davis_unoxx
Well-Known Member
Agreed, really wish Westcot happened...
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News Ron Miller, Former President & CEO of Walt Disney Productions and Walt’s Son-in-law, passes away at 85
- Thread starter the.dreamfinder
- Start date
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Tokyo started and opened during Ron’s tenure. Paris was Eisner’s project, not Iger’s.The “problem” with Tokyo Disneyland is the ownership structure that Ron agreed to and Eisner tried to “fix” with Paris and China (negotiations for Shanghai started with Eisner).
montyz81
Well-Known Member
Sorry, my bad. I completely meant Eisner. I had Iger on the mind
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
champdisney
Well-Known Member
How sweet of Robo-Bob, such nice words of sentiment. I wonder how many pats on the back he gave himself for this.
All jokes aside, I'm saddened to hear of his passing. This man was hand-selected by Walt himself to be the heir of his company. Was groomed and given all the necessary tools to succeed. I've read how intimidating it was for him to take on the role of CEO and I feel some of his failures as CEO had to do with his own self-sabotaging, thinking he'll never match the likes of Walt. Which ultimately doesn't matter, as long as you keep the spirit of fun and fantasy intact. In which he delivered but things took a turn when he slashed the budget of animated films at the time.
Also, let's not forget that the man was a professional football player. Nonetheless, his love of family should really be the one constant thing to be remembered when it comes to Ron Miller. Rest in peace.
tirian
Well-Known Member
RIP, Ron.
As my generation and future ones legitimately think “Disney Parks” mean “living inside a fantasy cartoon,” and as they lose sight of the broad spectrum the company once covered, the legacies of Ron Miller and even Early Michael Eisner (!) will become more important. For Ron, that would be Tokyo, Epcot, Touchstone, the Disney Channel, Roger Rabbit, and the birth of the Disney Renaissance*. Eisner’s further growth eventually self-destructed, but his initial successes were based on the foundations Ron laid. In several interviews, Eisner has acknowledged this fact.
I hope the pendulum swings back one day, and self-proclaimed Disney fans realize the company means much more than Dole Whip floats and special-edition sipper mugs.
*Ron greenlighted Roger Rabbit and Mermaid. Animators had to beg Eisner to let them finish Mermaid, and he accepted the credit upon its success. Ron also CORRECTLY knew the animators weren’t ready for the Black Cauldron because of their inexperience; and if he’d been allowed to follow his original plan to build animation through Fox/Hound and Mickey’s Christmas Carol, then a SERIES of Cauldron films (before Katzenberg’s disastrous film cuts), plus Mermaid, there’s no telling how much bigger the Renaissance could’ve been. Hindsight is 20/20.
As my generation and future ones legitimately think “Disney Parks” mean “living inside a fantasy cartoon,” and as they lose sight of the broad spectrum the company once covered, the legacies of Ron Miller and even Early Michael Eisner (!) will become more important. For Ron, that would be Tokyo, Epcot, Touchstone, the Disney Channel, Roger Rabbit, and the birth of the Disney Renaissance*. Eisner’s further growth eventually self-destructed, but his initial successes were based on the foundations Ron laid. In several interviews, Eisner has acknowledged this fact.
I hope the pendulum swings back one day, and self-proclaimed Disney fans realize the company means much more than Dole Whip floats and special-edition sipper mugs.
*Ron greenlighted Roger Rabbit and Mermaid. Animators had to beg Eisner to let them finish Mermaid, and he accepted the credit upon its success. Ron also CORRECTLY knew the animators weren’t ready for the Black Cauldron because of their inexperience; and if he’d been allowed to follow his original plan to build animation through Fox/Hound and Mickey’s Christmas Carol, then a SERIES of Cauldron films (before Katzenberg’s disastrous film cuts), plus Mermaid, there’s no telling how much bigger the Renaissance could’ve been. Hindsight is 20/20.
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The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
If you did Tron and EPCOT you deserve your place in the Disney pantheon.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Ron was also there with George Lucas and Tony Baxter when Star Tours was in early development.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
I had read a quote years ago that The Rescuers was more popular than Star Wars in France, but couldn't find a source until today. Here's a quote from a 1978 issue of New West Magazine:
"And The Rescuers, the venerable organization's twenty-seventh full-length animated film, has been an equally surprising blockbuster earning $45 million while outgrossing even Star Wars in Paris and becoming West Germany's largest-grossing film of all time."
The same article mention's the movie's $7.5 million budget. Again, the reason why Disney kept making these movie's after Walt's death was that they made money. ONLY The Black Cauldron didn't. The Rescuers would be re-released to theatres in 1983 and 1989.
The Fox and the Hound was an even bigger hit in the US. Both film's made the equivalent of over $50 million domestically in 1989 dollars, about the same as Eisner's Oliver and Company or Don Bluth's Land Before Time. Even Little Mermaid's record breaking success, was only about 50% more business, helped by the introduction and rapid construction of movie megaplexes in the 1980s.
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
1968 - 1983 saw the birth of WDW, and WDW's true golden age, not the very much mixed bag of Eisner's first decade. As such for me this is the finest era of the company. (Sorry Walt!)
Even the movies weren't as bad as their reputation. The Aristocats is a blast. Robin Hood has great characters. The Rescuers was indeed very much hailed as a return to top form, although it may not have stood the test of time all that well. The Black Hole was 20k in Space, hoping to find success in Star Wars' slipstream, but it has its moments. Tron is every bit as stylish but unwatchable now as it was back then, one of Disney's finest live-action movies. Beats Poppins II and live-cgi-action Lion King.