Michael Eisner's Legacy

bgraham34

bgraham34

Well-Known Member
The last 10 years ruined his legacy. Everything became lets get it done cheaply because no matter what its Disney and people will come anyways. He should have left while on top.
 
WaltsTreasureChest

WaltsTreasureChest

Well-Known Member
bgraham34 said:
The last 10 years ruined his legacy. Everything became lets get it done cheaply because no matter what its Disney and people will come anyways. He should have left while on top.
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But we at least got Animal Kingdom in 1998 which was 7 years before he left. Even though we didn’t get Beastly Kingdom, I’m glad he was able to expand the Disneyworld resort as far as he did.
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
And Eisners Legacy gets propped up and looks better and better every day now despite his missteps in his latter years because of Bob I, Bob C. and and now Bob I the 2nd's handling of business. Theres always been some grumbling and dissatisfaction with Eisners ways but nothing that compares with the furor brought about over recent times. Eisners pettiness never reached the level of the 2 Bobs.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
JIMINYCR said:
And Eisners Legacy gets propped up and looks better and better every day now despite his missteps in his latter years because of Bob I, Bob C. and and now Bob I the 2nd's handling of business. Theres always been some grumbling and dissatisfaction with Eisners ways but nothing that compares with the furor brought about over recent times. Eisners pettiness never reached the level of the 2 Bobs.
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I find it pretty hilarious…and predictable as a long time watcher of Bobism…how eisner’s stock has risen.

Remember the vitriol aimed at him 20 years ago? He was the “biggest idiot” on the planet and singlehanded was meant to destroy the quality of our precious Disney?

Well as it turned out: it was a lot more complicated than that. And as these things go…the fans were spoiled in the 90’s. Especially in parks. Very spoiled. That leads to irrational responses when the good times weren’t rolling.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
Lilofan said:
Roy and Stanley beg to differ. They led the campaign to Save Disney , convince the shareholders to get rid of Eisner and afterwards Eisner resigned.
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You skipped a few chapters in your “synopsis”

Here’s what I’ll tell you:
Roy died in 2009

But let’s assume we had a Roy now…you know what he’d be doing now?

He’d have “save Disney” so far up Bob’s tailpipe that he would taste him. And they’d get 60% of the votes withheld this time.

Don’t think the Disneys dying off has not had something to do with Bob installing himself as Sith Lord unchecked. Absolutely that is a thing.
 
L

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
Sirwalterraleigh said:
You skipped a few chapters in your “synopsis”

Here’s what I’ll tell you:
Roy died in 2009

But let’s assume we had a Roy now…you know what he’d be doing now?

He’d have “save Disney” so far up Bob’s tailpipe that he would taste him. And they’d get 60% of the votes withheld this time.

Don’t think the Disneys dying off has not had something to do with Bob installing himself as Sith Lord unchecked. Absolutely that is a thing.
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Cancer took Roy too soon and it was sad but if he wanted to get rid of Iger with his Save Disney campaign Iger would be running to the hills.
 
NickMaio

NickMaio

Well-Known Member
Enderikari said:
Two weeks into his new job, Michael Eisner suggested building a hotel shaped like Mickey Mouse. It wasn't feasible, but to Disney Insiders, the freshly hired CEO's willingness to swing for the fences signaled a whole new ball game in terms of setting. Shortly thereafter, Eisner scrapped plans for two new, but architecturally mundane, hotels at Walt Disney World. It was a gusty move that risked a long-term relationship with a valued development partner, but it paid off. The 1514-room Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel and the 758-room Swan Hotel replaced the canceled hotels. Designed by world-renowned architect Michael Graves, they created a new standard for setting at Walt Disney World.
The Swan and the Dolphin signaled a renaissance in Disney Architecture. Soon, the best architects in the world were working on commissions for the company. At Walt Disney World, resorts such as the Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Boardwalk, and the Yacht and Beach Club (the latter designed by Robert A.M. Stern) took settings to a whole new level. "Our hotels became experiences and entertainments onto themselves," wrote Eisner in his book Work in Progress, "successful as our hotels are in artistic terms, the simplest tribute to them comes from our guests. To this day, the occupancy rate at each of them runs in excess of 90 percent - the highest in the world."
---- Be Our Guest - Perfecting the Art of Customer Service

