Word: disneyism
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Even that impressive plot line, however, was not enough to quell the concerns raised by Eisner's brush with mortality two weeks ago, when he was rushed to surgery after a weekend with other media moguls in Idaho's Sun Valley. The unexpected illness of Disney's chairman unleashed a flood of speculation about the future of a company that only four months ago lost its second-in-command, Frank Wells, to a helicopter crash in Nevada. Last week there was some evidence that Disney executives may finally be coming to grips with the succession problem: a Disney board member...
...fretting was more urgent than it might have been because the recent management of Disney had been largely a Wells-Eisner fandango. Beginning in 1984, the pair had led Disney through a recovery that increased annual revenue more than $7 billion in 10 years. Wells was the detail-oriented negotiator who framed the deals for Disney's acquisitions and tended to the nuts and bolts of the business. Eisner was the company's intellectual incubator, dreaming up new projects, overseeing theme-park expansion and, in his own words, acting as the company's main "cheerleader." So close were...
...double blow to Disney management comes at a time when the company is wrestling with several nagging problems. The biggest is its theme parks, which account for 40% of the company's gross revenues. The Euro Disney park outside Paris, for instance, was losing so much money ($900 million in its first year alone) that it had to be rescued by a Saudi prince who agreed to invest $400 million in new equity. Even so, penny-pinching guests are still skimping on food, hotel rooms and merchandise, which is slowing Disney's plans in the area for offices, shopping centers...
...Disney's biggest challenge is finding its place in the scramble to bring entertainment to a future of interactive households. The company's doctrine so far has been to concentrate on the "product" and leave the delivery systems, which can become obsolete, to others. But one of the risks of this strategy is that the companies that build the "hardware" could act as gatekeepers to Disney's "software" -- which partly explains why Wells was heading a task force looking into prospective mergers with cable, phone and TV companies when he died...
...fact, Katzenberg has hinted that if he does not get the job (his contract expires in five months) he will leave and probably head up a rival studio. Disney's decision would seem obvious, except that Eisner and Katzenberg have had a complicated relationship over the past two decades. The even-keeled Eisner keeps the volatile Katzenberg at a distance, relegating him to the role of junior prodigy. All Hollywood is watching how the drama will be played out, and some players are ready with their lines. "Michael and Jeffrey's relationship is like a 19-year marriage," record producer...