Will someone PLEASE send WDFA President David Stainton to sensitivity training?
Picture this: You’re a recently fired Feature Animation Florida employee. You’ve gone back to Disney-MGM for the day to finally clean out your office. As you’re packing up your belongings, your e-mail suddenly goes “PING.” So you click a few keys … and what pops up on your computer screen but a message from your old boss, David Stainton. Congratulating the WDFAF team on “Brother Bear”‘s recent “Best Animated Feature” Academy Award nomination.
His brief message reads:
A quick word of congratulations to all those involved in the creation of the wonderful “Brother Bear” nominated for Best Animated Picture, and the amazing “Destino” nominated for Best Animated Short. Both stand with the best work the studio has ever done.
It is a fitting–though admittedly bittersweet–tribute to the enormous talent of our colleagues in Orlando and Paris. They do us all proud.
Kudos and keep your fingers crossed for February 29!
All my best,
David
As you might expect, Stainton’s e-mail infuriated dozens of people who used to work for Disney Feature Animation-Florida. As one WDFA-F vet said in a blisteringly angry phone call to me yesterday:
“The b*lls on this guy. Asking us — the very people that he fired two weeks ago — to keep our fingers crossed so that the Walt Disney Company might be able to snag another couple of Oscars? Does Stainton have a clue how actual human beings interact with one another? This e-mail? … It’s just the height of insensitivity, Jim.
This isn’t some just ‘bittersweet tribute to the enormous talent of our colleagues in Orlando.’ This is a real slap in the face for everyone who ever worked at Feature Animation Florida. Asking us to root for the home team after we’d all been thrown away like a used piece of Kleenex. I mean, the nerve of this guy.
I tell you, Jim, if anyone ever asks you for proof that Stainton’s a complete clod with antifreeze running through his veins, all you’ll have to do produce a copy of this e-mail.
I Mean, I knew that David was gaffe-prone. But this last supposedly sincere note, this empty gesture to the long-since-laid-off staffs of Disney’s Florida and Parisian animation studios, may have been Stainton’s greatest gaffe of all.”
You’re going to have to forgive the crew at Feature Animation-Florida. But emotions have been running pretty high among the crew of that now officially-closed facility. Not just because David Stainton’s stupid note or because staffers there are now in the process of packing up 15 years worth of memories. But because of a Michael Eisner quote that Don Bluth has posted over at his website, www.donbluth.com.
According to Bluth, Disney’s CEO was quoted on November 11th as saying “… perhaps we discontinued 2D production prematurely.” Now what’s significant about that date? Well, here you have the head of the Walt Disney Company supposedly second-guessing his own decision about whether or not the corporation should shut down WDFA’s tradition animation operation (reportedly because of how well “Brother Bear” was performing at the box office at that time) … and yet — 6 days later — Stainton still goes ahead and pulls the plug on Feature Animation Florida.
Regarding that Don Bluth quote, a California-based WDFA vet told me that:
“This is what’s scary about working for the Walt Disney Company these days. The corporation is run completely on the whims of one man. A guy who’s been known to change his mind repeatedly.
I mean, look at what the ‘Chicken Little’ production crew has just been through. First Eisner insisted that the film’s title character has to be changed into a girl so that she’ll be more sympathetic to movie goers that way. So they go and rework the entire movie, show to Michael again … Only to have him go ‘I changed my mind again. Let’s turn Chicken Little back into a boy.’
If the shareholders actually knew about the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been wasted over the past 19 years because of stuff like this — Michael Eisner not being able to make up his mind — they’d have tossed him out of his ass long ago.
That’s why I know that Don Bluth quote has just gotta be killing the guys who used to work at the Florida studio. Knowing that on Saturday, November 11th, Eisner was supposedly having second thoughts about shutting down Disney’s traditional animation unit. Which meant that — if Stainton’s secret trip to Orlando to shut down production of ‘A Few Good Ghosts’ had been scheduled for Monday, November 13th rather than Friday, November 17th — Michael would probably have not allowed David to actually go and pull the plug. Which might have meant that WDFA-F would have gotten a reprieve. At least for another year or two.
But — sadly — that’s not how it went down. Stainton’s flight to Florida was scheduled for Friday. Which meant that Eisner had another couple of days to second-guess himself again. Which is perhaps why Michael ultimately allowed David to go ahead with shutting down Feature Animation-Florida.
That’s the real problem behind the way the Walt Disney Company is run these days, Jim. Our CEO’s got ADD. Michael’s mind just wanders ‘way too much. I mean, how can a corporation be expected to stick with a single coherent business strategy when the man in charge keeps changing his mind?
This whole sad situation brings to mind that old joke:
Q: What’s the key difference between the Cub Scouts and the Walt Disney Company?
A: The Cub Scouts has adult leadership.I remember when it used to be a good thing when people said that ‘Michael Eisner’s just a big kid.’ Which meant that our company’s CEO was thought of as being creative and passionate.
But nowadays … Well, you can see all the problems involved with having a ‘big kid’ in charge of your corporation. He never finishes what he starts. He doesn’t play well with others (Don’t get me started on how stupid Eisner’s stance on this whole Pixar thing is, Jim. We’re going to lose an incredibly lucrative co-production deal with that studio all because Michael can’t get along with Steve Jobs. This prolonged negotiation between Disney and Pixar? It’s all degenerated down into one massive d*ck waving contests between these two CEOs). It’s all such a mess.
I mean, this would be funny if it weren’t so sad. Disney used to be a corporation that prided itself on having a 20 year and a 30 year growth plan in place. Nowadays, the Walt Disney Company doesn’t do any sort of long range planning. It just lurches from week to week, month to month, doing whatever it has in order to keep the stock price high.
All because we have a guy in charge who can’t ever seem to make up his mind.”
Of course, what makes this entire situation doubly ironic is that — in Disney’s recently released 2004 annual report — Michael Eisner has boldly announced his new ten year plan for the corporation. Which states that:
“New digital technologies present an enormous opportunity for Disney, so much so that we have informally dubbed this Disney’s Digital Decade (I guess now it’s been formally dubbed). Digital technology offers important advantages on two fronts — to distribute content more efficiently and effectively, and to create more compelling content.
… Just as no one envisioned the ubiquitous nature of computers a few years ago, it is impossible to foresee all the possibilities of the Digital Decade. But they are coming and Disney will be there.”
“What’s so ironic about Michael Eisner declaring that 2001 – 2010 will be ‘Disney’s Digital Decade?'” you ask. Well, how many of you remember the FIRST Disney Decade? Which Michael Eisner announced with much hoopla back in 1989. Which promised a decade of explosive growth for the Walt Disney Company, with bold new theme parks like Westcot and Port Disney being built in Long Beach, CA. With ambitious attractions like “*** Tracy Crimestoppers,” “The Great Muppet Movie Ride” and “Toontown Transit” being built to lure guests to come visit these new parks.
And what did we end up with instead? Michael second-guessed all of those glorious plans. Which why we’re now stuck with underfunded, unambitious operations like “Disney’s California Adventure” and “Walt Disney Studios” in Paris. Where lightly rethemed off-the-shelf rides like “TriceraTop Spin” and “Primeval Whirl” were the order of the day.
So — if the first Disney Decade is any indication of how “Disney’s Digital Decade” is actually going to go … I can hazard a guess as to how this is all going to turn out.
Or should I say “a second guess?’