Page 237 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

218 The Disney Way

Wall Street’s obsession with short-term results? In 2000, the Disney stock price
was up a whopping 3,500 percent from the 1984 price, not the mere 2,100
percent as it was upon Michael’s retirement in 2005. His critics fail to realize
that in March 2000, the U.S. economy had slumped, causing a mild recession
that was shortly followed by the horrific acts of September 11, 2001.
Was Eisner a victim or a villain? Did Roy Disney demand his resignation
because of poor investment returns or was it because Michael was like the
“wicked Queen,” feeding Roy’s family namesake company the poison apple?
It’s sad to think that this creative, childlike executive of the early 1980s
could possibly turn out to be the biggest villain in Disney history. Could the
same person who showered the world with unforgettable tales of tribulation and
grandeur told through captivating animation and music—The Little Mermaid
(1989); Beauty and the Beast (1991); Aladdin (1992); and The Lion King
(1994)—have also given us such mediocre and, for the most part, forgettable
stories as The Emperor’s New Groove (2000); Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001);
Lilo and Stitch (2002) (which some might consider a moderate success); and
Treasure Planet (2002)? Could the same man who once welcomed new ideas,
not only from his staff but from anyone at any level in the organization, have
hired a visionless array of MBA yes-men to fill creative posts that launched these
disappointments of the big screen; have dismantled what was arguably the most
accomplished team of storytellers and artists ever assembled; and, in addition,
have severed ties with Pixar, the only Walt-like creative enterprise that the com-
pany could turn to after totally destroying its in-house animation capability?
Our goal here is not simply to recount the events of the past that led
to Michael Eisner’s transformation from “hero to zero,” but rather to share
our insights regarding his actions as well as the reasons for his demise. (For
a provocative, detailed chronology of the “fight of the century,” CEO Eisner
versus Walt Disney’s nephew, Roy, read James Stewart’s Disney War.)

The Eisner “Paranoia”
Merriam-Webster defines paranoia as “systematized delusions of persecutions
or grandeur; a tendency toward irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness
of others.” This definition seems to fit the Michael Eisner persona from the
late 1990s until his grand exodus in 2005. After Frank Well’s tragic death
in a helicopter crash in 1994, Eisner’s inability to trust anyone became
transparent in his reluctance to name a replacement for Frank. The whole