Disney...no longer magic.....

S

scherer_ga

New member
Over the last couple of months I have seen articles about Disney that make me feel they no longer hold that magic they have had in the past.

For example I am pretty sure there was a thread on here about them getting rid of the hand animation section so they could concentrate on digital films like Toy Story, Finding Nemo etc.

Following on from this there was an item on BBC news (I'll try and hunt the link) that implied Pixar wanted to break away from Disney as it wasn't getting the share of profits it was expecting.

Finally to cap it all, lastnight I saw an advert for The Lion King 3 !!!

Come on Disney where has all the originality gone. All they seem to do now is make sequels to past animations. Peter Pan 2 - what complete rubbish. Even my young daughter who loved the original cartoon didn't like this one.

It would seem that the marketing men now rule as in many organisations, but to what cost? :(

Thoughts anyone......?
 
Creativity comes from taking on new ideas

A bit of fresh blood into the system (plenty of storywriters with 'straight to animation' scripts out there), would soon turn round the company, but as it stanRAB Disney is oRABhore, executives too intersted in their own pay cheques and the company rather too big to change overnight.
 
Just to let you know, after Pixar have finished their contractual obligations with Disney, the partnership is actually ending... No more rumour to it...

Well done to Pixar. Disney need them more than Pixar need Disney.
 
Seems Disney have sort of shot themselves in the foot. Dump the traditional animation people then eventually lose Pixar.

Having said that I guess there is enough money in the corporation to sort something out.

While there are children with parents, they are guaranteed an income....
 
www.savedisney.com

The last 3 months have been exceedingly interesting for DisneyFans. Here is an excerpt from Roy Disney's resignation letter, citing whats wrong with the current leadership:


There is so much information to read about the whole situation. Try http://forums.wdwmagic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=31

The people that are for "regime change" seem to be the core fans that have noticed the drop in quality at the theme parks, the churn-out of Direct-To-Video sequels (or Cinema releases with the quality of a Direct to Video film), the dilution of the brand. Disney is no longer a premium brand.

The people against it are unfortunately the majority shareholders. The ones that don't care about creating quality to help the future of the company. They just want a higher return on their short-term investment. If that means the company selling its soul, then so what, as long as their $$$ increase.

Sad but interesting times. Watch out for the Shareholders Meeting on March 2nd. I promise you, there will be sparks flying :)
 
Summary:

1. Roy Disney resigns after being pushed off the board. Stanley Gold follows next day. There are now no more Disney's left inside the Disney company.

2. RD and SG start the savedisney campaign to try and get a change in leadership.

N.B Roy isn't crying because he was forced out. A) He was being crippled whilst in the company. Eisner had people ban him from his own departments meetings. B) Directors can't speak out against the company whilst being directors. Being on the outside is a good thing, as someone of profile can say to the media what the Disney fans have been saying for years.

3. The Feature Animation Unit in Florida is shut down. Productions cancelled. A state-of-the-art facility costing millions is mothballed. 250 animators loose their jobs. This is the unit that produced Lilo & Stich and Brother Bear. The most successful of Disneys recent Feature Films.

4. Over 4500 people sign a petition supporting Roy. Including legendary Animator, Directors and Imagineers. Legacy Studios form in Orlando, recruited lots of ex-Disney employers.

5. WDFA suggest that they will move to CGI animated films only.

6. Pixar end contract negotionations with Disney. Contractual reasons are cited, but it is well known that Steve Jobs and Micheal Eisner have big egos and don't see eye to eye.

We have yet to see if this rumour is true. RD is good frienRAB with John Lassiter of Pixar and Steve Jobs. Maybe he had a quiet word in their ears. He is also meant to have The Jim Henson Company on his side as well. They want a new deal with Disney, but only if Eisner goes.


EDIT: Sorry.. Micheal Eisner is CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company
WDFA = Walt Disney Feature Animation


There is probably about a days worth of reading to do. Those 35+ JimHill articles will take you a while. ;)
 
It's actually called The Lion King 1 1/2 in the US, and is basically the telling of the first film all over again, but from the perspective of Timon & Pumbaa throughout. It starts with their birth and life, and how they became to be outcasts, then halfway through the film, they find Simba. Don't know why it has been Called The Lion King 3 over here...

Padzter :D
 
Disneys decline can only be blamed on those who run the service.
The last big hit ABC (there American TV channels had) was WWTBAM and they repeated that till no one could stand the sight of it.

The recent Pixar spit was purely based on greed , Pixar deserved more money considering it has been a major bread winner for Disney but for some odd reason Disney seemed to beleive the deal could carry on while making them $$$ for little effort.

There animation studios are failing , I think the Lion King didn't help by making them assume they could make that type of money each time for an animated film.
There last major film hit was Pirates of the Carribean , looks like they are pushing the haunted house quite a lot at the moment.

The board at Disney need to go and some people come in who are more focued on the long term and not short term money making ideas to go from day to day.
 
Yep now a cable company is planning to take over Diseny!

How sad it is to see a pioneer fall so badly, how could we in the early 90's predicted a major fall in the company that brought us such classics as Lion King and Beauty and the beast?

And now the Pixar spilt (which may i add was a great move for Pixar because lets face it Disney never really gave them alot of regonistion:rolleyes:) is now going to break Disney even more then ever.

People could argue that their live action films arent doing too badly, but films like the Pirates of the carribien, only come once in a full moon for a company like Disney, and lets face it Disney doesnt really have a good track record when it comes down to live action...........though when they put their heaRAB together they usually come out with the magic.

Even Time Warner company is now higher in revenue then Disney, manly thanks to Harry Potter, Matrix and the Lord of the rings films.

I personally blame bad management at Disney for there downfall.

Anyways lets hope they kick out the arsewholes at Disney and bring in some imagenitive young folk to save them!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3443551.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3445281.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3479743.stm
 
Theres even more bad news for fans since Disney is planning yet another sequal.....this time for TOY STORY! Without the help of Pixar:eek: .

And rumours are Tom Hanks and the stars of the original are not coming back, also the original writers are not coming back again.

Looks like another straight to video murder.

But why Toy Story Disney?:mad:
 
Lion King 3 / Lion King 1.5 may well be indicative of a lack of original ideas at Disney. But they are quality ideas.

Lion King 1 = Hamlet
Lion King 2: Simba's Pride = Romeo and Juliet
Lion King 3: Timon and Pumbaa = Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

These are great Shakespearian concepts! (R&G being Tom Stoppard's retelling of Hamlet from the point of view of 2 bumbling mates).

Personally I still hope that at some point they'll add to the various sequels to 101 Dalmatians a film based on the original novel sequel, A Starlight Barking, in which the dogs take over the British government.

So it's a big thumbs up for Disney brand extension here!

And if they have no actual talent or original ideas - well that just leaves more room for Pixar, DreamWorks and the others to wow us at the cinema.

Leave Disney for the straight-to-video cartoons!

Who neeRAB Disneys on the Disney payroll when you've still got the Mouses, Ducks and um, whatever Timon and Pumbaa's last names are?
 
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