Why dislike for Iger?

[Tom Morrow]

The crowds want Disney characters in rides. This forum doesn’t but everyone else does. I think Disney should invest in a significant non-IP project in the near future but the rides with IPs are extremely popular.

The public thinks they want this. Yet if we had always had the current mentality of Iger and co. In the Disney company we would never have gotten the great classics like HM, Pirates, etc.

 

[justintheharris]

The public thinks they want this. Yet if we had always had the current mentality of Iger and co. In the Disney company we would never have gotten the great classics like HM, Pirates, etc.

Lol. No. The public knows they want this and it’s laughable to try and claim “we know you think you want this, but you don’t” when people are turning up in droves for Frozen at Epcot, Guardians of the Galaxy in DCA (and Epcot in 2021) and will turn up for Star Wars later this year. I’m not saying these people don’t enjoy non-IP attractions but the current trends indicate people want IP.

 

[Shouldigo12]

Wow, where do I begin...?

I despise him because he's not just the flip side of Walt, he's in a despicable class of his own.

For instance, according to reliable insiders here, he tried to sell the Disney parks to a foreign country. Walt would deck him for that alone. The parks were Walt's pride and joy. To Iger they're a nuisance he'd rather not deal with.

His disdain for the parks is further illustrated by the fact that he's let a broken AA - the yeti figure in Expedition Everest - stay broken for literally years because he figures that park guests are too stupid to notice and dealing with it would cost money. Instead of fixing it, he put a strobe light on it. Because that's how contemptuous he is regarding quality and park guests, whom he sees as stooges and hicks who must be squeezed for every dime they have, usually via ridiculous "upcharge" events that involve such "pluses" as commemorative cupcakes.

Speaking of foreign influence, the brilliance and magic of overseas parks such as Tokyo Disneyland and Disneysea prove what a Disney park can really be like when its designers and builders are willing to spend the money. Whereas in the States, budget cuts are applied to just about every new attraction, and new builds are frequently subpar in quality - look at the mess the new Toy Story Land is in Florida, with peeling paint all over the place. Iger won't spend the money to enhance the parks the way they should be, because he'd rather spend the money buying up every studio in Hollywood that has some sort of decent profitability, because risk and innovation are words Iger hates. It's all about the stockholders - people Walt had little interest in if they threatened to curtail his creativity. Iger, in contrast, has no idea what creativity is, except that it costs a lot and therefore he despises it. And he's stupid too. He built a whole land in Florida's AK revolving around the snoozefest Avatar films because that was his solution to the Potter lands in Universal. He has no taste or appreciation for the Disney legacy. He cares about the Disney "brand" (a description that Roy Disney Jr. despised - "Disney is not a brand!") in that it can be leveraged for profit across "platforms". A man that crass should be head of Wal-mart, not the (Walt) Disney Company.

PLUS he was going to destroy the flawless Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in WDW to stick idiot Marvel characters in it. That destruction was necessary because he bought Marvel and by God the characters were going to be injected like a virus into the parks come hell or high water. Thank god public outcry saved the Tower in Florida. Too bad about the loud hideous eyesore in Anaheim, which is a brazen and all-too-accurate visual testament to Iger's lack of taste and class. A fitting monument to a man who turned the caricature of the Disney company being an evil greedy corporate empire into a reality. Nice work, Bob!

I can't wait for that soulless cement-head to be shown the door. The only downside of that is that the toadies that will remain will likely pick someone worse. I think the Walt part of the Disney company is truly dead now. And I weep because everything Walt worked for has been discarded in favor of quick and easy profit. Iger sold the company's soul to enrich himself. And he's destroying the company's legacy not only of quality, but of values, demonstrated by his rehire of a man posing as a pedophile on Twitter (funny how Iger was disparaging Twitter the other day - how awful that those pesky Tweets from James Gunn came to light, eh?) despite what that did to Disney's legacy of family values and entertainment. He is a lowlife scumbag. I wish that every fate that happened to Disney villains would befall him. Because to me, he's a Disney villain in real life. And that's my take.

So I see you've thought about this before.

 

[Shouldigo12]

He has diluted the Disney brand, once a name synonymous with whimsy, imagination and creativity, now just some sort of post-apocalyptic media giant that owns 1/3rd of all media.

He has turned the parks into commercials/extensions for said media rather than being their own experiences. We will probably never see an original, non-IP attraction again, or at least for quite a while.

He said Everest is just some "non-descript roller coaster in India or whatever" and insinuated that that is stupid and people would rather ride with their favorite super heroes.

Great businessman but nothing more. Not an ounce of creative spark in him, not any sort of visionary at all.

So I see people on here mention the "dilution", "cheapening", or just general decline of the Disney brand on here a lot and I'm not sure where you're getting that from. I know that a lot of people on here have had their personal opinion of the company lowered, but it still has a pretty great reputation outside of these forums. The tv channel is still a staple for many kids, their animated films are still widely praised, and their parks are still considered a must do for families. The only area I can think of entertainment wise where they've failed to deliver recently is live-action films. If anything, the brand right now is thriving.

