On behalf of the Walt Disney Company and its stockholders, I’d like to apologize to the city of New Orleans.
I mean, hasn’t this beautiful city suffered enough? After having been blown about by Hurricane Katrina, was it really necessary to then expose the Big Easy to yet another long-winded female, Evelyn Y. Davis?
Photo courtesy of Google Images
Mind you, that wasn’t the Mouse’s plan. What Disney executives had originally hoped to do was present their corporation’s annual meeting at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Give its Lousiana-area stockholders a chance to see how well the company has done in the past year. More importantly, show them what Mickey has in store for 2007 and beyond.
But professional corporate gadfly Davis had a very different agenda in mind. Which is why she grabbed the microphone right in the middle of John Lasseter’s presentation yesterday. And as John politely paused his talk about what was coming next from Feature Animation, Evelyn complained bitterly about how outrageous it was that Disney’s dog-and-pony show had already dragged on for 50 minutes.
When — Ms. Davis brayed — were they finally going to get to the really important stuff? That portion in the program where Evelyn would finally be allowed to approach the podium & hold forth?
Of course, what was kind of ironic about all this is here was this elderly eccentric kvetching about how outrageous it was that the Disney Company kept going on & on about what was coming next. And yet — if you were to ask the other people in the hall what they thought was outrageous — they’d have pointed to Evelyn herself. Who kept disrupting yesterday’s meeting with her self-absorbed rants.
Take — for example — that moment in the meeting where Evelyn hogged the mike and ordered Disney CEO Bob Iger to have Barbara Walters’ office contact her. So that Ms. Davis could then find out the name of the designer who had created the black-and-gold gown that Walters wore during her pre-Academy Awards broadcast.
That’s pretty bizarre behavior, don’t you think? So why do senior officials of the Walt Disney Company tolerate Evelyn’s antics? Because they have to.
To explain: As a shareholder of the Disney corporation, this 75-year-old shareholder does have the right to quiz the company’s board of directors as well as submit proposals to be considered at the Mouse House’s annual meetings. And since Ms. Davis is a hard-of-hearing Holocaust survivor … Well, given her age & life experience, Disney senior officials make a real effort to treat this lady with a certain measure of tolerance & respect.
But given the way that Evelyn (Who — during the months of March & April — will often attend the annual meetings of 40 different companies. Tormenting officials at many of these corporate gatherings with her constant hectoring & grandstanding) behaves … Tolerating her outbursts (Which — this time around — ranged from disparaging comments about Roy E. Disney to her theories about how “The Internets” are drastically eroding the value of the company’s assets) can often be a challenge.
I mean, pity poor John Pepper. Here he was in the middle of his very first annual meeting as Disney’s new chairman of the board. And given that Pepper was in charge during the business portion of this meeting, he was the one who wound up dealing with most of Evelyn’s outbursts. Constantly reminding Ms. Davis that she only had two minutes in which to make her comments, even though Evelyn would repeatedly dismiss him. Saying ” … You’re only the chairman of the board, John. I want Bob to answer my questions.”
Well, in spite of Ms. Davis’s interruptions, this was still one of the more entertaining annual meetings that the Walt Disney Company has ever presented. Though, that said, it should be noted that it was also one of the more poorly attended. Before the event actually got underway, Rich Koster of Disney Echo made a quick count of the house. And he estimated that there were only 100 – 120 people seated in the entire hall.
Now contrast that with the 50-plus suits, staffers and assistants that Disney had flown in to New Orleans to serve as support staff for this event. Then add to that dozens of senior Mouse House officials, the company’s board of directors as well as their family members. And — to be honest — the people in that hall who were on Disney’s payroll may have actually outnumbered the shareholders who had come into town just to attend yesterday’s meeting.
Given the size of the auditorium, this was a much more intimate gathering than usual. And Bob Iger (once again taking advantage of his on-camera experience as a TV weatherman) was a very comfortable and confident M.C. for this corporate event. Deliberately avoiding hiding behind the podium whenever possible, Iger stood at center stage and warmly greeted Robin Roberts of ABC‘s “Good Morning America.” And then as these two chatted about this veteran newswoman’s strong family ties to this area, it became obvious that that Disney was truly sincere (Well … As truly sincere as a multi-national corporation can be, I guess) about its efforts to be supportive of the Big Easy in its time of trouble.
Of course, there was another reason that Mouse House officials wanted to hold this year’s annual meeting down in New Orleans. And that was to officially announce that “The Frog Princess” (I.E. WDFA’s official return to traditional animation) would be set in New Orleans of the 1920s. And to celebrate this special occasion, John Lasseter introduced Academy Award-winner Randy Newman and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Who then played “Down in New Orleans” (I.E. One of the many songs that Newman has written for “The Frog Princess”) as slides of preproduction art for this new John Musker & Ron Clements movie played on a screen directly above the band.
Given that this was the first public performance of a number from this still-in-preproduction motion picture, “Down in New Orleans” was greeted with very enthusiastic applause. The smallish crowd in the auditorium also roared its approval when John Lasseter revealed that Maddy (I.E. The title character in “The Frog Princess”) would be the first-ever African-American Disney Princess.
Beyond that … The only other news that might interest all you hardcore Disneyana fans out there is that the company is now revisiting its decision not to release “Song of the South” on DVD. When quizzed by Carol Koster about the current status of this 1946 Walt Disney Productions release, Iger first expressed his concerns about the film. Wondering aloud if it would actually be possible for today’s audiences to put this picture in the proper context.
But Bob (while making no promises about what might happen next with this historic motion picture) then went on to say that ” … we will look at (“Song of the South”) again. And Dick Cook (I.E. The Chairman of Walt Disney Studios) would be in charge of that effort.”
Photo courtesy of Google Images
Once the Q & A portion of the meeting was over, shareholders filed out of the hall. Where they were then handed a free “Disney Environmentality” travel mug which had been made from recyclable materials. One shareholder — as they hefted this green clear plastic mug — was heard to say “I’d dearly love to use this to brain that crazy old lady who kept disrupting the meeting.”
But Evelyn Y. Davis had long since departed. As soon as her shareholder proposal for greenmail reform was voted down, Evelyn quietly slipped out of yesterday’s meeting. Having gotten her moment in the sun at Disney’s annual meeting, this self-described “World’s Most Famous Shareholder” then exited the auditorium.
Where was she headed? Probably back to her condominium in the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. And then from there … Well, I’d imagine that Ms. Davis will soon be heading out for another annual meeting. Where she can then annoy yet another group of executives with her constant corporate kvetching.
Your thoughts?