Is the reign of Micheal Eisner under appreciated?

[Jimmy Thick]

I seriously believe Micheal Eisner does not get the respect he deserves for turning around the Disney Company. Yes, there have been volumes written about his heavy handedness and need for total control, but it was that heavy handedness that got Disney Back on track.

The parks in their current state are the product of Eisner. He redeveloped the failure that was Epcot Center and turned it into an all day park, and saw two world class theme parks come to light under his watch.

Those books written about Eisner and how he was such a bad boss? Come on, he made enemies and if he was as bad as he's been portrayed, how come there are not hundreds of books about it instead of a handful? How many people did he step on to get a sinking ship afloat, and how many of those people continue to hold grudges? Of course Frank Wells is being made a martyr, the guy is dead, if Eisner died, he would be remembered differently, thats just human nature, and a cop out.

Eisner did some things wrong sure, over spending for ABC, the hiring of Michael Ovitz, etc, but he also made decisions that greatly benefited the company far more than anything he did wrong, in fact the parks in there current form are from the Eisner era, and the best the parks have ever been in my opinion.

If it was not for Eisner, chances are this very web site might not exist. The man deserves more respect for what he did.

Thats my opinion, whats yours?



Jimmy Thick- Oh my feeelin' comin' back again....

 

[devoy1701]

Agree. I often feel like I am the only defender of Michael Eisner on this site.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

Agree. I often feel like I am the only defender of Michael Eisner on this site.

You can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs, Eisner did what had to be done. If you ranked the people who ran Disney in order of importance, Walt would be an unquestioned first, and like it or not, Eisner would be second.


Jimmy Thick- I feeel so saaaaaadly for you....

 

[menamechris]

Michael Eisner certainly had his place in Disney history. No question he did some amazing things. I would like to think if he had been able to keep his job, we would be discussing more exciting things right now. His passion and constant enthusiasm to create and "plus" is what we need right now. Things seem so stagnant and uninspired as of late. Just my opinion...

 

[Kamikaze]

Agree. I often feel like I am the only defender of Michael Eisner on this site.

You aren't.

Eisner saved the company. Period.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Eisner was only good when Wells was holding his leash. When he died, the trouble began.

 

[devoy1701]

sometimes people just repeat the cyber babble that they hear over and over.

 

[misterID]

It's nice to see Jimmy pull himself out from under his bridge to start this poll.

Frank Wells deserves the credit, Eisner on his own, not so much.

 

[devoy1701]

It's nice to see Jimmy pull himself out from under his bridge to start this poll.

Frank Wells deserves the credit, Eisner on his own, not so much.

That's like saying all the credit show go to Roy...Walt on his own not so much. :shrug:

 

[menamechris]

That's like saying all the credit show go to Roy...Walt on his own not so much. :shrug:

That's actually a very good analogy... Was there a good check and balance there? Yes. Was it lost when Wells died? Sure. Does that make Eisner the spawn of Satan? No...

 

[misterID]

That's like saying all the credit show go to Roy...Walt on his own not so much. :shrug:

No, not the same at all. Eisner mainly got/gets the credit for the work Frank was responsible for. And Eisner wasn't Walt. It was a good combo of people, including Katzenberg, that made Eisner successful. When they were gone and he was on his own he fell on his face. It's been said by people who were actually there. My family knew these people. There's a reason Wells is really loved and why he's given so much credit by the people who do know. Who were there. It also says a lot about how Disney was run after he died and his projects were completed.

Most average people know who Eisner is, very few know who Wells is. That's sad.

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

Eisner was only good when Wells was holding his leash. When he died, the trouble began.

This.
There's not much room left for interpretation. You can clearly tell how things were like before Wells' passing and after. Eisner had one too many critical failures during his tenure to be given such high praise. Yes, he had a hand in saving the company, but he had much more of a hand in almost bringing it down to new lows (need I remind anyone of a near hostile takeover bid not too long ago?)

 

[FigmentJedi]

This.
There's not much room left for interpretation. You can clearly tell how things were like before Wells' passing and after. Eisner had one too many critical failures during his tenure to be given such high praise. Yes, he had a hand in saving the company, but he had much more of a hand in almost bringing it down to new lows (need I remind anyone of a near hostile takeover bid not too long ago?)

And even when he was saving the company, he almost killed the animation department back then over the Black Cauldron.

 

[devoy1701]

No, not the same at all. Eisner mainly got/gets all the credit for the work Frank was responsible for, from the average Joe who has no idea who Frank was. And Eisner wasn't Walt. If you talk with people who worked there, you hear the same thing. It was a good combo of people, including Katzenberg, that made Eisner successful. When they were gone and he was on his own he fell on his face. It's been said by people who were actually there. My family knew these people. There's a reason Wells is really loved and why he's given so much credit by the people who do know. Who were there. It also says a lot about how Disney was run after he died and his projects were completed.

