Nobody will run Disney the way Walt did
Published February 13, 2004
Mickey is about to be chopped up and ground into Mouse McNuggets.
Even if the Comcast offer fails, Disney is like an antelope that has been separated from the herd. It is limping and the predators are watching from the underbrush.
Once you throw stock out there for people to buy, you can't control who buys it. Oh, how I wish Disney could have stayed as it was when Walt was alive. Disney was all about kids and families, about animated movies and theme parks. Some things should not have to evolve to survive.
But when Disney became a publicly traded company, shareholder value replaced family value. And the corporate predators moved in for a takeover 20 years ago when the company under-performed.
So Disney hired its own predator, Michael Eisner, to fight them off.
To protect the company, Eisner tried to make it too big to swallow. He diversified into adult entertainment. He gobbled up ABC. He ventured into land development. This diluted the focus of Disney's core mission: Entertaining kids and families.
Now, if Comcast succeeds, that focus will be further diluted. Mickey Mouse, once the leader of the band, will become a minor subsidiary.
At that point, what happens when the theme-park division becomes too much of a distraction from the new company's mission of piping entertainment into television sets and computers? What happens if the company needs to recoup some of the Disney purchase price by selling assets? And who will care if it does?
Is there enough of the old Disney left to generate any loyalty? I think for many shareholders -- those who stand to profit nicely from a Comcast takeover -- all this deal amounts to is switching one bagman for another.
I'd like to oppose the Comcast takeover. But what I once loved about Disney is virtually gone. And what Disney was 30 years ago could never survive in today's world. So I find it difficult to care about what Comcast does.
Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525 or mthomas@orlandosentinel.com.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...eb13,1,5010704.column?coll=orl-home-headlines
Published February 13, 2004
Mickey is about to be chopped up and ground into Mouse McNuggets.
Even if the Comcast offer fails, Disney is like an antelope that has been separated from the herd. It is limping and the predators are watching from the underbrush.
Once you throw stock out there for people to buy, you can't control who buys it. Oh, how I wish Disney could have stayed as it was when Walt was alive. Disney was all about kids and families, about animated movies and theme parks. Some things should not have to evolve to survive.
But when Disney became a publicly traded company, shareholder value replaced family value. And the corporate predators moved in for a takeover 20 years ago when the company under-performed.
So Disney hired its own predator, Michael Eisner, to fight them off.
To protect the company, Eisner tried to make it too big to swallow. He diversified into adult entertainment. He gobbled up ABC. He ventured into land development. This diluted the focus of Disney's core mission: Entertaining kids and families.
Now, if Comcast succeeds, that focus will be further diluted. Mickey Mouse, once the leader of the band, will become a minor subsidiary.
At that point, what happens when the theme-park division becomes too much of a distraction from the new company's mission of piping entertainment into television sets and computers? What happens if the company needs to recoup some of the Disney purchase price by selling assets? And who will care if it does?
Is there enough of the old Disney left to generate any loyalty? I think for many shareholders -- those who stand to profit nicely from a Comcast takeover -- all this deal amounts to is switching one bagman for another.
I'd like to oppose the Comcast takeover. But what I once loved about Disney is virtually gone. And what Disney was 30 years ago could never survive in today's world. So I find it difficult to care about what Comcast does.
Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525 or mthomas@orlandosentinel.com.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...eb13,1,5010704.column?coll=orl-home-headlines
