Disney Extends Bob Iger's Contract as CEO and Chairman

[TsWade2]

Are you doing this to make fun of me? Because that's not cool!

I was just joking. Jesus fucking christ what the hell is wrong with you?

Well then, why didn't you say so?

[Sotiris]

According to industry analysts, Kathleen Kennedy is not even among the contenders to succeed Iger as CEO.

Who will succeed Disney CEO Robert Iger in 2016?
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/en ... z2w3i6x1EJ

Anne Sweeney’s Disney Exit Heightens Focus on Bob Iger Succession Plan
http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/anne-sw ... 201138055/

[TsWade2]

According to industry analysts, Kathleen Kennedy is not even among the contenders to succeed Iger as CEO.

Who will succeed Disney CEO Robert Iger in 2016?
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/en ... z2w3i6x1EJ

So be it! But it better not be Jay Rasulo. He's going to destroy Disney like he did on Disneyland and Disney World.

[DisneyJedi]

I just hope whoever is next as CEO will give the guys at Disney creative freedom. And not just in storytelling, but also in terms of choices in animation mediums.

[TsWade2]

By the way, did my eyes deceive me that Anne Sweeney is leaving Disney Channel for good?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mE9vjKlfPQ

[Escapay]

No love lost from me when Sweeney leaves. She steered Disney Channel away from its multi-generational, multi-platform viewing in favor of focusing on only a few target demographics. This essentially dumbed down the channel beyond repair, with a whole generation growing up expecting Disney to only be ONE specific brand to them rather than a multi-faceted one. Which, you know, I understand and defend at times. But there is still room enough for both, something Sweeney (and the company) still has yet to rediscover.

As president of Disney/ABC Television Group, she inherited the final few decisions of the old ABC regime (namely "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost"), which helped make third-place ABC reach the top of the ratings, but she failed to keep that momentum or build up the network any more than it could have been, despite a few new hit shows ("Modern Family"), and a fairly-seamless regime change from Steve McPherson to Paul Lee. Thus, when she leaves her position, she's also leaving ABC exactly where she found it: low-rated and last place among the Big Three.

Most of all, she and Brian Frons (ABC Daytime president) oversaw the cancellation of 41-year-old "All My Children" and 43-year-old "One Life to Live" in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Say what you will about soap operas, but that's over eighty years of a longrunning television institution put to pasture in favor of cheaper, reality/talk programming that could be found on other niche channels. Rumors abounded that "General Hospital" was next, especially when ABC announced it was relinquishing the 3:00 timeslot to Katie Couric's new syndicated talk show (whose creation/network contract was personally supervised by Sweeney, and aired on most/all O&O ABC affiliates), leaving "General Hospital" without a timeslot. Had it not been for the overwhelming negative press the cancellations of the other two shows brought on (along with Couric's insistence that "General Hospital" precede her show in the daytime schedule), she might have done it, too. And look where ABC Daytime is now: the syndicated "Katie" is wrapping up, "The Revolution" was canceled so that "General Hospital" might live, and "The View" is getting long in the tooth. I refuse to address the other show on their docket, as that's the one that replaced "All My Children" (my favorite of the three ABC soaps) and does not need mention.

Nope, I will not miss Sweeney when she leaves. If anything, I'll help her unpack her office.

Albert

[TsWade2]

No love lost from me when Sweeney leaves. She steered Disney Channel away from its multi-generational, multi-platform viewing in favor of focusing on only a few target demographics. This essentially dumbed down the channel beyond repair, with a whole generation growing up expecting Disney to only be ONE specific brand to them rather than a multi-faceted one. Which, you know, I understand and defend at times. But there is still room enough for both, something Sweeney (and the company) still has yet to rediscover.

As president of Disney/ABC Television Group, she inherited the final few decisions of the old ABC regime (namely "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost"), which helped make third-place ABC reach the top of the ratings, but she failed to keep that momentum or build up the network any more than it could have been, despite a few new hit shows ("Modern Family"), and a fairly-seamless regime change from Steve McPherson to Paul Lee. Thus, when she leaves her position, she's also leaving ABC exactly where she found it: low-rated and last place among the Big Three.

