Rumor Hollywood insiders say there's growing tension at Disney as CEO Bob Chapek chafes at Bob Iger's 'long goodbye'

[bcoachable]

Dak still isn’t quite there for me…

dinoland is still a mess…they need one more miniland…and the one big addition cost a ton and they needed outside creatives to pull it off.

Disney’s latest sole effort was the most boring planet in the Galaxy.

I love DAK, but I would agree with you on this.
After the recent “COVID” downsizing, I think “outside creatives” seems to be the push for the time being…. At least to polish the ideas up to get em ready to implement- could save the company some money in the long term.
Someone on the inside care to elaborate or confirm if I’m right??

 

[Animaniac93-98]

You mean like the World of Disney store?

The ones on 5th Avenue and the Forum Shops, yes.

 

[skypilot2922]

Of course they spent money on Under the Sea like it was an E ticket!

The other issue is that a third of that list is in the Magic Kingdom when it's really the other parks that need more of that type of attraction. The MK can always use more too, of course.

Somewhere on this board there is a video of what the imagineers WANTED to build for "Under The Sea" and frankly it was mind blowing and with that ride design "Under The Sea" would have been a a legitimate E ticket and one with capacity since it was omnimover based.

 

[LaughingGravy]

The ones on 5th Avenue and the Forum Shops, yes.

And even the one in Disney Springs or whatever it will be renamed or rethemed to in 5 years.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

And even the one in Disney Springs or whatever it will be renamed or rethemed to in 5 years.

Probably ShopDisney+ or something like that.

 

[LaughingGravy]

Probably ShopDisney+ or something like that.

Yes, lol, because why create something new and original when it can be stripped down and just re-labeled (cough cough- Journey Imagination+cough) and call it a new experience or renovation.

 

[lazyboy97o]

They really need to build a handful of small scale attractions simultaneously and open them all together, or even a couple of major attractions with several smaller ones.

Opening one or two new things every couple of years just leads to the newest thing getting overwhelmed. If there were 5 or 6 new things all at the same time, or even within a couple of months of each other, it would help spread things out.

They’ve wedged themselves between a rock and a hard place. Opening a bunch of stuff, even if small, makes it a sort of event as you’re essentially opening a land’s worth of attractions.

I love DAK, but I would agree with you on this.
After the recent “COVID” downsizing, I think “outside creatives” seems to be the push for the time being…. At least to polish the ideas up to get em ready to implement- could save the company some money in the long term.
Someone on the inside care to elaborate or confirm if I’m right??

Shanghai Disneyland was supposed to be the big grand experiment with more creative third parties and it didn’t work out. They are used, but not to the extent that Universal used to do where they would essentially be in charge. Third parties are also only really cheaper if you let them work and don’t nanomanage them.

 

[jpinkc]

IMO the problem seems to be that every new attraction has to be a high costing E ticket attraction. Instead they should be adding more C and D ticket attractions. They should be doing what Cedar Fair parks do. Adding smaller attractions most years and every few years add a major attraction.

And not some crap they bought used at a County Fair (Dino Land Im looking at you). Bring Back MR TOAD TO WDW.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

'Extremely awkward': Bob Chapek and Bob Iger had a falling out, they rarely talk — and the rift looms over Disney's future

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger chose Bob Chapek to succeed him, but their relationship soured quickly, and the pressure is on Chapek to show he's right for Disney.

www.cnbc.com

Drink it up, boys.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

'Extremely awkward': Bob Chapek and Bob Iger had a falling out, they rarely talk — and the rift looms over Disney's future

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger chose Bob Chapek to succeed him, but their relationship soured quickly, and the pressure is on Chapek to show he's right for Disney.

www.cnbc.com

Drink it up, boys.

Sounds like Chapek's really good at ticking off large numbers of people.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

'Extremely awkward': Bob Chapek and Bob Iger had a falling out, they rarely talk — and the rift looms over Disney's future

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger chose Bob Chapek to succeed him, but their relationship soured quickly, and the pressure is on Chapek to show he's right for Disney.

www.cnbc.com

Drink it up, boys.

Everyone knew this…

Iger was scared of the germ and Retired in a rush with no successor.

