Mike Eisner good guy or bad guy

[coachsomer]

Since the Dis-unplugged has an opinion on all things Disney.
I've seen Mike on TV doing an interview and was impressed with him.
He seemed very professional and knowledgeable. He was funny and
seemed very comfortable on the show. I've seen the Disney Cruise
CD which credited Mike for the direction they were going with
the shape, style and theming of the 1st two ships. I also thought ;I read/saw
where Eisner and Roy Disney<& Disney stockholders> had a falling out. BUt I don't really know the whole story. Was Eisner the key man for where Disney is today or was he getting too powerful for the Disney we know.
Please get your opinion Mike good guy or bad guy for the Disney World.
Maybe as a podcast segment; the pod cast could do a little monthly bio-segment on people who help shape the Disney we know.
First Bio idea would be a one hour show on President Bob

 

[wilde_oscar]

you ask a big question. Eisner changed everything. He did things kinda like Walt, everything flowed though him. And he made decisions, most of them good, some not so good. But if you considered that when he took over the company Disney was on the verge of being chopped up and sold for parts VS. when he left the company leaving Disney among the largest media companies in the world. He was doing something right.

 

[jdtopgun71]

There is a great book called Disneywar about the Eisner years at Disney that really sheds alot of insight into Eisner. (I actually found the book in the discount bin at Barnes and Nobles for $5)

From what I gathered from the book he was a genius but became very paranoid with the corporate backstabbing that was going on at the top of the ladder (and he was very instrumental in alot of this backstabbing)

I think he would still be the CEO if not for his enormous ego. He is a very smart man but clashed with the other large egos in the corporation, namely Jeffrey Katzenberg who was another "genius" Disney had in it's stable at the time.

Also I think Roy Disney as the sole namesake left with the Disney name is a great ambassador for the company and hopefully will stay on board for the rest of his life.

I think this would be a great show topic and I think Pete being knowledgeable in all things Disney would have some great thoughts on Eisner.

 

[drakethib]

I think it depends on who you ask.

Many blame Eisner for the lost of "magic" but other hail him as a hero.

My 2 cents is somewhere his beginning and his end he lost sight of what WDW is all about.

YMMV

 

[jpeka65844]

I second the opinion to read Disney War. It's amazing how men that are well-educated, well-paid and publicly well-respected can act like spoiled 10 year old punks on a playground.

The book doesn't really set Iger up to be any better....more as Eisner's puppet boy than anything. Iger's tenure is still pretty new so I suppose time will tell on that one.

And I understand now Spielberg's reluctance to stay associated with Disney. He's obviously in the Katzenberg camp (hence Dreamworks) which makes me sad because I want more Roger Rabbit.

 

[Paul in CT]

From what I have read, Eisner and Frank Wells saved Disney from being chopped up in the '80's and received a lot of praise in the book, "Built to Last" among others for their performance. However, after the passing of Frank Wells (perhaps Michael Eisner's Roy Disney) things were never the same. Eisner never did pick a #2 and lost Katzenberg as a result not to mention a fortune in the lawsuit that Katzenberg brought and won against Disney. His hiring and firing of Ovitz was another mistake that cost Disney big time. IMHO, in the end it seemed that his ego was getting the better of him and the company suffered as a result. So far, it appears that Iger is mending some bridges that Eisner may have damaged, e.g., relationships with Pixar and Steve Jobs. Time will tell. My Disney stock has yet to recover, but I am holding for the long term.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Disney was in alot of trouble in the 80's and I think Eisner saved it. I think without Eisner Disney really might not be Disney today, I think he also had some great ideas and we Disney fans owe him alot. However, he got too big and power hungry. I think he wanted too much control and while he helped saved Disney, and I know this will sound weird, I don't think he quite grasped or totally understood the magic. Frank Wells was a huge loss and had alot to do with Eisner's downfall I think.

The jury is still out for me on Iger, I take heart in him taking on John Lassiter though. I love John Lassiter and have alot of confidence in him to bring the magic back, especially to the parks.

 

[Dolce27]

Disney was in alot of trouble in the 80's and I think Eisner saved it. I think without Eisner Disney really might not be Disney today, I think he also had some great ideas and we Disney fans owe him alot. However, he got too big and power hungry. I think he wanted too much control and while he helped saved Disney, it sounds weird, but I don't think he quite grasped or totally understood the magic. Frank Wells was a huge loss and had alot to do with Eisner's downfall I think.

The jury is still out for me on Iger, I take heart in him taking on John Lassiter though. I love John Lassiter and have alot of confidence in him to bring the magic back, especially to the parks.

That's my opinion as well. He started off good but became too greedy by the end. Also, by his departure I felt that he was doing mostly short term stuff to line his own pockets as fast as he could before he was out the door. He was ignoring upkeep and wasn't taking long term stuff into consideration.