Most of all, she and Brian Frons (ABC Daytime president) oversaw the cancellation of 41-year-old "All My Children" and 43-year-old "One Life to Live" in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Say what you will about soap operas, but that's over eighty years of a longrunning television institution put to pasture in favor of cheaper, reality/talk programming that could be found on other niche channels. Rumors abounded that "General Hospital" was next, especially when ABC announced it was relinquishing the 3:00 timeslot to Katie Couric's new syndicated talk show (whose creation/network contract was personally supervised by Sweeney, and aired on most/all O&O ABC affiliates), leaving "General Hospital" without a timeslot. Had it not been for the overwhelming negative press the cancellations of the other two shows brought on (along with Couric's insistence that "General Hospital" precede her show in the daytime schedule), she might have done it, too. And look where ABC Daytime is now: the syndicated "Katie" is wrapping up, "The Revolution" was canceled so that "General Hospital" might live, and "The View" is getting long in the tooth. I refuse to address the other show on their docket, as that's the one that replaced "All My Children" (my favorite of the three ABC soaps) and does not need mention.

Nope, I will not miss Sweeney when she leaves. If anything, I'll help her unpack her office.

Albert

Man, she's a total

never mind.

[The_Iceflash]

No love lost from me when Sweeney leaves. She steered Disney Channel away from its multi-generational, multi-platform viewing in favor of focusing on only a few target demographics. This essentially dumbed down the channel beyond repair, with a whole generation growing up expecting Disney to only be ONE specific brand to them rather than a multi-faceted one. Which, you know, I understand and defend at times. But there is still room enough for both, something Sweeney (and the company) still has yet to rediscover.

As president of Disney/ABC Television Group, she inherited the final few decisions of the old ABC regime (namely "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost"), which helped make third-place ABC reach the top of the ratings, but she failed to keep that momentum or build up the network any more than it could have been, despite a few new hit shows ("Modern Family"), and a fairly-seamless regime change from Steve McPherson to Paul Lee. Thus, when she leaves her position, she's also leaving ABC exactly where she found it: low-rated and last place among the Big Three.

Most of all, she and Brian Frons (ABC Daytime president) oversaw the cancellation of 41-year-old "All My Children" and 43-year-old "One Life to Live" in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Say what you will about soap operas, but that's over eighty years of a longrunning television institution put to pasture in favor of cheaper, reality/talk programming that could be found on other niche channels. Rumors abounded that "General Hospital" was next, especially when ABC announced it was relinquishing the 3:00 timeslot to Katie Couric's new syndicated talk show (whose creation/network contract was personally supervised by Sweeney, and aired on most/all O&O ABC affiliates), leaving "General Hospital" without a timeslot. Had it not been for the overwhelming negative press the cancellations of the other two shows brought on (along with Couric's insistence that "General Hospital" precede her show in the daytime schedule), she might have done it, too. And look where ABC Daytime is now: the syndicated "Katie" is wrapping up, "The Revolution" was canceled so that "General Hospital" might live, and "The View" is getting long in the tooth. I refuse to address the other show on their docket, as that's the one that replaced "All My Children" (my favorite of the three ABC soaps) and does not need mention.

Nope, I will not miss Sweeney when she leaves. If anything, I'll help her unpack her office.

