger's fault no matter what? and it's not like he wants to be CEO eternal... like i said, he's leaving and it doesn't seem like he wants to look back

i just don't understand why iger would need to have an article put out about how bad chapek is at his job - could this not just be a journalist on the outside looking in, noticing the cracks?

 

[WondersOfLife]

I wish they'd just bring Walt Disney back.... Am I right guys?

EDIT: Idea: Get the latest AI technology, have it research EVERYthing about Walt Disney, what kind of decisions he'd make, ect.... And then have it record every word in Walt's voice from old snippets. Finally, to top it all off, have that AI in charge of the entire Disney company. I guarantee you it'd be better than bobs.

 

[VJ]

I wish they'd just bring Walt Disney back.... Am I right guys?

EDIT: Idea: Get the latest AI technology, have it research EVERYthing about Walt Disney, what kind of decisions he'd make, ect.... And then have it record every word in Walt's voice from old snippets. Finally, to top it all off, have that AI in charge of Walt Disney World.

to be completely honest, walt without roy is a dog without a leash. walt on his own is no doubt a creative visionary, but i don't think he has what it takes to run a company like disney by himself - especially with how big the company has grown over the past 98 years

 

[Brer Panther]

His feud with Katzenberg led to the creation of one of Disney’s few animation rivals in Dreamworks.

Katzenberg is a jerk, to be fair.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The most interesting aspect of this article for me is that Iger chose to provide comments. That suggests to me that he is supportive of the narrative Chapek is screwing things up.

We shall see if it's true or not, but there does seem little indication Chapek is creatively inclined. Must say that I also don't like the way he talks about Disney park fans or how the company responded to the Scarlett Johannessen lawsuit by accusing her of being insensitive to those who suffered due to COVID. His claim that the pandemic allowed them to throw off old taboos in the running of the parks and then the price rises and slashing of benefits also feeds into the narrative of him being a person driven by metrics and a little insensitive to the experience of guests.


You want Eisner back? Ok, back to the future of Disney theme parks then...

View attachment 591586

1. Iger is definitely an “insider” guy when it comes to the Hollywood press. Remember his lawyer and fixer that are leaving? If you want to find strife…start right there.

2. Eisner had to go…he was there too long. I don’t argue that. But I’ll take the early parts of the book over the last chapter

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Iger said that his decision to finally retire for realz this time and to promote Chapek was made in the late Fall of 2018. Months before COVID.

No one on the Board or any of their advisors have disputed that or leaked otherwise.

The federal government knew of the potential danger and catastrophic projections of covid in December 2019 and early January 2020 (some narcissists talk too much)…

so if you follow the path of power…business would have known the danger before it was on the nightly news.

Iger “stepped down” on 2/26/20…

most of the country went into lockdown on 3/15/20.

Now you can believe whatever you want…I certainly won’t convince you. But it should be realized that:
1. A business does not have a responsibility to tell the truth to the public if it’s not misleading or illegal financially…and they get away with that anyway.
2. There are very few coincidences in life.