History is dictated by the losers

 

[Disstevefan1]

Somebody let “Bob” know a few things:

1. The new “bob” isn’t fit as a successor…but that’s what you get when you don’t find one (Roy 3:16)
2. It is a crossroads time for Disney…the media they live off is in transition and all 3 of “bob’s” big IP Buys are in a state of transition. Mostly million dollar wounds…but still.
3. “Bob” is a coward…quitting when the money people found out how bad the plague really was going to be…coming “back” in an ambiguous Public puppet master slot…then leaving…but still hanging around and controlling the board.

in or out, bub

4. the other “Bob” is a clueless Walmart manager. Guess that’s not a great idea, huh?

I wouldn’t fault Bob too much. When companies pay folks many multiple lifetimes amounts of money, it gets to a point, there is no reason to stick around; to a point of it being everything to lose and nothing to gain going forward.

Bob should take his zillions of dollars and fade into the background, but no, when companies give folks many multiple lifetimes amounts of money, these folks actually believe their opinion matters; that they are significant on planet earth, then they start thinking about the most fake, phony, useless vocation, politics.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

It's interesting to see this drum beat of negative stories about Chapek in the financial press. A day or two ago it was the Wall Street Journal, now CNBC. There is certainly a narrative forming that Chapek is struggling to hold the company together as CEO and is vulnerable as he approaches his contract renewal in February.

 

[Lilofan]

It's interesting to see this drum beat of negative stories about Chapek in the financial press. A day or two ago it was the Wall Street Journal, now CNBC. There is certainly a narrative forming that Chapek is struggling to hold the company together as CEO and is vulnerable as he approaches his contract renewal in February.

If there is an exit strategy come next February 2023, he surely will have a golden parachute attached to him.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Everyone knew this…

The facts aren't the story. The story is the story, if you catch my meaning.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The facts aren't the story. The story is the story, if you catch my meaning.

Well the “story”
Is Bob 2 is making Bob 1 look bad…according to Bob

 

[SirLink]

It's interesting to see this drum beat of negative stories about Chapek in the financial press. A day or two ago it was the Wall Street Journal, now CNBC. There is certainly a narrative forming that Chapek is struggling to hold the company together as CEO and is vulnerable as he approaches his contract renewal in February.

The problem is that Chapek wants to run an apolitical organisation - and what Iger had left him was anything but that. Combine that with its workers thinking they are in a 'bottom up' company when its a 'top down' company more of its employees will get in line.

 

[Dead2009]

"This month, Disney put its new Pixar movie "Turning Red" directly on Disney+ instead of in theaters first. That decision would have taken "months" under Iger's structure, with division heads flexing their power and knowledge of the market, according to three people who participated in the discussions. Instead, the debate took weeks, with Pixar executives ultimately agreeing that the movie should go to Disney+ first, the people said. "Turning Red" is the No. 1 film premiere on Disney+ globally to date, based on number of hours watched in the first three days."

Their employees werent happy though

Pixar Employees Shocked, Upset at Turning Red's Disney+ Release Plans

Pixar employees reveal they are disappointed about Turning Red being released exclusively on Disney+ instead of in theaters this spring.

www.cbr.com

 

[Brer Oswald]

Everyone knew this…

Iger was scared of the germ and Retired in a rush with no successor.

History is dictated by the losers

It’s funny (but not surprising) to see people using this moment as another opportunity to glorify his rein. As if most of the major dips in quality throughout the last 2 years would have been much different under his leadership. Spoilers: they wouldn’t be.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

The problem is that Chapek wants to run an apolitical organisation - and what Iger had left him was anything but that. Combine that with its workers thinking they are in a 'bottom up' company when its a 'top down' company more of its employees will get in line.

I disagree. Iger knew how to control his HR department, in large part because Jayne Parker was a savvy executive. Iger is the one responsible for cracking down on ESPN when John Skipper let politics take over the network. Paul Richardson is a true believing culture warrior. Chapek has managed to bungle things so badly that he has his LGBT employees thinking he's in the pocket of Ron DeSantis, and in his damage control he's made it clear to any employees to the right of Nancy Pelosi that they're not welcome at the company.

That's a smart thing to do in the midst of an unprecedented labor shortage, right? Letting half of the talent pool know they're unwanted to appease a vocal subset of the other half?