Most average people know who Eisner is, very few know who Wells is. That's sad.

Walt did the same. Besides the very first cartoons (Alice) he did very little besides channel and drive the creative energy within the studio and took credit and pasted his name on everything, to the point where many of his employees (even some of the 9 old men that loved Walt dearly) got upset when their creativity and work was not recognized on many of the projects and "A Walt Disney Production" got plastered on everything. When he moved onto feature films, he left the animated shorts in the dust. When he moved to live action production, he left the animated films in the dust. When he moved to Theme Parks, the entire production company was left in the dust behind WED Enterprises. But Walt was the public figure of the company and had a very likable demenor...much like Eisner did during his high period. Doesn't matter if he didn't "do the work himself." A CEOs purpose is to drive the company to profitability, not be creative force behind everything the company does. He surrounded himself with capable people to get those things done. But that's not to say that his imput or decisions didn't positively (or negatively affect) the outcomes we saw at times.

So there...should we say that Walt didn't do much of anything either and give all the credit to those who actually did the work? No because the company wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for him, much like the company wouldn't still be around today if it wasn't for Eisner.

 

[powlessfamily4]

A lot of people find disproval with the front man... Eisner needed a better PR person. You can take any shmuck (not saying he is one) and make them look good with the right PR.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

There's a reason Wells is really loved and why he's given so much credit by the people who do know. Who were there. It also says a lot about how Disney was run after he died and his projects were completed.

Most average people know who Eisner is, very few know who Wells is. That's sad.

If you read the books and trust them, which I don't because I think most of the time those books are written by people with an axe to grind, Wells was seen as absent minded lawyer.

Another thing people seem to forget is, Wells was number 2 in the company and Eisner was number 1, from what you read, Eisner made that clear the first day they worked together, that Wells worked for him.

I find the whole story or stories about this fascinating, but when you really dig into the subject, Wells was along for the ride, Eisner was the ride.



Jimmy Thick- your the last in liiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnneeee...

 

[misterID]

Walt did the same. Besides the very first cartoons (Alice) he did very little besides channel and drive the creative energy within the studio and took credit and pasted his name on everything, to the point where many of his employees (even some of the 9 old men that loved Walt dearly) got upset when their creativity and work was not recognized on many of the projects and "A Walt Disney Production" got plastered on everything. When he moved onto feature films, he left the animated shorts in the dust. When he moved to live action production, he left the animated films in the dust. When he moved to Theme Parks, the entire production company was left in the dust behind WED Enterprises. But Walt was the public figure of the company and had a very likable demenor...much like Eisner did during his high period. Doesn't matter if he didn't "do the work himself." A CEOs purpose is to drive the company to profitability, not be creative force behind everything the company does. He surrounded himself with capable people to get those things done. But that's not to say that his imput or decisions didn't positively (or negatively affect) the outcomes we saw at times.

So there...should we say that Walt didn't do much of anything either and give all the credit to those who actually did the work? No because the company wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for him, much like the company wouldn't still be around today if it wasn't for Eisner.

Well, you've just shown what a failure Eisner was. When he was in charge, calling the shots, not only did he let some of his best workers go, but let them go to the competition and become successful, where they created projects that could have made Disney even more successful. His replacements were awful. On his own, without the guidence of others, he failed.

He never had the hands on involvement that Walt had and keeping the good guys around. I'm not comparing them and I'm not going to. The 2 were not even in the same universe. At all.

 

[menamechris]

Well, you've just shown what a failure Eisner was. When he was in charge, calling the shots, not only did he let some of his best workers go, but let them go to the competition and become successful, where they created projects that could have made Disney even more successful. His replacements were awful. On his own, without the guidence of others, he failed.

He never had the hands on involvement that Walt had and keeping the good guys around. I'm not comparing them and I'm not going to. The 2 were not even in the same universe. At all.

Hhmmm..ever heard of Looney Tunes? Started by a couple guys that walked out on Walt..

 

[jmick71]

Hhmmm..ever heard of Looney Tunes? Started by a couple guys that walked out on Walt..

from what you said they walked out, not fired,(correct me if im wrong ) so it was their choice to leave not Walt's. Walt could not force them to stay. Additionally Eisner fired people and they went to other companies

 

[misterID]

Hhmmm..ever heard of Looney Tunes? Started by a couple guys that walked out on Walt..

Heh? They didn't "walk out" on Walt, they worked for another producer back in the 20's when they did some animation together.