foreign [Music] in 1923 my uncle Wald and my father Roy founded the Disney Brothers Studio which would later become the Walt Disney Company my dad my uncle and those that followed have created an amazing Legacy that has touched people around the world for Generations lately though I've become concerned with the direction in which the Disney company is moving I believe it's time to take action and we could use your help if you're a Disney shareholder in my view the best way to help save Disney is to vote no on the re-election of Michael Eisner George Mitchell Judith Estrin and John Bryson I believe a new day is Dawning for the Walt Disney Company and with your help we can bring back the magic how did it get this bad just like Rome a Disney CEO isn't built in a day but the demise of his Empire certainly LED to his fall this is the true story of the Michael Eisner era [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you [Music] I love movies and I got the best things boy my favorite seat excuse me do you mind excuse me will you sit down please you're blocking our view sorry Mr Eisner excuse me it'll never happen again thanks born on March 7th 1942 in Mount Kisco New York Michael Damon Eisner was the second of three sons of Margaret and Lester Eisner his father was an attorney his mother president of the Irvington Institute Eisner grew up in a wealthy family in the affluent New York suburbs of Harrison and Scarsdale he attended Allen Stevenson School in New York City and later went to Lawrenceville School in New Jersey Eisner went on to attend Denison University in Granville Ohio where he graduated with a degree in English in 1964. after graduation Eisner landed a job at NBC as a page which was an entry-level position in the television industry he quickly worked his way up through the ranks eventually becoming the assistant to the president of NBC in 1966 he moved to CBS where he was named the director of daytime programming and after a while leveraged that position to move to ABC where he became senior vice president of programming in 1976 Eisner was hired by Barry Diller to become the president of Paramount Pictures at the time the studio was struggling and Eisner was tasked with turning it around he had a string of successes during his tenure including Greece Saturday Night Fever Terms of Endearment and Raiders of the Lost Ark another surprise the resignation of Roy E Disney as chairman of the board he's Walt's nephew and Son of Walt's brother the company's co-founder the real heartbeat of this company was is and will always be in the film business because from the film business comes the ideas that then generate new things in the Park's new Promotions New a kind of a a sense of continuing newness about the company in general and uh when that began to fail and I actually somewhere along the line began hearing things like well I don't think they really want to stay in the movie business because it's not doing very well and we don't really even need it anyway and that gave me all sorts of problems because I you know I remember saying at one point well if you really think that way then what you're doing is running a museum in the early 1980s the Walt Disney Company was in a state of crisis the company's profits were declining its stock price was stagnant and morale among employees was at an all-time low Additionally the company's founder Walt Disney had passed away in 1966. leaving a leadership void that had yet to be filled Roy E Disney Walt Disney's nephew believed that the company had lost its creative focus and was becoming too focused on profits and Merchandising at the same time Ron Miller who was Walt Disney's son-in-law had been appointed as the CEO of the company in 1980. Miller had a background in sports and had never worked in the entertainment industry before which led to concerns from some Executives and shareholders about his ability to lead the company at all Roy and Miller clashed over a number of issues including the quality of the company's films and the direction of its theme parks Disney felt that Miller was too focused on profits and was neglecting the creative side of the business while Miller believed that Disney was not being realistic about the company's Financial challenges in 1983 Roy began to look for a new CEO who could help turn the company around all in the midst of takeover attempts from people on the outside roid Disney had been a prominent figure at the company for many years and had served as an executive producer editor and writer on a number of Disney's most successful films and TV series as well as chairman of the board he was deeply committed to the company and wanted to see it thrive after conducting an extensive search following his own resignation in protest of Miller's performance Roy eventually settled on Michael Eisner as the person he believed could lead Disney to a new era of magic pitching Eisner to Disney's board of directors Roy was impressed with eisner's track record of success in the entertainment industry as well as his strategic vision and Leadership skills in particular Roy was drawn to eisner's commitment to creativity and innovation