Albert

The only thing I'll give her, whether we like the Disney Channel shows during her revamp or not, is that she did make a name for the Disney Channel. Before the revamp, it didn't stand a chance against Nickelodeon. It became a force to be reckoned with. Like the shows or not but there was something special and magical about that 2005-2010 Disney Channel era. I look back at that era fondly. The channel is in need of another revamp. In 2010 we saw "Fish Hooks" and "Shake It Up" debut, and "Hannah Montana" and "Suite Life on Deck" end in 2011. 2011 also saw "A.N.T. Farm", "PrankStars", "Jessie" and "Austin & Ally" debut. Add "Good Luck Charlie" and "Dog with a Blog" and this makes up the bulk of the current line up. I find the 2005-2010 line up to be exponentially superior. They struck gold in 2005-2006 and IMO in 2010 it started to loose steam and in those shows' places' they put shows that didn't hold up as well as the shows they were replacing. Plus, IMO, musically they stepped down. At least HSM, Camp Rock, and Hannah Montana had some very catchy music which really wasn't that bad in hindsight. Simple, fun, well-written and performed pop music. I can't ask for more that that for pop music. The Disney Channel music of 2010-today has been very largely been a very heavily electro-pop, auto-tune effects infused soundtrack. When you see a scene in "Austin and Ally" that is just Austin sitting there on acoustic guitar singing and his voice sounds fake and too heavily processed for a stripped down acoustic set which is supposed to be just his plain voice, something is wrong. When Miley Cyrus was shown on Hannah Montana sitting, strumming a guitar, they were tasteful about it and any processing done was mostly inaudible. The HSM, Camp Rock, and Hannah Montana music in general sounded more natural compared to the 2010-today's Disney Channel music. Movie musicals I give more of a pass on full production as long as it fits the scene. Anyway, I don't look down on the Disney Channel of 2005-2010. In fact I can enjoy it and respect it on its own terms and for what it accomplished. The only thing I criticize it for was losing its balance in programing. Vault Disney could have still existed as well as incorporating other types of shows as well. One thing I have to give the current credit for Disney Channel is its health promotion. Aside from that it's running on fumes from the 2005-2010 era and it needs retooling again.

I absolutely agree with what you were saying about the soaps. I'm still furious about losing All My Children.

[disneyprincess11]

Man, she's a total



SNAP! I went there!

[Disney's Divinity]

As president of Disney/ABC Television Group, she inherited the final few decisions of the old ABC regime (namely "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost"), which helped make third-place ABC reach the top of the ratings, but she failed to keep that momentum or build up the network any more than it could have been, despite a few new hit shows ("Modern Family"), and a fairly-seamless regime change from Steve McPherson to Paul Lee. Thus, when she leaves her position, she's also leaving ABC exactly where she found it: low-rated and last place among the Big Three.

I thought about that recently when I was worrying about Once Upon a Time's ratings, and realized they have very few well-rated shows. It's really just OUAT, Grey's Anatomy (which I'm shocked is still doing well), and I believe Scandal? Is there anything else? Edit: Forgot about Modern Family. Revenge and Nashville both went down the tubes in their second seasons, from what I remember. I know Resurrection started off well, but I fully expect it to go the way of Revenge/Nashville. And as far as daytime, I know The View's ratings have been going down recently and I'm not surprised with Barbara Walters acting psychotic and having Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd as the only people to have a conversation with... Walters leaves the show (as a co-host) in May, so hopefully they can get that trainwreck back on the tracks after then, but who knows. I think pushing out Joy Behar was a huge mistake, which probably had more to do with her paycheck having built up consecutively for years.

I have to be honest that I don't know much about these heads, so it was nice reading your post about her.

[TsWade2]

Putting this discussion about Anne Sweeney aside, I still hope it's not Jay Rasulo. He'll destroy everything. He'll get rid of Mickey Mouse and friends, getting rid of hand drawn animation, and making every disney fan miserable. I'll give Tom Staggs a chance and like Disneyjedi said, gives Disney more creative freedom, especially for hand drawn animation.

[MeerkatKombat]

Putting this discussion about Anne Sweeney aside, I still hope it's not Jay Rasulo. He'll destroy everything. He'll get rid of Mickey Mouse and friends, hand drawn animation, and making every disney fan miserable. And what's worst he'll probably close down Disneyland and Disney World. I'll give Tom Staggs a chance and like Disneyjedi said, gives Disney more creative freedom, especially for hand drawn animation.

Overkill much? Close the parks? This comment is a bit extreme. you make it sound like he plans to close Disney down from the inside. He sounds like an animation spy from another company.

Going back to a previous discussion - I liked Eisner. He was partly responsible for the Renaissance and so I can't be completely cold towards him. I appreciate the work that must have been going on during that period. As mentioned, he could have closed the animation department after The Black Cauldron. I agree that the train derailed after Frank Wells died and he made some terrible mistakes towards the end, but the beginning of his era was pretty shiny. I guess it was a case of believing your own hype, they do say power corrupts.

