Interview with Bob Iger about the Parks

[jt04]

Maybe the only thing Eisner got right?

No list of Staggs contributions? I'm not being critical, just not sure what they are.

 

[jaxonp]

Disney, currently on the largest construction boom its history world wide, and people still find something to complain about. The previous complaint was that Disney wasn’t adding to the parks, for years and years, and now they are and it isn’t what people want. I can’t wait for everyone to go gaga over everything that’s coming like they did for Pandora. Complain all you like but IP is relevant to today’s culture more than ever. Sure it would be nice to have some non-related IP attractions but I’ll take Star Wars, Rat and Tron over what (didn’t) happen in the late 90s thru 2015.

 

[Indy_UK]

No list of Staggs contributions? I'm not being critical, just not sure what they are.

I don't think it's a case of a list of things as I doubt he actually had much time to implement much. Avatar and Shanghai were a lot of his work but just from what you saw of him as a person, it came across that he cared more about the parks.

If I was to hazard a guess, I think Stags would have been one of those who greenlit and did less projects but each one approved wouldn't have been done on the cheap and more 'Disney'

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Iger has set the table for his eventual successor to be able to focus on D and C level attractions. Iger has done all the heavy lifting essentially. It looks like he may need to stay longer until enough figure this out. Or at least stay on the board.

 

[jt04]

I don't think it's a case of a list of things as I doubt he actually had much time to implement much. Avatar and Shanghai were a lot of his work but just from what you saw of him as a person, it came across that he cared more about the parks.

If I was to hazard a guess, I think Stags would have been one of those who greenlit and did less projects but each one approved wouldn't have been done on the cheap and more 'Disney'

Pandora, Carsland, Galaxy's Edge (2), Tron, MMRR, and GOTG are being done on the cheap? Martin says these projects are too expensive.

 

[DeletedAccount55555]

When Eisner said Iger shouldn't replace him because he is only good at the business side of things, not a creative, he was 100% right.

To be fair, Eisner was probably just saying that to undermine someone he saw as a threat to his power. Because he did that with everyone.

 

[mellyf]

It’s not like “I’m going to ride some nondescript coaster somewhere, that maybe is [themed like] India or whatever.”

Says all we need to know about Iger's parks strategy.

Completely agree with this. Everest is one of my favorite rides, and I couldn't care less that it's not tied to a movie. For the same reason, even though I was meh about Avatar, I knew that as long as the ride was good (and themed well), I would enjoy it. Pirates was one of my favorite rides, long before the movie and before they added Jack Sparrow to the ride.

 

[eliza61nyc]

That’s a short term view though. Look at the rides like Space Mountain which have continued to impress audiences without an IP. Down the road people won’t care about Avatar any more, and Disney will eventually run out of Toy Story movies. It will cost a whole lot to then have to turn over these entire lands to get the latest trend into the parks. When the draw becomes the IP, rather than originality, your immediately dating the attraction/land in a way that the entire thing will have to be replaced, rather than just updated.

Oh totally disagree,
Disney regularly rereleases movies from its "vault " and makes a boatload of money getting new generations of toddlers and therefore their parents hooked.
50 years from now Star wars and Toy story will be as popular as today.
In fact I think the PoTC ride is MORE popular thanks to one Jack Sparrow.

Frozen will be as popular when my great grand daughter goes as it is today.

Again I think we could enjoy original content but if you think in anyway the Beauty and the Beast, HP or star wars is going to lose its edge, I take that bet.

 

[jt04]

Was Joe hinting DAK's Nepal could become Bhutan and fixing the Yeti in the process? Or maybe I'm over reading it.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Disney, currently on the largest construction boom its history world wide, and people still find something to complain about. The previous complaint was that Disney wasn’t adding to the parks, for years and years, and now they are and it isn’t what people want. I can’t wait for everyone to go gaga over everything that’s coming like they did for Pandora. Complain all you like but IP is relevant to today’s culture more than ever. Sure it would be nice to have some non-related IP attractions but I’ll take Star Wars, Rat and Tron over what (didn’t) happen in the late 90s thru 2015.

A valid point, sure. Some IP deserves to be memorialized, as it is timeless - Snow White? Cinderalla? One could argue Star Wars as well. But The Three Caballeros? Until they made their debut at Mexico I'd never heard of them. Frozen? In limbo, AFAIK. Tron? It was big the first time around. Second? Meh. Rat? Never saw it, personally. The big one - Pandora. The movie wasn't even all that popular. The sequels upon sequels we were promised have still not materialized. Okay, so it's a story about the environment, so we'll give it a pass as it fits the AK message.

So maybe IP itself isn't the problem, but cramming in IP for IP's sake isn't the solution. Being dated is a real problem. Witness Epcot FW.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Seriously? You think Maelstrom and El Rio Del Tiempo were better than what replaced them? Your entitled to your opinion but I'd wager 90% of guests would prefer the replacements, and I'm sure Disney has data to back this up. Oh and Scaggs was a major player in builing Frozen Ever After... so if you "miss him"....

