Well, it’s official. No one at Walt Disney Company headquarters in Burbank, CA got any work done yesterday.
By that I mean: Just as the initial hubbub surrounding Roy’s resignation had begun dying down (and the first wisecracks to be directly associated with Disney’s departure began surfaced. Here’s two of them: “Well, Michael Eisner had been hoping that some story would come along to take the public’s mind off of the Big Thunder accident at Disneyland. I guess he got his wish.” and “For the first time in years, a ‘Michael’s in trouble’ headline in Variety doesn’t automatically mean Michael Jackson.”), then the Stanley Gold resignation story broke.
And then — at 2 p.m. PST — Roy and Stanley appeared on CNBC. And — toward the tail end of that interview — Walt’s nephew played the Pixar card. And then this already fascinating story got really, REALLY interesting.
How so? Well, take a gander at this quote from Roy. This was in response to a CNBC reporter’s question about the status of the Disney / Pixar contract extension negotiations:
“I was about to go up and see my friend, John Lasseter in Emeryville a few weeks ago and was asked not to go there by Michael Eisner because he didn’t want Disney executives and Pixar executives rubbing shoulders, so to speak. So I was asked not so politely to stay out of that.”
Now what’s so significant about that? Well, how many of you recall hearing in late October / early November how things were going much better with the Pixar / Disney contract extension talks? How most of the differences between the two corporations had been ironed out and that there was now a deal on the table that both companies could live with? Back then, it seemed like it would be only days ’til this deal would finally officially close … then Steve Jobs (even though he had gotten absolutely everything that he asked for from Disney) abruptly announced that he would be putting off making a decision about whether his company should be extending their deal with the Mouse ’til the middle of 2004.
So why did Jobs abruptly shut down the Disney / Pixar contract extension talks last month? And why did Michael Eisner expressly forbid Roy Disney from meeting with John Lasseter about this same time? Because it’s all interconnected, folks. Whether Eisner will continue as CEO of the Walt Disney Company may actually hinge on which side Steve Jobs chooses in the coming weeks.
Don’t believe me? Well, let’s go back to Roy’s resignation letter. Which lists — as one of the seven reasons why Michael Eisner should immediately resign as head of the Walt Disney Company:
6. Your failure to establish and build constructive relationships with creative partners, especially Pixar, Miramax, and the cable companies distributing our products.
Now — in the weeks ahead — look for the fact that Michael Eisner has this incredibly toxic relationship with Steve Jobs to get played up large-scale by Roy and Stanley. For these guys to repeatedly talk to the media as well as large and small Disney stockholders about how Eisner — due to his personal animosity with Jobs — probably isn’t going be able to close the contact extension deal with Pixar. Whereas Roy — who has this long standing friendship with John Lasseter — clearly has the inside track.
Now the big question is: Which side will Steve (who — if the reports I’m hearing are true — has known about this behind-the-scenes effort to topple Eisner for months now) choose? Will he actually come out of the shadows and actively support Roy and Stanley’s efforts to replace Michael? Or will Jobs prefer to stay backstage for a while, wait and see what Eisner’s next move might be?
Because (let’s be blunt here, folks) Steve Jobs knows that Pixar is vulnerable. Right now, his animation studio (more importantly, Pixar’s stock prices) still rise and fall on how well Pixar’s latest picture is doing. And — in the years ahead — Pixar Animation Studio is going to face ever increasing competition in the CG feature field. With 20th Century Fox (with last year’s surprise hit, “Ice Age”) and Dreamworks SKG (with its Summer 2001 smash, “Shrek”) already proving that they too … just like Pixar … can produce audience-pleasing computer animated features. And with Disney, Warners, Sony and even Lucasfilm also all prepping new CG features of their own, this field’s about to get seriously flooded.
So what better way to survive the next few years — when CG’s sure to finally lose some of its allure with movie goers, which will put Pixar in an even more precarious position — than to forge another alliance with Disney. Only this time, with a Disney management team that isn’t out to constantly screw the people at Pixar.
It’ll be this card — plus the insinuation that Steve Jobs and John Lasseter might take a much more active role in determining Disney’s destiny if Roy and Stanley were to get their way here — that Disney and Gold will be playing up big-time over the next few weeks. Look for Roy Disney to constantly work in mentions of “my friend John Lasseter” whenever he talks with reporters, and for Stanley Gold to continually express his doubts that Michael Eisner will ever be able to close the Pixar contract extension deal with Steve Jobs.
Look for Disney’s problems with Pixar to emerge as a key issue in Disney and Gold’s effort to remove Eisner. And how will Michael respond? To date, the only people who have spoken out in his behalf are the allegedly independent members of Disney’s board of directors. Who said — in response to Roy and Stanley’s letters of resignation — that:
“It is a disservice to shareholders and to employees that the company faces this distraction at a time when its performance is improving as a result of growth plans and initiatives being implemented by management with board approval.”
Then Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone came to Eisner’s defense, saying that Disney was “a great company” that was getting “greater every day.” Redstone also called Michael a “great leader.”
MEMO TO MICHAEL: If the only people who are willing to speak out in favor of you are your own board of directors and another CEO, this really doesn’t bode well for what’s going to happen once Roy and Stanley start talking up how you’re not going to be able to close that Pixar contract extension deal. So now might be a really good time to call in some favors with some Hollywood heavy hitters — people like Ron Howard and Jerry Bruckheimer — and get them to start talking about all you’ve done over the past 19 years to make the Walt Disney Company the powerhouse corporation that it is today.
By the way — just so you know — the official t-shirt of “Storming the Magic Kingdom: Version 2.0” is:
This snazzy little item is being currently worn by Disney employees as well as Disneyana fans. Anyone who’s looking to publicly express their displeasure with what the Walt Disney Company has been up to lately. If you’d like to purchase one of these beauties for yourself, you can do so over at the JustInSpace web site.
FYI: JimHillMedia.com will get absolutely nothing back from the sale of these “Disappointed” t-shirts. Honest. Not one thin dime. So why am I telling you all about these shirts? Because … well … a friend of mine actually makes them. And I’m always happy do what I can to help out a friend.
More importantly, I myself have been kind of “Disappointed” with the way that the Walt Disney Company has been behaving these past few years. And I think it’s important that the general public (not just us Disney dweebs who hang out on the Net) finally realize that things aren’t actually all that happy in “The Happiest Place on Earth.” That the Disney corporation really seems to have lost its way.
So if having a few people wear these “Disappointed” t-shirts help get the word out about what’s actually going on to the non-Disney dweeb crowd … then I think that’s a very good thing.
So forget about Mao jackets. If you really want to be properly dressed for the upcoming revolution in the Magic Kingdom, then get yourself a “Disappointed” t-shirt.
Your thoughts?