What is your opinion individually on Roy Disney, Roy Disney Jr. and Michael Eisner?

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Inspired by the other thread about people's opinions on Walt. Tell me what you think off the above 3 men and their legacies, or about what kind of men they were/are
 

sublimesting

Well-Known Member
Roy Disney was a strict business man. I think his motivations for Disney's Empire were strictly business. he did not have the drive that Walt had to create but did have the drive to be ambitious.

Roy Jr. I think single-handedly shaped the way Disney is today. I feel Disney was on the verge of abandoning animation when he made his push to head the animation studio. he was also instrumental in bringing in Eisner and getting rid of Eisner. Without Roy we would not have Little Mermaid, Lion King, Alladin, Beauty and the Beast etc.. The company would probably be so far removed from animation that they would have had nothing to do with Pixar either.

Eisner, at first was good for the company but then just became another greedy executive and had to go.

On an off topic, I'd like to see Lassiter and Jor Rohde running everything.
 

Avenger117

Well-Known Member
On an off topic, I'd like to see Lassiter and Jor Rohde running everything.

Totally agree with Joe Rohde running everything, but not John Lasseter. I think Lasseter is good where he is. I want to continue to enjoy Disney world and not Pixar world.

Oh and as for the three guys that you listed...I think Roy Jr. had the most positive effect on Disney. He possessed a lot of Walt's vision.
 

WDW Vacationer

Active Member
Roy O. Disney-I think he he did what was needed to keep the company stable. But he also knew when to take a risk. I love that he took on WDW. Great,brave move. He is just as important as Walt.

Roy E. Disney-I'll say he was really the person who saved Disney. He saved animation first,then the whole company. Bringing Eisner in,and getting him out were both good moves at the time. He knew what the company was all about.

Michael Eisner-Good CEO. Started great. Knew how Disney should be,and kept an eye on the financial side. He got too power hungry and forgot what Disney was about. His wrongs have been righted and its time for him to be a Disney Legend.
 

Jimmy Thick

Well-Known Member
Eisner is completely under appreciated.

Disney as you know it now is due to the fact he saved the company. All the big thrill rides we enjoy were produced on his watch.

Other than Walt himself, he's the second most important person in the history of the company.
 

MUTZIE77

Well-Known Member
Eisner is completely under appreciated.

Disney as you know it now is due to the fact he saved the company. All the big thrill rides we enjoy were produced on his watch.

Other than Walt himself, he's the second most important person in the history of the company.


Without Roy O. there is no Disney Company, if it weren't for him taking hold of the business side of the company, Walt never would have gotten the studio off the ground. Roy found the funding for everything Walt wanted to achieve.

Without Roy E., Disney a we know it today would not exist. Disney animation was almost dead when he breathed new life into it and gave us a new run of consecutive classics. He also brought Eisner into the fold and ran him out when his when things went sour.

Eisner in my opinion would be 4th most important
 

Computer Magic

Well-Known Member
Not to take anything away from Eisner, but let's not forget Frank Wells.

It was Eisner and Wells that Roy brought in to run the company. Together they made a great time. You can notice the how the company changed after Wells death in 1994.
 

krankenstein

Well-Known Member
Roy O. = THE MAN!!! Without him, Walt would've been bankrupt a thousand times over. It takes an analytical person to run a company, which is what he provided.

Roy E. = Great man who saved animation and helped shape the modern Disney Company.

Eisner = Great leader who did amazing things during his tenure. I would have loved to see where the company would be now if Frank Wells would not have loss his life. He truly was Eisner's Jiminy Cricket.
 

raven

Well-Known Member
Roy O. Disney is often forgotten by many people and shouldn't be. Walt & Roy ran the company together but Roy didn't like to be in the spotlight. He was responsible for finding ways to fund his brothers dream in very difficult ways. He often got upset with his brother because Walt wouldn't scale down anything for it to be affordable. Glad he didn't!

Roy E. Disney carried on his uncles dream probably better than anyone else.

Eisner...heh...well he did wonderful things for the company but in his latter years it all went to his head. He tried changing everything to to make it more about himself than about the Disney name. Ultimately I think that's what numbered his days.
 

