If I were Maltin I'd ask him about his 3 year old statements about how Disney is too corporate now and shouldn't be getting into all those deals/mergers etc with ESPN, Fox Family ABC, etc...and how that figures into Disney's current relationship with, um, Apple.

Very interesting article Jim. I do wonder though at age 77 & his pending divorce he has other things on his mind now. The sad truth is, the Disney family probably doesn't have much to do with running the company anymore. Yes they are still shareholders, and several of Walt and Lillians grandchildren work for the company but running it was given to suits sometime ago.

Nobody can say for sure what he would have wanted, but Disney hasn't been a privately run family concern for... Well, a long time. Walt was able to leave his family with the rewards of his work and he was able to make a lot of people happy at the same time. What more could you possibly ask for?

While it's fun to see a real full-blooded Disney at Disney, it doesn't really guarantee any amount of progress for the company to have one around. Even if we did have a bunch of relatives running the company who knew what Walt would have wanted, it would be best to put them in creative positions, not executive positions. Walt's product and stories were timeless, his business sense was firmly rooted in the past.

From 1977-1985 Disney had been chasing after the metaphorical rainbow, hoping to bring the company to some point where customers and audiences can feel as though Walt Disney never left us. Starting with Touchstone, and then continuing with the ABC acquisition, this hasn't been the case. There's a lot of arms of the Disney company producing content that Walt wouldn't have touched. So really, all connections to Disney of the past and the family themselves are almost symbolic now.

Bottom line: Roy doesn't have as much to bring to the table as he once did, the company has changed and so has he. Let someone like Steve Jobs can lay out a modern plan for the company's future and steer Iger along the right course.

I wasn't going to post anything, but MatterhornYeti brought up Steve Jobs.  You're saying you want Steve Jobs to lay out a modern plan for the company's future///I think he's probably a little preoccupied with a little company called Apple.  Disney needs more people who are focused on JUST Disney.  Quality, not quantity.  That's for John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, and the other Pixar people- only half their time can be spent at Disney- get more people who can truly focus all their time and energy on Disney.

As a member of the board and a huge stockholder Jobs certainly has input into Iger's ear. I'm not saying Jobs should run the place by hand, mind you. I'm saying that Disney's business is entertainment and Jobs has a fantastically clear picture of where entertainment is going to be going, especially since he's guiding a large factor in that future.

Roy is a gentleman from most accounts, but I really doubt he knows too much about, say, digital content distribution. That's an enormous new channel for the future of entertainment. It's something Disney should capitalize on and be ahead of the pack rather than a runner-up like they were with DVD.

Lasseter, Catmull, etc, are concerned with the side of the business regarding content creation. This is historically where the Disney family has made it's greatest impact in the company. I'm not worried about the dreamers, I'm talking about the business people because that's who Roy (the subject of all this) is surrounded by. Roy isn't overlooking animation anymore. He doesn't have a role in green lighting projects or making changes to films in production.

Instead, he has a tenuous connection to the chief businessman of the company. What's that worth to a guy whose background is in film-making? I can't blame him for taking up old hobbies, his position doesn't give him access to the realms he's skilled in.

I think that Roy is probably content with how things turned out or else he wouldn't have given up so easily. I doubt that the SaveDisney fight was about Roy, but was about Disney. And once the save part was accomplished, he could fade into the background.

The company has made HUGE steps in the right direction and I think it says alot about the "new" Disney and about Bob Iger that they made sure NOT to offend Roy or Disney "dweebs". The OLD Disney of Eisner wouldn't have cared. And the "new" Disney has made a place for Roy, whereas the "old" Disney locked him out.

As to Steve Jobs. When will everyone realize that he is NOT as brillant as everyone pretends he is. Or has everyone forgot that HE tried to SHUT down Pixar, OR the DISASTER that is Apple, OR that HE said that MP3 players were dumb toys, etc, etc, etc. Steve Jobs is both lucky AND has brillant people surrounding him (Steve Wozniak, John Lassner, Ed Catmul, etc).

Also sometime ago Roy himself commented about a member of the Disney family being put on the board and he replied that those positions need to go to people who will be effective and not to a Disney family member just because that person is a Disney.

Anyone remember how the Anaheim property looked, or the movies that were released, or the deals that were approved (Ovitz etc) when Roy Jr was "on the board?" Disney Co should be able to get by without him on the board. If he wasn't born with the right uncle, I doubt he would have been on any board or making any multi-million dollar stock decisions.

