There’s this great story that I heard recently. One that (I think) speaks volumes about the way the Walt Disney Company is really run.
This tale reportedly dates back to when Michael Eisner was still running the Mouse House. To be specific, this story deals with a meeting that was once held at Walt Disney Imagineering. Where Uncle Mikey — along with several other members of senior management — had just been shown this bold new concept for a Disney theme park ride.
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As the story goes, Eisner immediately fell in love with this idea. Telling the Imagineer who was chairing that particular meeting that “This concept is absolutely brilliant” and “We should start construction on this attraction tomorrow” and “Two years from today, I want people to be walking through the queue, getting ready to ride that thing …”
Which (You’d think, given how enthusiastic the company’s then-CEO had sounded about this proposed attraction) must have meant that construction of this Disney theme park ride just got greenlit. But the harsh reality is … This particular attraction never actually made it off the drawing board.
Why For? … Well, the real problem with this proposed ride was that its initial construction costs would have been prohibitively expensive. And then — once construction had finally been completed — this attraction would have then required a large well-trained staff in order to be properly operated each day.
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So — in short — this project was going to be a money pit. Which is why — once this meeting was officially over and Michael had left the conference room — Disney’s senior financial person turned to the Imagineer who was in charge of this meeting and said: “You understand, of course, that we’re not actually going to build this ride, right?”
Crestfallen, the guy from WDI sputtered: “But … But … Michael just said …”
“Please,” Disney’s chief financial guy snorted derisively. “Just because Eisner runs this company doesn’t mean that he actually runs this company.”
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I bring this story up today because … Well, I think that it’s important that we all have some realistic expectations when it comes to what happens next with Disney’s animation units.
Oh, sure. Disneyana fans really want to believe that John Lasseter & Ed Catmull will wipe the slate clean. That these two are going to remake Disney Feature Animation in Pixar’s image.
But the harsh reality is … The Walt Disney Company is a publicly held corporation, folks. One that eventually has to answer to its institutional shareholders as well as Wall Street’s movers & shakers.
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Which is why … Well, while Lasseter & Catmull can talk all they want about how they’re planning on getting WDFA & Disney Toon out of the unnecessary sequel business (Which is why they just recently shut down production of “Chicken Little II: The Ugly Duckling Story”) and getting Disney back into the quality business … The fact of the matter is that a certain number of these films are still going be to produced & released each year.
Why For? Because these video premieres are considered to be a vital part of Disney Consumer Products’ strategy for supporting and eventually expanding the existing fan base of several already-hugely-popular Disney brands.
Take — for example — the Disney Princess brand. Back in 2000, Roy E. Disney fought tooth-and-nail against the creation of this particular brand. Insisting that it just made no sense for the Walt Disney Company to try & convince consumers that Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle and Jasmine were now good close personal friends. Given that these six Disney characters all occupied very different storytale worlds.
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Well, thank goodness that Andy Mooney was eventually able to over-ride Roy Disney’s objections. For — over the past six years — the Disney Princess brand has been able to grow into a $3-billion-a-year business. Which puts the princesses in third place right behind Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh in brand earning power.
This is why — even though John & Ed are being allowed to shut down unnecessary sequels like “Aristocats II” and “Dumbo II” — WDFA & WDI’s new ubermeisters are also being told (very politely, mind you ) to keep their mitts off of any “Disney Princess,” “Mickey Mouse” and “Winnie the Pooh” video premieres. That production of these projects — in spite of their often lackluster stories and substandard animation — will still be allowed to go forward.
Why For? Because — to be blunt — these brands pour so much coin into Disney’s coffers that no one (Not even Lasseter & Catmull) will be allowed to disrupt that cash flow.
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Mind you, this “Hands Off” order also allegedly applies to the four video premieres (I.E. “The Tinkerbell Movie” and its trio of sequels) that are supposed to support the “Disney Fairies” brand. Though there’s been no word yet as to whether John & Ed will eventually be allowed to have some creative input over the films that will supposedly be used to support the “Alice in Wonderland” -based brand that DCP is looking to launch in 2008 & 2009.
You see what I’m saying here, folks? That Lasseter & Catmull’s newly-acquired power at Disney actually does have some fairly serious limitations. So that even though they’re being allowed to make significant changes to “Meet the Robinsons” (A film that — just so you know — was 81% done when John & Ed ordered that this WDFA project be significantly reworked late last month), when it comes to the Consumer Products side of the Mouse House … These two Pixar vets are basically being told that “You can look but don’t touch.”
Speaking of Disney Consumer Products … I think it’s also important to understand the crucial role that this division of the Walt Disney Company played in Bob Iger’s decision to offer $7.4 billion in order to acquire Pixar Animation Studios. Among some of the lesser known aspects of this deal is that — once the acquisition is finally complete — Disney Consumer Products will then have total control over how the Pixar characters are actually licensed.
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And given that Pixar execs were often rather reluctant to take advantage of every single licensing opportunity that were out there (More importantly, given that Disney Consumer Products couldn’t close any of these licensing deals without the Pixar executives signing off on them first) … Over the past 10 years, a lot of money was often left on the negotiating table.
But now that Disney Consumer Products no longer has to consult with Pixar management about every single character licensing opportunity that comes its way … Well, DCP figures that (Strictly from the licensing of the films & characters that Disney acquired as part of the Pixar deal) the Mouse can recover the entire $7.4 billion that it spent in order to acquire this computer animation studio in just five years time. Which means that — by 2011 — this high priced acquisition will then become a purely profitable situation for the Mouse.
Mind you, by that time, Disney Consumer Products is hoping that they’ll have been able to grow Pixar-based franchises like “The Incredibles” and “Cars” into Disney-Princess-sized brands. And — in order to do that … Well, I’m betting that we’ll be seeing at least a few sequels to some previous Pixar releases.
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Though one would hope that “Toy Story III’ and “The Return of the Incredibles” at least look a little better than the promo clips from the video premiere that I used to illustrate today’s article. Which is “Disney Princess Fairy Tales : Volume One.” While it won’t arrive on store shelves ’til September, this Buena Vista Home Entertainment release will be the first title in a brand-new series of DVDs that was deliberately designed to extend the reach of the Disney Princess brand.
Given that Michael Eisner once supposedly tried to lure John Lasseter away from Pixar by offering him his very own “Disney Princess” movie to direct (I.E. “The Snow Queen.” FYI: This proposed animated feature — which was to have featured a score by Alan Menken — has recently been revived as a musical stage show that will soon be presented at Tokyo DisneySea) … One has to wonder what John actually thinks of this particular development. That he & Ed Catmull are basically being given carte blanche when it comes to WDFA’s future. While — at the same time — they’re being told (again, very politely) to keep their hands off of any video premieres that will then help support Disney Consumer Product’s biggest brands.
What are you folks’ thoughts? Should Lasseter & Catmull’s reach extend to these video premieres as well? Or should they leave Disney Consumer Products alone and just concentrate on helping the staffs at Pixar Animation & WDFA make the best possible animated features they can?
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Your thoughts?