Say whatever you like about Michael Eisner, but I almost take personal offense when people start to say he wasn't willing to spend money. I mean, I would hate to let facts get in the way of the pure jealousy that a so-called "Disney Fan" shows whenever they bash Michael Eisner. But being unwilling to spend money isn't one of those. Look at the things that were created in Eisner's time. Excellent movies which caused the second golden age in Disney animation. Disneyland Paris is a symbol of Eisner's willingness to put money where his mouth is, seeing that the castle itself cost 56 million dollars. Theme parks? Disney-MGM studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom (the largest Disney theme park I might add) Attractions? Mission:Space (still the most expensive theme park attraction to date. Soarin... Mickey's Philharmagic. Tower of Terror and Rock N' Rollercoaster... Where is the unwillingness to spend money here.
But most importantly, ever stayed at a Disney Resort? You like the Animal Kingdom Lodge? Or the service provided at all Disney Resort, and enjoying the perks involved there? Then you like Eisner... You like to see the Disney company go big? Look at the grandest opening we ever did , opening a theme park, a water park, and an entertainment/shopping district, all within a month.
I can see some of you "Disney Fanatics" oiling your keyboards now, ready to respond with some charactheristic lies and rumors about a man who saved the company you claimed to love. My response to you is thank god you are not C.E.O. Thank god you never were in a position to make decisions affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Know this.. whether you want to believe it or not... You can't be C.E.O. and it is the jealousy of that fact that makes you write such vitriol against Michael Eisner.

And, you know what... It is also alright to support Eisner, and Iger... and Lasseter, because they are all important to the company you claim to love... and I really do.
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I love Eisner........but......
Super Star Limo...that penny really screamed that year.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
Lilofan said:
Cancer took Roy too soon and it was sad but if he wanted to get rid of Iger with his Save Disney campaign Iger would be running to the hills.
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If you remember what Roy used to get rid of Eisner…it was:
1. Cheapening/exploitation of the brand
2. Lack of growth investment…especially the parks
3. Lack of corporate succession

Now everyone step back for a moment and “do the math” today 🤔
 
S

Sweet tears

Member
I think that he accomplished quite a bit with the parks and eventually animation. Where I think he went wrong was his infatuation with recreating his success with movies and television. Pretty poor success with live action and Disney affiliated movies. Disney Wars is a good read to go through. Unfortunately on top of everything else paranoia prevailed. Reading the book gives some very interesting insight into Iger’s role and subsequent rise in importance
 
ppete1975

ppete1975

Well-Known Member
Its what he did outside of the parks that I wish there could be a return to.
He looked for ways to bring back Disney to living rooms, although his coming into your living rooms before wonderful world of disney wasnt the same at all as Uncle Walt. BTW Wonderful World is coming back due to writers strike, but its no longer what it was, its just showing a movie that you could watch on disney+, and is a glorified free block of programming on ABC and an advertisement for Disney+, they no longer show the cartoons or disney specials.

The original Disney stores are what I wish we could return to. Instead of these bland boxes that sell Disney merchandise that they cant get rid of, with no real theming.
He even tried to have Disney fast food. Although it failed, he tried it.
The original Disney Quest was also his and was to have a presence at major cities like a dave and busters now, it failed as well.. but he tried at least. And once he was gone they left the only one left to rot, until it closed.

I enjoyed how he tried to expand the brand and make the Disney corp more of a friend of the family (like when walt was in charge), instead of the cold entity it is now. How he tried to bring a little piece of Disney to every piece of the world and every part of the country, instead of just the people that can go whenever they want. If you live in the midwest, Disney parks are quite a bit of a distance and some people may not be able to go to them ever. But they can go to the Disney store, which when it opened had some Disney magic.

He wasnt afraid of trying things, and gave us Euro Disney (another failure until it was redone), but would that park exist without him? California adventure.. another failure until gutted and rebuilt. MGM studios.. that one was great. Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Now giving him all the credit for this is dumb as the creative people behind him are the ones that did all the work and designing, but he wasnt afraid to try new things and greenlight things (again how much is Eisner, Iger really in charge is up to debate, they might just be figureheads). These parks prob would have happened without him. Or maybe they wouldnt and wed have the stagnation we do now.




He also acquired muppets... so hes not all bad.
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Lilofan said:
Roy and Stanley beg to differ. They led the campaign to Save Disney , convince the shareholders to get rid of Eisner and afterwards Eisner resigned.
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It was reported that Roy started to cool on Eisner over three things that happened. When Eisner began to push the idea that he was a Disney, when he started accumulating money from Disney to benefit his worth and when he ignored Roy's input regarding the path Disney was taking.
Many warned Roy about hiring Eisner because they had experienced his ruthlessness and tactics before but Roy thought he knew Eisner better and could control him from the outside. He never thought Eisner would brush him off and have the audacity to ignore him. Eisney didnt think Roy had the power to displace him. Thats why despite warnings that he was out of favor and threatened he didnt alter his tactics to save his position which he could have early on.
 

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