Should Michael Eisner be inducted as a Disney Legend

[MSEPForever]

This week two important events regarding the Disney Company will/have occcured. 1. Michael Eisner will officially be stepping down as CEO, and 2. The newest members of the Disney Legends program will be inducted in a ceremony at Disneyland.

Thus, an interesting question can be derived from these two events. Do you think Michael Eisner should be inducted into the Disney Legend program?

The reason I ask, is that although Eisner in recent years (post Frank Wells era) has led the company to numerous and questionable ventures (i.e. purchasing of Fox Family, Sports Franchises, Building less than spectacular themeparks, and gutting animation and imagineering) their have been some upsides to his tenure as well (i.e. Reinventing the Disney name, the proposed Disney Decade, the animation musicals of the early 90's, etc.).

In my personal opinion I believe that the Disney Company will induct Eisner as a Disney Legend. Although it probably wont happen relatively too soon, the fact that the program has inducted past Disney Corporate Execs, such as Frank Wells and Card Walker, makes it very probable that everyone's favorite CEO (yes I'm being sarcastic) will eventually be inducted into the program.

So, what are your thoughts???? Do you think he should be inducted?

[Disney Wrassler]

I guess you can say so. If it were not for him, Disney may not be here right now.

[Speedway]

Yes he damn right should be inducted. He deserves recognition for what he did RIGHT. All this concentrating on the bad creates a pessemistic attitude that is contagious, and stops people from remembering what he did before it all went pear shaped with the Euro Disney hotels.

[Demigod]

Oh, man, don't get me started.

Somehow, HELL NO doesn't do this topic justice...

[Speedway]

I guess you can say so. If it were not for him, Disney may not be here right now.

If it was here at all, it would not be the Disney we know. The parks, the cartoon studios, would all be in separate divisions owned by different entities (if the parks were owned by anyone, I would root for OLC) if they were to exist at all.

[cellarhound]

I really don't care either way... I just want his office to be empty come Oct 1....

[Disney Wrassler]

If it was here at all, it would not be the Disney we know. The parks, the cartoon studios, would all be in separate divisions owned by different entities (if the parks were owned by anyone, I would root for OLC) if they were to exist at all.

I agree.

[MSEPForever]

Also the fact the Disney Legends program was started during Eisner's tenure as CEO is another interesting tidbit of information

[MandaBella]

I don't care one way or another.

Like many people, Eisner has his good points and his bad points.

[Disney Wrassler]

Plus think of all the great rides, films, and theme park expansions that came during his command. He expanded the film industry in such a big way too.

[MSEPForever]

DisneyWrassler
But dont forget the less than spectacular (might I say dud) and less than creative rides (The many advetures of winnie the pooh, numerous ride transplants from other Disney parks), themeparks (DCA, Disney Studios Paris, and HK Disneyland), and films (sequels upon sequels, the majority of films they've come out with in 2005). Lastly, don't forget the missed opportunities, Lord of the Rings trilogy, US Harry Potter book distributing rights, etc,

[Speedway]

MSEP, do you think Hyperion passes every manuscript they get through the CEO of their parent company's parent company before rejecting it? Talk about micro-management. And obviously those transplanted rides are so good that they can be transplanted.

[Disney Wrassler]

DisneyWrassler
But dont forget the less than spectacular (might I say dud) and less than creative rides (The many advetures of winnie the pooh, numerous ride transplants from other Disney parks), themeparks (DCA, Disney Studios Paris, and HK Disneyland), and films (sequels upon sequels, the majority of films they've come out with in 2005). Lastly, don't forget the missed opportunities, Lord of the Rings trilogy, US Harry Potter book distributing rights, etc,

Yes I also agree with you on that. But as the saying goes "With the good, comes the bad." Perhaps Eisner should watch some of the classic disney films to learn some good morals from them. Most specifically Mickeys Christmas Carol. Today he reminds me to much of Scrooge.

[MSEPForever]

Speedway,
I was merely giving an example of a passed opportunity regarding Harry Potter, although numerous other companies also passed on this opportunity, it seems more so than not that the Disney Company in recent years has passed up numerous opportunities and in its placed pursued far more questionable ventures. In regards to the rides however, all I am saying is that I would much rather see the company build brand new "creative" and "innovative" rides, since the company in essence was founded on these two principals. Also, as great as these transplanted rides are, as you claim, do you remember a few years back when Disney felt that a transplanted Tower of Terror would revive DCA? Looking at attendance numbers since TOT opened, we know that building a transplanted TOT did not deliver the results upper management had hoped for. Although, their were and are other reasons why DCA suffers from lack of attendance, in my opinion people tend to associate the Disney company with terms such as a "creative" and "innovative." The fact that TOT, was just a transplant (although I myself enjoy this ride), and not a new innovative concept more or less prevented DCA from seeing increased attendance numbers

[MSEPForever]

Disney Wrassler-
According to the book DisneyWar, Eisner really had no idea of the history of the company when he first arrived 20 plus years ago. I honestly beleive that for any company to be and remain successful, the CEO needs to be aware of the company's history and IDEALS. Gutting animation and imagineering, in my opinion probably wasn't what Walt would have done.