I had a VERY interesting conversation with some folks at the Walt Disney Company late last week.
To explain: I was in the process of preparing tomorrow’s “Jim, You Ignorant ***!” column. (You know? That feature where I actually own up to errors that were made in various stories that JimHillMedia.com has run over the past few months?) And given that, back on December 11th, I had made such a big deal of Michael Eisner’s alleged effort to remove all references to Roy Disney at the Mouse House. With Eisner’s campaign possibly being linked to Buena Vista Home Entertainment’s decision to suddenly postpone the release of the next wave of “Disney Treasures” DVDs ’til May 18th … well, I just thought that I should at least try to address that mistake as part of today’s JYIS column.
So I made a few phone calls to Burbank. And now … well, I’m not entirely convinced that I actually got that story wrong. At least not back during the first week of December when JHM initially reported it.
I mean, sure, now the stuff that I was claiming in my “Erasing Roy” article …
That Michael Eisner was supposedly having any and all footage featuring Walt’s nephew removed from this particular set of DVDs.
That Disney’s CEO was even going so far as to reportedly order the reprinting all the wrap-around banners for the “Disney Treasures” sets. So that Roy’s signature would be removed from all the packaging.
… is obviously wrong. After all, anyone who’s seen any of the advance copes of these particular DVD sets that are currently circulating knows that Roy’s signature is still on the wrap-around label for the “Disney Treasures” DVDs. More importantly, interviews with Walt’s nephew are still prominently featured among the “Special Features” listed on these discs.
“So what happened?” you ask. “How can a JHM story supposedly be right in December but then be wrong in May?”
Simple. Back before Christmas, Eisner supposedly learned that news of his “Erase Roy” campaign had already begun to circulate around the Web. And — given that Michael reportedly quickly realized how much bad press he would receive if he actually went forward with this scheme — Disney’s CEO allegedly backed off. Told the folks at BVHE that he changed his mind. That the next wave of “Disney Treasures” DVDs could go out unchanged.
Don’t believe me? Then let me share this snippet from an e-mail I received from a Mouse House insider:
“When Michael’s working in the shadows, he’s as ruthless and cutthroat as they come. Look how Eisner had all of Jeffrey Katzenberg’s contribution to “Beauty & the Beast” and “Aladdin” erased.
But as soon as the Internet’s spotlight began shining on what Michael was supposedly thinking of doing with those ‘Disney Treasures’ DVDs, Eisner immediately backed off. He knew that — if he ever dared to do something that stupid & petty, particularly after the media had received advance notice of his intended antics — the press would crucify him.
So Disney DVD collectors owe you a debt of gratitude, Jim. You and all the other webmasters who wrote about Michael was thinking of doing. Because you all shined a spotlight on him, Disney’s CEO suddenly decided to be on his best behavior. Which is why those discs are arriving in stories later this month untouched. Just as we had intended them to be.”
To be honest, when I first heard this story, I was kind of flabbergasted. Me? The weenie up in the woods of New Hampshire allegedly having some sort of actual impact on the way Michael Eisner behaves? The whole ideas seems patently ridiculous … particularly to me.
But then someone pointed what had happened on the heels of my April 9th “Why For” column. Where I talked about how the folks working at the Jim Henson Company were supposedly concerned about what the Disney Company’s plans were for the Muppets. How it seemed like Disney didn’t really have a plan in place for Kermit & Co. How the Mouse seemed to have gone after this acquisition all because Michael Eisner reportedly had this weird obsession with Jim Henson.
So how did Disney’s CEO respond to that particular criticism? By — once Disney’s acquisition of the Muppets and the “Bear in the Big Blue House” characters was officially completed back on April 28th — Michael placing Chris Curtin in charge of Henson’s characters.
“And just who’s Chris Curtin?” you query. Curtin is the former head of the Walt Disney Company’s synergy department. Which means that Chris is already intimately familiar with the operation of virtually every division of the Mouse House. Which means that he’d really be the “go-to” guy if you wanted to jump-start the Muppet franchise within the Walt Disney Company.
More to the point, Chris Curtin was actually Michael Eisner’s personal assistant for several years. So Chris has obviously got Uncle Mike’s ear. Which should come in very handy if Curtin wants to get something truly special involving the Henson characters off the ground. Like that Muppet-based stage show that Disney Theatrical is supposedly toying with mounting in NYC in the not-so-distant future.
According to people I spoke with in Burbank last week, Curtin’s Muppet assignment came about as a direct result of complaints of the Net — at this website as well as several others — that the Walt Disney Company reportedly didn’t really have a plan in place for Piggy & pals. That Disney allegedly bought the Muppets just because Michael Eisner wanted them.
Said one guy at WDI:
“You have to understand that Eisner has become increasingly obsessed with the Web. Particularly after Roy & Stanley set up their SaveDisney.com website. Now Michael makes a point of keeping up with what people are saying about him on the Internet. Especially any comments about how he’s been running the company.
So once that story began circulating around the Web about how Disney supposedly didn’t really have a plan in place for the Muppets, Eisner felt that he had to do something. And what better way is there to put this rumor to rest than to make his former personal assistant — Disney’s head of synergy — in charge of the Muppets. And then playing up that fact in every press release that the company put out about the acquisition.
Please understand, folks. I’m not telling you this story just to try and pump myself up. (Regular readers of JimHillMedia.com will know that — in spite of this website’s rather self-aggrandizing name — that I don’t really have delusions of grandeur. Most mornings, I’m lucky if I can actually pull off delusions of adequacy. Anyway …) I just offer up this info as sort of a window into what’s going on with Disney’s CEO.
Besides, if you really want to talk about the webmaster who arguably has the most impact on what goes on at the Walt Disney Company, that’s not me. Not by a longshot.
The guy who supposedly does the very best job of rattling Michael Eisner’s cage is my old boss, Al Lutz. Once upon a time the Big Cheese over at MousePlanet, nowdays the old Mousetro in charge of MiceAge.com, Al is the guy who — for the longest time now — has reportedly rubbed Eisner the wrong way. Said one Disneyland management-type that I talked with on Friday:
“Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration would have been a disaster if Al hadn’t started complaining about the plans two years ago. Because Lutz led the charge — bitching long and hard about how lackluster Disney’s plans were for Disneyland’s birthday celebration — is the only reason that the theme park is going to have a halfway decent anniversary celebration.
I know you and Al have had your problems in the past, Jim. But you and all the other Disney webheads really owe Lutz a debt of gratitude. If he hadn’t started posting stories about how cheap and small the parks’ proposed 50th anniversary celebration was going to be back in 2002, it would still be cheap and small. With a parade that was made up of recycled pieces from other Disneyland parade.
Which is why — if you enjoy Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration next year — you really have Al Lutz to thank.”
Well … If this is really the case, then let me be the first to say: Thank you, Al Lutz. Thanks for keeping a spotlight focused on the Walt Disney Company’s original plans for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration. Which were admittedly somewhat inadequate. And for keeping those complains coming … Which evidently resulted in embarrassing Michael Eisner enough so that he eventually okayed a significant expansion of that celebration.
Not exactly something you’d expect to see over here at JimHillMedia.com, eh? Well, just wait ’til tomorrow’s “Jim, You Ignorant ***” column.
Your thoughts?