Can't say I have that much opinion on who becomes chairman after Iger. It's fun to speculate but ultimately we get who we get. I will just hope that who ever it is truly loves the company, actually wants the best for it and helps it to thrive (hand drawn or CGI animation - as long as I get a good to excellent film every year or two, keep the parks in good condition). That's all I can hope for. Everything else is secondary.

[TsWade2]

Overkill much? Close the parks? This comment is a bit extreme. you make it sound like he plans to close Disney down from the inside. He sounds like an animation spy from another company.

Going back to a previous discussion - I liked Eisner. He was partly responsible for the Renaissance and so I can't be completely cold towards him. I appreciate the work that must have been going on during that period. As mentioned, he could have closed the animation department after The Black Cauldron. I agree that the train derailed after Frank Wells died and he made some terrible mistakes towards the end, but the beginning of his era was pretty shiny. I guess it was a case of believing your own hype, they do say power corrupts.

Can't say I have that much opinion on who becomes chairman after Iger. It's fun to speculate but ultimately we get who we get. I will just hope that who ever it is truly loves the company, actually wants the best for it and helps it to thrive (hand drawn or CGI animation - as long as I get a good to excellent film every year or two, keep the parks in good condition). That's all I can hope for. Everything else is secondary.

Yeah, but Jay Rasulo ruin Disney Parks once, he'll do it again if he's elected. Also, he's one of those evil executives that always dismiss John Lasseter's idea for making more hand drawn animated features. In fact, a lot of Disney fans really hate that guy and treated him as a real Disney villain. If Kathleen Kennedy can't be chosen, who can?

[Avaitor]

How Jay Ruslo ruin the parks?

[TsWade2]

How Jay Ruslo ruin the parks?

Well, he made those pathetic campaigns like Year of Million Dreams and Celebrate. He destroyed Fantasyland Theatre for making it into a Princess Fantasy Faire which is now back as a theatre with a new show. He let the Disney Creative Entertainment to make a street party show called Celebrate Street Party which is not a parade. And never let the Magic Kingdom get a new parade. If he's elected as CEO, it'll be a disaster. Mark my words!

[Avaitor]

Okay, but he'd never dare to shut down the parks, nor would Disney even think of electing someone who would even dream of doing so.

[estefan]

Maybe it's because I don't really follow the parks, but I can't find a lot of info about Joe Rasulo's actions, that aren't merely a series of long rants about (what seems to me) minor stuff. What exactly is wrong with the promotions, as that seems to be the biggest criticism levelled towards him?

From the reactions, I assumed he switched the lights on in Space Mountain, took the water from Splash Mountain and opened a brothel in the middle of Fantasyland.

[MeerkatKombat]

From the reactions, I assumed he switched the lights on in Space Mountain, took the water from Splash Mountain and opened a brothel in the middle of Fantasyland.

I agree, it sounds like minor stuff.

As for the fantasy land theatre, its change. Old shows go out and new ones come in. I loved the Disneyland production of Beauty and The Beast but it couldn't stay forever. You gotta be a bit more receptive to change TsWade and stop assuming the people at Disney do it because they hate this/that or the other. They are a company and they have to make money and they will find ways to do it.
Disney change things at the park to make it better - get rid of attractions that are old or not as popular and create new experiences that might not always be successful and you may not always like them but they have to happen. Sometimes you may not like something - it isn't the end of Disney as we know it.
Can we stop with the evil executives? They are people. They aren't villains from a Disney fantasy film. Sometimes you have to make unpopular decisions to keep a company running. That is their job and I'm not saying all their decisions are correct but I assume they do what they think is best, not about how many fans they can upset.
I understand the worry because you love Disney but you need to have a bit more human faith.

[unprincess]

I dont know much about the Parks stuff either, but I hate what theyve done to Epcot. I miss World Of Motion, Horizons & the old JII. I dont know who was responsible for that though...Im going to Epcot next week & Ill probably just hang out at the WS, & maybe do only a couple things at Future Showcase.

Is the Nemo show worth it?

[Avaitor]

I'm going to EPCOT for the first time to do more than just eat or shop in a couple of weeks, so I can't really say. What is it that they have done that you don't like?