Call me an old curmudgeon, but you cannot compare Maelstrom with Frozen. Sure, it was old and moldy... But I suspect most people here prefer the Maelstrom for various reasons. Frozen is shiny and new but it's also boring beyond belief.

Where do you find your facts? Avatar not popular? It was the NUMBER ONE MOVIE OF ALL TIME according to box office figures. Google search it.

Cabelleros and Rat have strong followings but regardless, add a fan base to each ride and introduce familiar Disney characters. Same idea with Snow White back in 1955.

Last I checked, Avatar was in 2009. It's 2019 now - a full ten years later. Who cares about Avatar TODAY? Nobody.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

A valid point, sure. Some IP deserves to be memorialized, as it is timeless - Snow White? Cinderalla? One could argue Star Wars as well. But The Three Caballeros? Until they made their debut at Mexico I'd never heard of them. Frozen? In limbo, AFAIK. Tron? It was big the first time around. Second? Meh. Rat? Never saw it, personally. The big one - Pandora. The movie wasn't even all that popular. The sequels upon sequels we were promised have still not materialized. Okay, so it's a story about the environment, so we'll give it a pass as it fits the AK message.

So maybe IP itself isn't the problem, but cramming in IP for IP's sake isn't the solution. Being dated is a real problem. Witness Epcot FW.

Take a look at Pandora wait times, anytime of the day. I’m thinking it’s a success.

 

[Jenny72]

I think what many of us would like to see is IP moving in the opposite direction. What if, for instance, Disney had created a whole new land in Animal Kingdom with imaginary creatures, wild landscapes, colors, etc., and then made a film out of it? Now you've got a land that is tailor made to fit the Animal Kingdom, done exactly how you want it, and you can create any kind of films you like based on that world. Plus you saved a lot of money on buying a movie that is dependent on someone outside of Disney, and you have something that is fundamentally "more Disney" in all senses of the word. Win-win.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Take a look at Pandora wait times, anytime of the day. I’m thinking it’s a success.

That success is regardless of the theme it's wrapped up in. FoP is a killer ride. Na'vi not so much.

It's still the NUMBER ONE MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Maybe you didn't like it, but hundreds of millions loved it.

By that metric, I expect to see a killer Titanicland next.

I think what many of us would like to see is IP moving in the opposite direction. What if, for instance, Disney had created a whole new land in Animal Kingdom with imaginary creatures, wild landscapes, colors, etc., and then made a film out of it? Now you've got a land that is tailor made to fit the Animal Kingdom, done exactly how you want it, and you can create any kind of films you like based on that world. Plus you saved a lot of money on buying a movie that is dependent on someone outside of Disney, and you have something that is fundamentally "more Disney" in all senses of the word. Win-win.

Where the Wild Things Are. Timeless.

 

[Indy_UK]

Pandora, Carsland, Galaxy's Edge (2), Tron, MMRR, and GOTG are being done on the cheap? Martin says these projects are too expensive.

I didn't mention any of those as being in the camp of on the cheap.

 

[danlb_2000]

It's still the NUMBER ONE MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Maybe you didn't like it, but hundreds of millions loved it.

hundreds of millions went and saw, whether they loved it is another question entirely.

 

[jaxonp]

I think what many of us would like to see is IP moving in the opposite direction. What if, for instance, Disney had created a whole new land in Animal Kingdom with imaginary creatures, wild landscapes, colors, etc., and then made a film out of it? Now you've got a land that is tailor made to fit the Animal Kingdom, done exactly how you want it, and you can create any kind of films you like based on that world. Plus you saved a lot of money on buying a movie that is dependent on someone outside of Disney, and you have something that is fundamentally "more Disney" in all senses of the word. Win-win.

Disney now owns more than half of Hollywood. They pay very little to anyone else in term of license fees as compared to universal who pays for a lot of their rides.

 

[jaxonp]

Except that makes little to no sense from a publicly traded business perspective. You want them to spend a billion dollars building a land where nobody knows anything about the story behind it in the hopes that it will catch on?

If you that you won't have tens of millions clamoring to come and meet their "friends" from the Guardians of the Galaxy or Star Wars or Harry Potter. Why would any rational publicly traded business (which has legal responsibility to what is best for its shareholders) do this? To make a few armchair CEO/super fans happy? Not if the decision makers want to keep their jobs...

This.

 

[jaxonp]

hundreds of millions went and saw, whether they loved it is another question entirely.

None of that maters. Team JR created a masterpiece in Pandora at AK and it’s paying off. Animal Kingdom is now the 2nd most visited theme park in Orlando. That is since the opening of Pandora. It is a hit.

 

[LSLS]

For what it's worth, my daughters favorite ride ever? Flight of passage (followed closely by everest). How is that relevant? She has no idea what avatar is. Shes never seen the movie, never seen much of anything about it. It is not ip to her, it's a nondescript dragon ride that is done ridiculously well. Again, the Ip doesnt matter, it's the theming and story of the ride/area. Use ip to your hearts content, just do it well.