 

[wilde_oscar]

That's my opinion as well. He started off good but became too greedy by the end. Also, by his departure I felt that he was doing mostly short term stuff to line his own pockets as fast as he could before he was out the door. He was ignoring upkeep and wasn't taking long term stuff into consideration.

was that greed, or was that the market forcing him into a position to drive stock price? Very few CEO's have the luxury of planning in the long term, when wall street is driven by short term results.

 

[AllyBri]

Michael was great. He had some faults, but don't we all.

 

[rlduvall]

I didn't follow Disney business history enough during Eisner's legacy so I cannot give a legitimate opinion on it. BUT, I did read some of the e-mails he sent out during the Ovitz fiasco and I was just shocked that as educated and successful as he was - that he would have put such petty and child-like comments in writing. Even I know better than to do that.

 

[pinkerbell]

was that greed, or was that the market forcing him into a position to drive stock price? Very few CEO's have the luxury of planning in the long term, when wall street is driven by short term results.

so very true!

 

[ryanmilla]

I agree with all of the previous posters comments. The DisneyWar book is a great read if you are interested in the inner workings of the corporation. And I agree,when I read it, it sounded like these educated adults were acting like children.

But my opinion is, he was great with Frank Wells there to keep him grounded. Frank's passing was clearly the turning point in my opinion. Eisner felt he could do both (the strategy as well as the operations). And we all know how that turned out. But we do have to thank him for a lot of things, Disney Studios, Animal Kingdom, & DVC all came out during his tenure. But then again, so did EuroDisney.

They do mention in the book that Eisner thought the management arrangement of him and Wells was like the arrangement of Walt & Roy. So, that brings up the question, if it had been Roy that passed before Walt, would we have seen a similar circumstance? (note: I am not at all trying to say that Eisner was the exact same as Walt).

 

[DisneyWorld Delight]

I'd like an extensive podcast on this subject too. I read Eisner's biography before the bottom fell out, and genuinly liked this guy. Then, the bottom did fall out and read Disney War. A whole different view point.

I'd love the Pete & Co., opinion of the whole thing. (I'm sure Kevo has alot to say about it.)

 

[Linus Van Pelt]

As I see it (and I, too, have read the excellent DisneyWar):

Eisner Pros:

- Saved the company
- Initiated, along with Jeffrey Katzenberg, a second golden age of Disney animation with features such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King (and that's especially impressive, considering Disney had resorted to producing dreck like Robin Hood and The Fox and the Hound not all that many years earlier)
- Initiated the expansion of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels with, among others, the Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and, of course, the Grand Floridian
- Acquired ABC


Eisner Cons:

- The Mike Ovitz debacle
- These overpriced acquisitions: Fox Family Channel (now ABC Family), GO.com
- Was responsible for DCA and EuroDisney
- The Disney's America fiasco
- Is largely responsible for the current WDI philosophy of re-theming (or "plussing") existing park attractions instead of building all new ones from scratch
- Was unable, because of his ego, make a deal so the company could keep Katzenberg. Then, as was mentioned earlier, Katzenberg successfully sued the pants off him.

 

[BrizMarc]

I second the opinion to read Disney War. It's amazing how men that are well-educated, well-paid and publicly well-respected can act like spoiled 10 year old punks on a playground.

The book doesn't really set Iger up to be any better....more as Eisner's puppet boy than anything. Iger's tenure is still pretty new so I suppose time will tell on that one.

And I understand now Spielberg's reluctance to stay associated with Disney. He's obviously in the Katzenberg camp (hence Dreamworks) which makes me sad because I want more Roger Rabbit.

Yeah Disneywar is a great book. I recomend it to any Disney fan.

 

[JB2K]

Linus,

You forgot to mention that during Eisner's tenure, Disney was finally able to legally acquire the first hotel to bear the Disney name (after several decades of ownership by the Wrather Corporation).

Anyone familiar with the history behind the Disneyland Hotel???

 

[JB2K]

My 2 cents is somewhere his beginning and his end he lost sight of what WDW is all about.

You can't lose sight that the Walt Disney Company of today is way, way bigger than just the Florida properties...

As a previous poster stated, there was a time when the company faced being divided piecemeal -- today, Disney has grown into a top-tier media conglomerate showing no signs of disappearing, anytime in our generation...

So big, in fact, does anyone remember a few years back when cable giant Comcast made an unsolicited bid for the Disney???

 

[Linus Van Pelt]

So big, in fact, does anyone remember a few years back when cable giant Comcast made an unsolicited bid for the Disney???

Sure do.

And I either had forgotten, or just flat out had no idea of, the history behind the Disneyland Hotel. So I just got done reading about it on Wikipedia.

And regarding Eisner, I'd say the final verdict on his tenure at Disney would almost certainly have to be a positive one. Yes, he made some stupid (and pricey) mistakes, but he did also literally save the company.