“Creating magic is not for amateurs. I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob’s track record of driving long-term value. I have voted all of my shares for Disney’s 12 directors and urge other shareholders to do the same.” - George Lucas A lot of people are shrieking but I’m not one of them. I did make a joke about Lucas backing Peltz a while back, but I wasn’t serious...
It’s always obvious when a genre has outstayed it’s welcome. In 1969, Hello, Dolly! was launched into a world where the innocence of the high-production Broadway musical film was no longer welcome. The Sixth Day was arguably Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best 80s-style blast flick but no one was interested by 2000. So it is with Damsel. This film feels like an intriguing artifact. A leftover from another time. It has arrived as another genre whose time is passed. However, and this is...
That pitch to Disney shareholders has been a barrel of laughs. Bob Iger has to be feeling like he is standing in Michael Eisner's shoes twenty years ago. Just about every one of Eisner's fatal problems has an analog today. ABC Capital Cities was assimilated by the Mickey-Borg in 1996. Part of the reason that Murphy and Burke decided to let Michael Eisner buy the company was because they had promised Bob Iger that he would become CEO of ABC Capital Cities when...
Los Angeles 2029: There is nothing but rubble, mountains of skulls and gigantic killing machines rolling through the streets gunning down the last few remaining inhabitants of LA. “YEAH SKYNET!! GIT SUM! GIT SUM! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! HOO-RA-A-AH!” “Dear, please quit rooting for the terminators,” The Mother of the Darkspawn sighed. “It’s bothering the children.” “Nah, we’re cool with it, Mom,” replied Darkspawn. Before Westworld came along the Robot Apocalypse used to be cool. The Machines weren’t angsty at all. They just wanted to...
We have two more white paper filings to the SEC in fast approaching showdown between Nelson Peltz’s Trian group and Robert Iger’s tame board of directors that he wants to keep tame. Peltz’s filing was a thorough 130 page evisceration of the Walt Disney Company’s failings. Trian is the opposition. His pitch for himself and Jay Rasulo being on the board is made on a strong business track record. Since Bob Iger can’t possibly stand on his own merits in 2024, he has...
Oops. Bob Iger's supporters said the quiet part out loud. The Disney Company has released an editorial reply to Nelson Peltz and Trian's white paper. Mickey and Great and Terrible's own white paper is kind of an embarrassment. Disney seems to have convinced itself its financial legerdemain is so brilliant no one could hope to penetrate it. Well, I did, and so did anybody else that wasn't high on Pixie-Dust. One of Bob Iger's big claims for the park is that he...
When a business wants an announcement spread far and wide it’s made on Monday early in the afternoon. When a company doesn’t want to bring attention to it, it’s made on a Friday at 4:40 in the afternoon. When a company wants a piece of news buried six feet deep, with a layer of peat moss thrown on top, they announce it on a Saturday. On Saturday afternoon Barbara Bouza, the president of Walt Disney Imagineering announced her departure. They at least...
We knew it was bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvyULepxgw4 Discuss on SG
So why haven’t I said anything about Sweet Baby? Because to me the problem has been so self-evident for so long that I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. Yes, I knew about it. I knew the cancer for what it was and how it spread. I also knew that Sweet Baby Inc was not the only “narrative development studio that provides "sensitivity reviews and consultation.” Lionbridge Games is still on the grift train, Sliverstring Media is the up-and-comer. And...
On September 24, 1992, Leonard Nimoy was watching a countdown timer run out. For a few days, this countdown had been running on a new channel owned by USA Networks. It was a joint venture between Paramount and Universal. When the timer reached zero an extended trailer started featuring the finest, reasonably priced computer graphics available in the early 90s, combined with some miniatures designed by John Dykstra. The director held up three fingers, then two, then one. With the cheerful...