which he believed were essential to the future success of the Walt Disney Company [Music] after being offered the job Eisner notably spent several months conducting his own research into the organization meeting with employees and familiarizing himself with Disney operations even spending long nights alone in the Disney screening room on the studio lot watching old episodes of Walt Disney's television series he quickly identified a number of key areas where the company needed to improve including its animation division which had been struggling to produce successful films for years he overwhelmingly invested his energy and attention into what made Disney tick and to a certain degree what its weakest links were Michael Eisner was all in [Music] Michael Eisner and his lovely wife Jane and Frank Wells and his wife Luanne I want to say that the selection of Frank and myself to work with you in this company we think is an indication that the board of directors have decided that this company will be led from a creative point of view I am quite confident that our selection also is an indication that the company uh is not for sale that the company has taken the position that the product and the people are more important than anything else that the company has taken I can assure you that I did not come to this organization to watch it be dismantled that I came here to try and continue what Walt Disney and his associates set in motion 50 years ago I also read once an essay by Maxwell Anderson who said there's nothing more important in our society than the artists and I am willing to say quite confidently that whereas maybe presidents will be forgotten uh country leaders will be forgotten cities may even be forgotten I don't think Walt Disney will ever be forgotten I thank you very much Frank G Wells began his career as an entertainment lawyer working at the law firm omelviny and Myers he later became a talent agent representing actors such as Clint Eastwood and Sydney Poitier in 1971 Wells was appointed vice president and general manager of Warner Brothers Studios where he oversaw the production of successful films such as the Exorcist and All the President's Men in 1984 Disney CEO Michael Eisner and vice chairman of the board of directors Roy E Disney hired Wells to be the president and Chief Operating Officer of the Walt Disney Company Wells quickly became known for his personable leadership and detail-oriented management skills he was responsible for overseeing Disney's theme parks Film Production and other operations Wells and Eisner had an instant chemistry and because of that a close working relationship as the two were known for their complementary leadership styles Eisner was seen as the creative force behind Disney while Wells was known for his strong business skills and ability to keep the company running smoothly the two were also close friends and often took their families on vacations together with his top lieutenant in place one of eisner's first priorities as CEO was to revitalize Disney's animation division which had been struggling to produce successful films for some time he brought in new Talent including Jeffrey katzenberg and tapped Roy E Disney to help spearhead projects he invested heavily in the development of new animated films which he referred to as the heart and soul of the organization under eisner's leadership Disney produced a string of Smash animated hits including The Little Mermaid Aladdin Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King these films help to reinvigorate the animation industry and established Disney as the leader in the field one of the great Disney animated Classics Beauty and the Beast hello Michael Eisner head of the Walt Disney Company I'm here with the Disney gang in front of the Main Street Cinema at Disneyland to welcome the stars of tonight's feature to a special screening they should be arriving at any moment you might be interested to know the Beauty and the Beast was the first animated feature ever nominated for an Academy Award for best picture that's right and the Disney tradition of family entertainment we move Beauty and the Beast to a brand new stage this classic fairy tale a beautiful young girl and an enchanted Beast who's now a Broadway musical oh here they are Michael take a look oh hello Belle hi Bill you're all alone oh where's the Beast ah I guess if you can believe it the Beast is too big to fit in the limo I think we'll have to go on without them thank you I guess when you're a beast you have to make a few minor adjustments enjoy tonight's future Eisner and Wells also oversaw the expansion of Disney's theme park business they led the development of new theme parks including Disney's MGM Studios Disney's Animal Kingdom Tokyo Disney C Disney California Adventure and Euro Disneyland now known as Disneyland Paris and invested heavily in the Improvement of existing parks while rapidly expanding Resorts and Recreation in Orlando Florida eisner's focus on the theme park business helped to increase revenue and establish Disney as a major player in the tourism industry adding to the list of the company's tourism businesses