I'm more curious about what will happen when the nephew passes.  Who will step into Roy's shoes?  I would hate to see not a single member of the Disney family working with the company to ensure Walt's vision continued.

  "As to Steve Jobs. When will everyone realize that he is NOT as brillant as everyone pretends he is. Or has everyone forgot that HE tried to SHUT down Pixar, OR the DISASTER that is Apple, OR that HE said that MP3 players were dumb toys, etc, etc, etc. Steve Jobs is both lucky AND has brillant people surrounding him (Steve Wozniak, John Lassner, Ed Catmul, etc)."

   So very true, jedited.  I'm also inclined to recall how, with the launch of such programs like nExt, Jobs (as Jim has pointed out before) wanted to put on the market computer programs that would allow businesses/individuals to create their own computer animation and sell it....whether or not it had ANY artistic integrity.

So funny how many articles praise Jobs as "the only one" (other than Lassetter) who could see the "promise" of coomputer animation and bought Pixar for a cheap price while Disney ended up paying 7 billion.  Hello, he only bought Pixar so he could sell it later on! :P

 ;)

Jim mentioned that the execs seem to walk on eggshells when it comes to Roy Disney.  This is prudent.  First, Mr. Disney represents a link with the past; any organization values long-term employees and managers who help maintain the collective memory of the company.  Second, the Disney/Gold movement motivated 43% of shareholders to withhold their votes - a stunning number, especially when you consider that the Disney company had remained reasonably profitable over the years.  Even more incredible is that those 43% were not entirely organized.  I was one of the dissenting shareholders who decided to voice my disapproval of Mr. Eisner's policies (and the way he treated Messrs. Gold & Disney) even though I was never contacted by anyone from the dissenting side and told how to vote my shares!  Undoubtedly there was some level of organization to the Disney/Gold move,  but part of the Eisner Sanction was also a grass-roots reaction to the way the company had turned its back on its most prominent collective memory.

And so here we are debating the past rather than a future interview!  Yet the past is critical to the Disney organization - it's what built the franchise, and even the company takes pains to honor the past by re-involving "legends" in company promotions.  Sure, keep moving forward, but you have to keep an eye on the Mouse that started it all.

Wow. People here think I'm some member of the Steve Jobs Love Brigade. Truth is, I think he's overrated, and I'm not suggesting he should be directing movies. All I was saying is that he's got a huge role in the future of entertainment distribution. Content delivered digitally is a major player in the technologies vying to be the new method through which you'll watch everything. Jobs has a good record predicting trends before they happen and being there to give people what they want when they've realized they want it.

OTOH, Eisner shared a story at a stockholder meeting about how Disney DVD was launched because he walked through an electronics store one day and saw that all the other studios were putting their whole catalog on DVD, so naturally this studio should, too. That's playing catch-up, not looking forward.

 "Wow. People here think I'm some member of the Steve Jobs Love Brigade. Truth is, I think he's overrated, and I'm not suggesting he should be directing movies. All I was saying is that he's got a huge role in the future of entertainment distribution. Content delivered digitally is a major player in the technologies vying to be the new method through which you'll watch everything. Jobs has a good record predicting trends before they happen and being there to give people what they want when they've realized they want it."

  Yes, Steve Jobs knows plenty about content distribtion and trends concerning techology and all that--I'm not faulting him there.  

But does he know anything about judging that content and its creative integrity? I think there's a big difference between sitting down and inventing the ipod (which he wasn't completely a part of either) and actually greenlighting films, developing television series/shows/rides, etc...I thought the whole "content distribution/brands/trends" was what Roy wanted to get AWAY from.  Just my 2 cents, anyway.

 Also, two more things:

 1.) Didn't Roy say he didn't want being a member of the Disney family to be a criteria for getting on the board AFTER he said that he DID want it to be "all about the family", particularly the SaveDisney site stressing that a Disney should be the one in charge of "his uncle's company," etc...etc....Wasn't it due to Roy's fears that Diane Disney Miller and Ron's kid's (the "Walt" side of the fam as opposed to the Roy O side) would go vying for control and leave him and his children out?

 2.)  OK, I give Steve Jobs props for resurrecting Apple and being pretty darn brillant at running it.  I do belive he's extraordinary at what he does.  But (and it's so interesting that very few have asked this question, although I think Jim at one point did) does he truly care about "Disney"?

I mean the Walt Disney company, the animated films, the rides, the parks? Has he ever expressed love for a Disney film, shared stories about going to DisneyWorld as a child, shaking hands with Mickey, watching Pinnochio for the first time, etc...I could be wrong, maybe he has.  I just haven't read anything about it.

