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

[Pumbas Nakasak]

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.

Amateur.

 

[Rufus T Firefly]

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

Won't you share your opinion with the rest of us, Big Phil?

 

[Rufus T Firefly]

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

And yet somehow the most successful theme park in history was built and opened in central Florida without Walt and Eisner. How did that happen?

 

[kcnole]

My belief is that Walt could never have built this magnificent company without his brother. He didn't have the financial sense, he was a dreamer and was willing to bankrupt everything to see his dream come to fruition. Roy allowed him to chase his dream as far as was possible without falling over the edge. While Walt may have been the heart of WDW, to me Roy was the business mind that made it work yet he had enough art in his heart to not attempt to hamstring Walt's artistic pursuits. I wish today's bean counters would understand that.

Michael Eisner was a man who rescued the Disney company at a time when it severely needed rescuing. It was being run by men who loved the company and believed in doing it Walts way but had neither the artistic talent nor the business head to do so. Eisner entered as the great savior and delivered, but just like Walt could not have done it without Roy, Eisner could not have done it without Frank Wells. Once Wells died and Katzenberg fled, Eisner lost his way.

The younger Roy also is a man I highly respect. While he's dwarfed by his father and uncle, he's always held the company to the Disney way while others would freely prostitute it out. His fight over Tinkerbell becoming a ______ symbol comes to mind. I don't think he ever had the business brain of his father or the artistic spirit of his uncle, but he had the Disney blood and he understood the Disney way. He held the company to that everytime it began to slip away.

 

[kcnole]

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.

Roy E Disney wasn't running the company at that time. It was being led by Card Walker and Ron Miller if I remember correctly. Roy was only on the board of directors which had very limited power. Roy E was considered the idiot nephew by many in WDW power at that point and no one was going to consent to him running the place. The best he could do was work behind the scenes to bring in someone whom they would trust. He did so with Eisner.

 

[Computer Magic]

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").

excellent post, maybe because I agree 100% with what you posted. Eisner was able to ride the wave after Wells death. It takes a few year for a business to change after someone leaves. I'm sure many of Wells idea lasted well after his death, just like Walts idea helped Roy after his death. When Eisner had to come up with his own ideas, he failed.

 

[kcnole]

It wasn't just Wells, I'm convinced Katzenberg, no matter how much of a jerk he is, was just as important in revitalizing Disney as Wells or Eisner. It was Katzenberg who led those huge animation hits of that era. He and Eisner never got along, but you have to give him some credit as well.

Like I said earlier though, I do agree that Wells was Eisner's Roy O. Disney. Eisner came in with major creative control and Wells ran the business side of things happy to stay out of the spotlight and let Eisner eat it all up. They were a perfect team. After Wells died, a number of things combined to change Eisner from the person he was as a leader earlier to whom he became; The huge fight and ouster of Katzenberg and the problems with the man he brought in to replace Wells (who's name I forget), the failure of Euro Disney, his ego, his later heart attack, etc...

 

[hazelrah]

It wasn't just Wells, I'm convinced Katzenberg, no matter how much of a jerk he is, was just as important in revitalizing Disney as Wells or Eisner. It was Katzenberg who led those huge animation hits of that era. He and Eisner never got along, but you have to give him some credit as well.

Completely agree. The Katz was HUGE, and he and Eisner could practically do no wrong up until the late 90s.

Roy E. saved the company twice, so he deserves all the credit he gets as well.

But I can't believe how unappreciated Roy O. is in this thread. That dude was a genius, almost on the same level as Walt. They complimented each other perfectly. It just happened that Walt's role was more celebrated than Roy's, and he was the better public persona, so he got all the credit. But without Roy O., there is no Disney company today.