Eisner and Wells launched the Disney Cruise Line in addition to his focus on animation and theme parks Eisner also worked to diversify Disney's revenue streams in 1995 Eisner oversaw the purchase of Capital Cities ABC one of the largest broadcasting companies in the world the acquisition helped to solidify Disney's position as a major player in the media industry and gave the company access to a range of new distribution channels and content he also oversaw the acquisition of several new companies including ESPN and Miramax films these Acquisitions helped to expand Disney's reach into the television and film Industries and establish the company as a media Giant Eisner and Wells continued their reign of success at Disney by overseeing business expansion into new areas such as home video and consumer products creating new revenue streams for the company was their top priority the success of these businesses helped to diversify Disney's Revenue base and reduce its Reliance on the theme park and film businesses Eisner also worked to improve the company's corporate culture and management practices he implemented new programs to train and develop employees and promoted a culture of creativity and Innovation throughout the organization Eisner was committed to promoting diversity and inclusion within the company he hired a number of women and people of color to senior positions and encouraged the development of diverse content and programming eisner's management style was often criticized for being autocratic and controlling but many credited him with creating a culture of excellence and success at Disney despite their success Eisner and Wells had their disagreements Eisner was known for his temper and impulsive decision making while Wells was more measured and analytical there were also differences in their personal styles with Eisner being more outgoing and Wells being more reserved however they were able to work through their differences and maintain a strong working relationship insiders often referred to the two as the second coming of Walt and Roy Disney who shared similar traits [Music] Disney's market value leprem 2 billion to 222 billion between 1984 and late 1992. with company Revenue reaching New Heights customer satisfaction soaring and employee morale at an all-time high the magic was back in the Kingdom and Disney was once again a force to be reckoned with [Music] if they see Disney they can comfortably bring their whole family uh it's kind of a trust Michael Eisner has one of the biggest jobs in Show Business one of the highest paid and most demand he has more than 70 000 employees and in 10 years has turned a two billion dollar company into one worth 30 billion dollars it's nice to have been successful it's nice to have shareholders who have made money it's nice to have enhanced the Disney brand and continue the Disney brand and not be the person that really screwed it up is there a sense of cultural responsibility then as well as financial responsibility I would say that was the pressure that's much more the pressure for me Osmond's strategy was simple continue doing what Disney did best he commissioned the production of more cartoons or animated features as they prefer to call them it's been a winning formula pressures of The Lion King has grossed about a billion dollars Beauty and the Beast has made almost as much is I go often secretly to our products to our parks to uh you know to our movies to our animated movies uh I don't eavesdrop because I'm like embarrassed that's kind of rude to be eavesdriving but you can be in the theater you can feel the theater you can feel you know people are getting up every two minutes to go to the bathroom and buying popcorn and and and somebody's sleeping you can feel it you can feel when the theater is quiet on a drama and just intent on that screen and you can feel when you've lost it Michael the other thing of course that we always read about you is how much you earn you usually reported somewhere between 200 million and 300 million a year what no it's ridiculous what happened was the stock I I had a participation in stock when I came and the stock has gone up I don't know 1700 or something since 1983 than I have participated in a minuscule way of that which our shareholders I think don't resent but we've had phenomenal success now I can go the other way too so on April 3rd 1994. Frank Wells who had a reputation as a thrill-seeking Outdoorsman was on a ski trip in the rugged Ruby mountains of Nevada with his family when the helicopter he was riding in crashed into the Mountainside at 62 years old Wells was dead wells's death was a major loss for Disney and the entertainment industry as a whole he was widely respected for his leadership and management skills and was seen as a critical figure in the success of the revitalization of the Walt Disney Company the 10-year reign of Eisner and Wells as a lightning and a bottle executive Duo had come to an abrupt end and with it many say so too did eisner's Guiding Light foreign of Wells Disney established the Frank G Wells Building on its Burbank California Campus which houses many of the company's