  (You could say the same about Eisner but at least he was in the MOVIE business and had a role in developing films/shows (even animation) before he became CEO.  Jobs has ALWAYS been in computers.  Also, at least for the first ten years of Disney Eisner was enormously enthusiastic about the company and played a vital part in its day to day business....he even hosted the WWOD.  I doubt Jobs would even pose in a photo with Mickey Mouse much less guest star/host WWOD...because..he's an Apple guy! :P )

 You could also make the argument that "it's not about how much he loves Disney, it's about how good an executive/board member he is."  I'm sorry but that just does not fly with me.  Not after that whole SaveDisney campaign and and nth number of essays on line about how the company has lost its spirit and about how we need someone at the helm who is creative and cares about the soul of the company.  

Which I do believe, by the way.  I just think it's incredibly ironic how after stressing all these things, Roy gets behind someone like Jobs and has no problem with the Disney logo fused with the Apple logo in a metaphorical sense, with no regard for what Jobs' actual feelings for Disney or what his true agenda is.

I

Actually Steve Jobs is very Walt: a visionary who surround themself with people who can make the impossible possible.  

Walt had the 9 Old Men, John Hench, Mary Blair, etc;

Jobs has Jonathan Ive, Phil Schiller, John Lassiter, Ed Catmull

Even George Lucas fits this category as a visionary.

Ironically both Jobs & Lucas have been doing Disney's business better than Disney for the past 10 years.  Pixar & ILM have been pushing the boundaries of animation where Disney once was the king.  And Apple and LucasFilm have made innovations in imagineering where Disney was once the king.

Walt didn't invent the story, he just found a way to do it better;

Jobs didn't invent the portable music player, he just found a better way to do it.

  But has Jobs ever said he loves Disney? Has he ever talked about how much he loves Disney animation?  Animated movies? Even animated Pixar movies?  I just don't understand why anyone would trust the company in the hands of someone who doesn't appear (at least to my knowledge) to have much affinity for Disney, either in its films, cartoons, or parks.

   "Ironically both Jobs & Lucas have been doing Disney's business better than Disney for the past 10 years."

    Yeah, but it's known and that Jobs doesn't get involved in Pixar's business and other than clone wars (or maybe that old cartoon "Droids" or the Ewoks show) when has Lucas actively expressed an interest in the animated film? I know he did Captain EO and Spacetours or something, but from what I understand not all went as planned and George ended up considerably steamed at the Mouse due to money matters, ect....

   If Jobs loves Disney so much and is the one to bring it into the future, why hasn't he at least, say, posed in a picture with Mickey Mouse or maybe written a greeting on a Shareholder annual report?  Something to make people feel like he's an actual part of the company, not just a "silent partner"? (I know he isn't, but that's what it feels like. :P)

 Jim said it quite well here:

 http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2006/01/16/738.aspx

Dream-cloud-girl, there's a difference between the businessmen and the dreamers at TWDC. Jobs is not my first pick to run a film division or Imagineering or any of those content-creation departments. I was never suggesting as much.

My point was: entertainment media is TWDC's business. John Lasseter is good at creating entertainment media. Disney spent ten years trying to catch up with the other studios. They also have a problem with suits who try to do things as cheaply as possible so as to save money.

Jobs should be a powerful business force, because he can spot someone cheaping out and tell them to go do better. Anyone who owned a Mac in the mid-90s days when Apple was in very real danger of going under and has owned a recent model can attest to that.

So no, I don't expect Jobs to build a park or direct a movie, I think he would be good at keeping the suits in line and I wish he'd use his boardroom power to improve the company. Whether he knows off the top of his head what year Steamboat Willie came out isn't really all that important, since most of the suits at Disney running the actual business role don't either.

Lasseter/Catmull/Cook seem to have the Walt end of the company nailed down pretty well. My talk about Jobs relates to the Roy (Sr.) end.

I wish I had been quick enough to record the event in Philadelphia, as it was very fascinating.  Occasionally Roy would mention Eisner, at first in a snarky way, but then did attribute a few Disney successes to him, and finally he is happy to be back in the Disney family and looking forward to the future.  He also told the story about the family feud, ending when Walt gave Roy Sr. a peace pipe with the inscription of "the smell of peace was never so good' or something like that.  Currently Roy has the pipe on display at his house.  I have a few photos of the event on my webpage just click on my name.