 

[mousehockey37]

Is there a reason people do not like Iger? What specifically did he do that made him not liked by Disney fans?

I haven't read through the responses, but basically... if there was a way to put a dollar sign in front of something... he did it, all while scaling back at the same time. Sure, some would say that's good business, but it's getting to the point where it's becoming a tad ridiculous.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

In terms of Parks and Resorts from a worldwide perspective, there’s positive and negative:

After the disappointing start of Disneyland Paris and the death of Frank Wells, Eisner's/Pressler's regime nderinvested in new parks and attractions, resulting in huge cuts to AK's plans, DCA 1.0, WDSP, and HKDL. These projects included going against fundamental Imagineering principles, such as a lack of emphasis on placemaking (in DCA and WDSP), disregarding whether the outside world is visible from inside the park (especially DCA), inclusion of off-the-shelf rides (DCA), under-budgeting for new attractions, a huge brain drain that sent some of WDI's greatest minds to the competition, among other problems.

Iger started his tenure by immediately ending the "stategic planning group" that was cutting budgets on new attractions, and investing heavily into the incomplete/low-quality parks that were opened by the prior administration: 1.1 billion to fix DCA and hundreds of millions for WDSP and HKDL. Those investments were first priority because of the actions of the prior administration. If those had been full parks from the beginning, Disney would have been much more likely to invest more of that in WDW. But those parks were apparently viewed as emergencies.

There is much to discuss about things like the merits of SDL (I can understand how they viewed it as necessary to get a second chance at entering the Chinese market before it was saturated), the emphasis on IPs throughout the parks (I think this is the Iger regime’s biggest negative for the parks; having every attraction based on the existing IP, rather than basing an attraction on IP when it works organically, reduces the immersion of themed environments, making them feel less like one has been transported to another time/place - you know, the hallmark of Disney design - and instead more like one is in a themed amusement park), the quality of NFL (I wish it had one E rather than two Ds), price increases, MM+, etc. However, to me, it seems that Iger's biggest influence on the parks has been the reinvestment in opening major, high-quality attractions and immersive placemaking - even though obviously I wish this trend had arrived at WDW sooner.


(Of course, this is a simplification that excludes details such as the role of Staggs in various decisions, the current placement of Chapek and whether it will mark a backslide in some of these things - something that already seems to be happening if we look at poorly-integrated things like GotG:MB and Pixar Pier at DCA.)

 

[RandySavage]

I like what Iger has done with respect to the Studio. Regarding Parks & Resorts, I think his tenure is much more mixed. In the end, despite numerous capital investments I've welcomed (and numerous I've not), I've borne witness to a slow systemic diminishment - begun under people like Eisner 2.0's Paul Pressler and continued under all of Iger's generals - in the operation/culture/feel of WDW. WDW is not terribly operated. They're just pretty good now (as opposed to outstanding), with lower standards in the name of higher margins. It's what I refer to as "de-classing". It's when the bottom line became more important than the product and you can feel it almost everywhere (if you've known it from the Halcyon Days). In things like maintenance, costuming, new fees, stadium pricing, standard I-4 hotel building, etc. As far as Vision for WDW: it is simply take popular film IP and throw it everywhere (Beauty & the Beast to have attractions in 3 different parks). Pixar Pier is a criminal waste of resources in the name not of a theme but of branding.

I think the theme parks they paid for (excludes Tokyo) & opened reflect the visions, cares and intentions of the company leaders over the years (even though the details were brought into being by the the WED/WDI people, they still reflect the trickle-down of leadership):

Walt Disney: Disneyland
Roy Disney: Magic Kingdom
Card Walker: EPCOT Center
Eisner 1.0: EuroDisneyland, MGM Studios
Eisner 2.0 (post Frank Wells): Hong Kong Disneyland, WDSP, Animal Kingdom, DCA
Iger: Shanghai Disneyland

These parks serve as a gauge. Yes, Iger gets credit for major material improvement to Eisner 2.0 misfires. Iger's only new park, Shanghai Disneyland, is big, flashy, expensive with some new, impressive rides. There are aspects of SDL I like, but one gets some sense that it is a park built around cold, academic Corporate Branding. What is missing in a lot places is a particular charm, nuance, depth, sophistication of ideas, insulation... That seems to sum up Iger re: the parks.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Lol. No. The public knows they want this and it’s laughable to try and claim “we know you think you want this, but you don’t” when people are turning up in droves for Frozen at Epcot, Guardians of the Galaxy in DCA (and Epcot in 2021) and will turn up for Star Wars later this year. I’m not saying these people don’t enjoy non-IP attractions but the current trends indicate people want IP.