Executive offices Additionally the Frank G Wells award was established in his honor which is presented annually by the Director's Guild of America to a director for outstanding achievement in the field of Television Direction a heartbroken Eisner who many claimed saw Wells as a wise older brother More Than A co-worker struggled to find a suitable replacement for Wells and felt the immense responsibility to take on many of his former partners tasks and oversights himself in the Years following wells's death eisner's leadership at Disney came under increasing scrutiny there were concerns that the company had become too reliant on eisner's personal vision and that he had become too powerful absorbing multiple roles making it difficult for others to challenge his decisions eisner's management style was also criticized for being too controlling and for alienating talented Executives within the company one of those Executives was Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey katzenberg 5 8 today to close at 42 and 5 8 one day after the company announced the resignation of Disney Studios Chief Jeffrey katzenberg while rumors run rampant about where katzenberg will end up Disney chairman Michael Eisner said today the company will likely produce fewer films and as reuter correspondent Kevin Smith reports the company faces a big challenge circle of life in the jungle that is Hollywood Disney's Ben King of the Hill with the Lion King leading the pack of all films this year Disney just announced its total summer box office gross reached 404 million dollars the best ever by a studio Jeffrey katzenberg has garnered The Lion's Share of the credit for the Studio's growth and annual revenues from Two and a quarter million dollars 10 years ago to four and a half billion now dividing katzenberg's job former 20th Century Fox chief Joe Roth will take over the movie duties while current Disney Studio president Richard Frank will head up television the split reportedly came because Michael Eisner chairman of the Walt Disney company refused to promote katzenberg to the number two corporate job left vacant by the death of President Frank wells in April a Disney spokesman told NBR that katzenberg didn't have the breadth of experience needed to run the company foreign there haven't been any big hits among Disney's live-action movies like this Springs I love trouble katzenberg often gets the blame but something that's unfair if you look over a 10-year period you have a company that was basically an animation production company that evolved into a major studio and a lot of the credit has to go to Jeffrey casenberg katzenberg said he doesn't know where he's going yet Sony denied rumors he's heading there sources said Universal was a possibility should either of its top two Executives retire next year tensions between katzenberg and Eisner began to arise in the early 1990s katzenberg was widely regarded as a creative Force within the company but he also had a reputation for being abrasive and difficult to work with Eisner on the other hand was known for his autocratic management style and tendency to micromanage without Wells playing Peacemaker between the two both men butted heads regularly over creative decisions financing matters and personnel the conflict between the two men came to a head in 1994. when katzenberg resigned from Disney after a dispute over his compensation package he claimed that he was owed a share of the profits from the films he had produced while Eisner argued that he was not entitled to any additional compensation nor was he worthy of replacing Frank Wells the dispute between katzenberg and Eisner was bitter and public with both men taking shots at each other in the media much of this while Eisner was rushed to the hospital with heart problems that required an immediate operation on August 24 1994 katzenberg unexpectedly announced his resignation in a statement Eisner said katzenberg quote made an enormous contribution to the growth and success of our animation live-action motion picture and television business over the past 10 years with heartbelt thanks and obvious regret I wish him well in his future endeavors katzenberg went on to found Dreamworks Animation with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen as partners less than a year later Eisner tapped his industry buddy creative arts agency co-founder and Rockstar talent agent Michael Ovitz to become president of Disney in 1995. initially Eisner and Ovitz had a close working relationship Eisner saw Ovitz as a valuable addition to the company bringing a fresh perspective and strong connections to Hollywood's Elite Eisner was also impressed by ovitz's reputation for deal making and his ability to negotiate high-profile contracts however tensions between Eisner and Ovitz began to arise soon after Ovitz joined Disney there were disagreements over ovitz's compensation package which was seen as exorbitant by many at the company while Ovitz was brought on as president of the company his specific role and responsibilities were not clearly defined this led to confusion and frustration among other Executives and employees who