Figment632

New Member
I love Roy without him there would be no WDW.

Also Eisner expanded WDW and at first was one of the best things to happen to Disney. Then I think he was burnt out.
 

Computer Magic

Well-Known Member
I think the average person don't realize without Roy, there would be no WDW. It might have been Walt's vision but Roy made it happen. It would have been so easy to abandon the WDW plan after Walt's death.
 

Jimmy Thick

Well-Known Member
I assure you, Disney World would have happened with or without Roy, he deserves some credit for finding the funding for the original Disneyland, but he gets too much for Disney World, which would have happened without him, and has since become something more than I think Walt imagined in the first place.

Walt is clearly number one, Eisner number two.


It goes down several notches after those two.
 

Ziffell

Member
Not to take anything away from Eisner, but let's not forget Frank Wells.

It was Eisner and Wells that Roy brought in to run the company. Together they made a great time. You can notice the how the company changed after Wells death in 1994.

I was going to mention Frank Wells. I'm glad someone else did. He is a forgotten part of Disney history and a lot of people on these boards probably have no idea who he even was. I agree wholeheartedly with your statement that the company changed after his death. That, to me, was the turning point in the company at which things started to decline. I think it also really brought to light the fact that Eisner wasn't quite as deserving of all the credit he got for Disney's success during his early reign. What a lot of people don't realize is that Eisner and Wells reported directly to the board of directors. Eisner was not Wells' boss. He was, for all intents and purposes, Eisner's equal in terms of running the company. He just didn't have the title. The group (organized by Roy Disney and Stanley Gold) who was instrumental in bringing Eisner and Wells to the company originally wanted them to share the title of CEO. But Eisner refused to accept the job unless he would be given the title of CEO and Chairman. This is all documented in a couple of really great books on the topic ("Storming the Magic Kingdom" and "The Disney Touch").
 

goreesha

Active Member
I assure you, Disney World would have happened with or without Roy, he deserves some credit for finding the funding for the original Disneyland, but he gets too much for Disney World, which would have happened without him, and has since become something more than I think Walt imagined in the first place.

Walt is clearly number one, Eisner number two.


It goes down several notches after those two.

I disagree that WDW has become more than Walt imagined. I think it has become something very different than what he imagined, but not more. He only reluctantly wanted to add a theme park as a way to fund his real goal for WDW, which was the city of EPCOT. Roy is chiefly responsible for setting WDW on the course that it has taken since Walt's death. But I think Walt was trying to create a real legacy for himself with his original EPCOT plans, hoping that he could have a real, lasting impact on the world. And I think as soon as he died, Roy realized that there was no way in hell they could pull it off without him, so he turned WDW into basically just a theme park and resort destination.

Honestly, I like Roy's vision for WDW. I have enjoyed it over the years and appreciate what it is. But I wonder what it would have become if Walt had lived longer. Can you imagine an actual "city of the future" built in the 70's still sitting there on the property with people living in it? I can't. Maybe Walt would have pulled it off. You never know. But he certainly would have seen a collection of theme parks as far less than what he intended for Disney World.
 

_Scar

Active Member
Roy Disney should also be held responsible for creating this whole Disney empire. Disneyland AND the Disney World. He balanced out Walt's limitless imagination with his business mind.
 

Jimmy Thick

Well-Known Member
People seem to forget, Disney as a corporation was almost taken over by outside interests under Roy E's watch. He GAVE all Disney power to Eisner, who was the one who made Disney what it is today.

The importance of the Disney name associated with the Disney company died with Walt. Eisner made Disney, Disney again.


Eisner had his issues, and ego, but he did more than you think, and in time should have a statue on Disney property somewhere.
 

Figment632

New Member
People seem to forget, Disney as a corporation was almost taken over by outside interests under Roy E's watch. He GAVE all Disney power to Eisner, who was the one who made Disney what it is today.

The importance of the Disney name associated with the Disney company died with Walt. Eisner made Disney, Disney again.


Eisner had his issues, and ego, but he did more than you think, and in time should have a statue on Disney property somewhere.

And you are forgetting the train wreck that Eisner was towards the end of his rein.
 


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