How can the current trends indicate anything else when IP is all they have built? Nobody asked for a himilayan-themed yeti rollercoaster, yet they got it and it’s one of WDW’s most popular attractions. People will SAY “oh yeah I want my Marvel characters” but the reality is they will show up for a great experience, IP or not.

Avatar kind of proves my point. Nobody cares about the IP, but they love the land because it stands on its own as a great experience without the IP. It’s WDW’s biggest draw (until Star Wars).

 

[Sharon&Susan]

Lol. No. The public knows they want this and it’s laughable to try and claim “we know you think you want this, but you don’t” when people are turning up in droves for Frozen at Epcot, Guardians of the Galaxy in DCA (and Epcot in 2021) and will turn up for Star Wars later this year. I’m not saying these people don’t enjoy non-IP attractions but the current trends indicate people want IP.

How many people were asking for a space-fantasy film with clear cut heroes and villains before Star Wars came out?

How many people were asking for a CGI buddy cop film starring toys before Toy Story came out?

How many people were asking for a bunch of superhero movies based off B tier superheroes (at the time) that all took place in the same universe before the MCU?

 

[Dragonman]

I say when he finally leaves he should get an escort to discovery island and be marooned there with no way back

 

[alphac2005]

None of the epcot rides would be popular now. Horizons and World of Motion would be horribly dated, Universe of Energy was a constant walk on until practically August 13th, 2017, Journey Into Imagination in its original form was a walk-on shortly before it closed and Maelstrom never had more than a 45 minute wait even on the busiest days. Nostalgia is the only reason most people would continue to go on most of those rides in 2019. Frozen and the EPCOT festivals are the only reason EPCOT doesn’t see less visitors than Hollywood Studios. Heck, maybe even Universal Studios.

Not accurate about Maelstrom. The lines were nearly always packed. As for the aforementioned, the originals were people eating omnimovers that could load thousands per hour with minimal wait. Of course the originals would be dated and in need of being modernized, but their quality was superb. If you think Mission: Space is on the same level of quality and storytelling that Horizons was, then Bob Iger has done an amazing job in selling Kool-Aid.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Lack of understanding/respect for core product and its history

Lack of creativity

Major strategy is buying other's success and copying/remaking things

Encourages bad habits from Eisner era, including putting people in charge of departments with little to no relevant experience

Risk adverse, but still allows big budget bombs to happen etc

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I don't think he really understands how lucky he is to be in charge of a company with such a popular product and beloved corporate legacy. His only job is to not make Disney unpopular. That's it. It's not really hard when you think about the talent the company has had and how much the brand has become associated with childhood all over the world.

One wonders if he could manage a start-up business with any success, or save a business that's on a serious decline.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

He’s a great businessman.

I think he's a lucky businessman.

Lucky that there are so many employees and customers more invested in the brand than he is.

 

[Phil12]

He's done a wonderful job. He was the right man at the right time for TWDC.

 

[Mickey5150]

He gave us every Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars movie for $6.99 a month. Plus he added a whole ton of original programming along with it. People can hate on Iger all they want but he brought all of my favorite companies together under one roof, I love the guy.

 

[rk03221]

Iger saved the company when he took over. If it wasnt for him Disney wouldve lost Pixar. Star wars and marvel were a great investment but the problem is they are beating a dead horse thats been dead for awhile with star wars and the way they handled the brand has been horrible. First they gave the video game rights to EA and theyve made two bad games in a span of 5-6 years. In the early 2000s with Lucas games they made tons of great quality SW games. Next is the films, TFA was a reboot of A New Hope and TLJ was one of the worst movies ive ever seen. They did the impossible; they burned people out of a brand that wouldve otherwise been near impossible. I could care less about anything related to SW anymore and I used to love it. As a former WDW cm the parks were an awful place to work, cutting costs any way he could with cast. Prior to Iger, older CMs said they would have parties all the time and shown way more employee appreciation. CM do not like Iger...at all. The creativity of the Disney studios is lacking, Incredibles 2, Ralph breaks the internet and the live action "cheap CGI" movies are mediocre at best. Disney CEOs usually start really strong and end up doing a poor job at the end (exclude Walt). The good news however, the guy who is supposedly taking over is loved by CMs but I cant remember his name, the bad part is Iger doesnt seem to be leaving any time soon

 

[marni1971]

I think he's a lucky businessman.

Lucky that there are so many employees and customers more invested in the brand than he is.

He’s a good businessman.

But TWDC has always needed far more than that.

 

[graphite1326]

And don't forget that under Iger they took away ROE and Wishes

TGMR

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

Iger saved the company when he took over.

This is am important thing to remember. Without Iger taking over, we might never have seen anything at the level of quality, scale, or innovation as Pandora, Cars Land, or Galaxy's Edge. Ever again.

the guy who is supposedly taking over is loved by CMs but I cant remember his name

I hope this is the case. But I've heard nothing of it. The latest I've heard is that they're considering Chapek, which would be... yeah.