were unsure of ovitz's role in the company and how decisions were being made during his tenure at Disney Opitz was involved in a number of high-profile and expensive deals that ultimately did not deliver the expected results there were also differences in management style and approach Ovitz was known for being aggressive and assertive while Eisner was seen as more collaborative and team oriented these differences often led to clashes with Obits pushing for more autonomy and Eisner wanting to maintain a tighter grip on decision making Ovitz was given a 140 million dollar severance package when he left Disney just 14 months after joining in the end obed's a stint at Disney was seen as a failure and he was let go from the company in 1997. Eisner and ovitz's relationship deteriorated significantly after ovitz's departure with Ovitz publicly criticizing Eisner in interviews and a book he wrote about his time at Disney the Disney chapter is about uh Starks with my uh set of meetings with Michael Eisner yes it goes through the time when he had a heart attack and I stayed in the hospital with him for five to six days and he asked me to come on board to originally be the co-ceo and then that went back down to being the president's CEO and then it went to be the president and then when I showed up at his house for our first meeting prior to starting all the people were supposed to report to me he decided weren't going to report to me so it was kind of over before it started in his living room at his house when the when he had the CFO and the chief legal officer there and he they said they weren't going to report to me and he didn't do anything about it costly executive detour experience left the Disney board of directors more uncertain of eisner's ability to lead than ever as errors and losses under his leadership continued to pile up shareholders even rallied together to sue Eisner and several directors for the excessively Rich of its deal [Music] another one of eisner's biggest Financial failures was Euro Disney having opened the Paris Park in 1992 Disney was still in the red years later with attendance numbers falling short of expectations and significant losses Eisner was criticized for not properly researching the European market before investing in the park and by 1994 Euro Disney was burdened with over 3 billion dollars in debt [Music] [Applause] [Music] friends don't let friends miss a moment of TGIF stay here we'll be right back when it came to Media networks the 19 billion dollar acquisition of ABC in 1995 was another source for concern while ABC has had some successful shows Under the Disney umbrella the network has also struggled at times particularly in the early 2000s when its ratings declined and AD Revenue flatlined back in 1993 Eisner oversaw the acquisition of Miramax films a company known for producing independent and award-winning films however tensions between Eisner and Miramax co-founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein led to their departure from the company in 2005. the value of Miramax diminished over time I don't think anybody else has the resources to attack quality the way we do most people take shortcuts for either economic reasons or because they're lazy you know most people take shortcuts because they just don't know how to do it right and this company has such a history of not taking that shortcut going down the path that is the hardest the toughest the most painful and the most expensive to gain equality that that it's fun to be around today marks the dawn of a new era in the Disney Company we are about to unveil a new Gateway a gateway to the golden dreams of California a new State of Mind where Spirits are free to discover everything under the sun Disney's California Adventure the expansion of the Disneyland Resort was also top of mind for Eisner but due to so many rounds of flops and failures from films to theme parks the original concepts for a second Park associated with the Anaheim property went from Grand and elaborate to small-scale and cheap Disney's California Adventure opened in 2001. the park of mostly stores and food spots was widely panned by critics and the public with many binding it to be unimpressive and lacking the magic of the original Disneyland Park it would take over 10 years to correct the second Gate's biggest flaws [Music] I'm Michael Eisner head of Walt Disney and on the next wonderful world of Disney we're delighted to present Toy Story 2. deciding adventure story created by our friends at Pixar Animation Studios that introduces Buzz Lightyear at Sheriff Woody to a whole new set of friends it was in 1988 that the small computer Graphics Company known as Pixar signed a three-picture deal with Disney with Eisner and his team providing financing and distribution for Pixar's films the first film produced under the deal was Toy Story which was released in 1995 to critical Acclaim and Commercial Success despite the success of Toy Story tensions began to arise between Pixar and Disney in the late 1990s Pixar was frustrated with Disney's decision to move ahead with sequels to some of their most popular films such as The Lion King and Aladdin while Eisner and his team were concerned that Pixar was becoming too powerful and difficult to work with in 2003 Pixar and Disney announced that they would not renew their distribution agreement and Pixar began looking for a new partner to distribute its films Eisner and his team were widely criticized for allowing Pixar to walk away from Disney which was seen as a major blow to the company's animation division with many of you in this room because I knew my golisner I knew he would use the resources of the company to protect himself I knew the difficulties the board would have in challenging in confronting him recent reports unfortunately confirm my instincts the Board needs to ask itself the value the shareholders of the millions being spent on political lobbyists and Consultants across the country these efforts and expenditures are shameful they have little to do with inspiring creativity and the board remains quietly acquiesce acquiescent at best Michael Eisner is behaving like a third world dictator of a once great country utilizing political carrots and sticks to manipulate in his cabinet sits mute for fear of beheading once eisner's biggest advocate who championed his arrival to the company Roy Disney was quickly losing faith after so many miscalculations and financial catastrophes tensions between the two men began to arise in the early 2000s Roy became increasingly critical of eisner's leadership style which he felt had changed over the course of time and was autocratic and unresponsive to shareholder concerns he also expressed concern over what he saw as a lack of creativity and vision at the company and felt that Eisner was overly focused on short-term Financial results at the expense of long-term growth it was reported in the book Disney War by James B Stewart that when Eisner was recruited by Roy in the 1980s he confided in Walt's nephew that if he ever lost his faith and trust he would resign when Roy sat down with what had become a paranoid and aggressive Eisner to share just that Eisner looked at him blankly and proclaimed I never said that [Music] as problems for Disney grew the conflict between Roy and Eisner came to a head in 2003 foreign Disney resigned from his position on the Disney board of directors about three years ago my longtime business partner friend and fellow board member Stanley gold and I began to believe that fundamental change was necessary at Disney financial performance had been declining for more than five well more than five years certainly more than enough time to evaluate performance and strategy sure having been presented with optimistic projections that often later failed to materialize Stanley and I had supported many of Management's initiatives but these shortfalls had to us become too significant to continue to ignore and accept he believed that a board is an oversight function that on the one hand requires latitude to be given to Senior Management and on the other hand when significant strategies regularly fail on execution requires the standard to re-evaluate management and possibly replace it that's the key question we faced by 2001 was what should we do now our choices were pretty limited we could do nothing we could resign or we could try to affect change from within the boardroom we chose the latter and we spent more than two years trying to persuade other directors that the company was in Decline both creatively and financially we wrote letters in position papers we analyzed historical financial performance we made constructive situations to suggestions excuse me to improve board information and advocated substantive governance reform unfortunately we faced a board that simply deferred to management or was unwilling or uninterested in a dialogue in the critical issues they sought consensus and were frankly intolerant of constructive descent this candidate appears to be able to read the corporate America he accused Eisner of mismanaging the company and damaging the Disney brand he called for him to be replaced as CEO he also criticized Eisner for his handling of the company's animation division which had suffered a string of commercial failures in the early 2000s eisner's leadership came under further scrutiny in 2004 when a group of shareholders led by former board members Roy Disney and Stanley gold launched a campaign to oust him as CEO the group which was known as save Disney argued that Eisner had lost the confidence of shareholders and that the company was in need of new leadership number one [Music] got a secret [Applause] [Music] public lack of confidence led to a surprise takeover bid by Comcast which shook shareholders and Disney fans globally the potential acquisition was driven by Comcast desire to expand its media and entertainment Empire and become a dominant player in the industry Comcast's initial bid was for 54 billion dollars which represented a significant premium over Disney's market value at the time the proposed deal would have merged two media Giants with Comcast bringing its Cable Television Internet and phone services together with Disney's vast portfolium of Entertainment Properties Eisner and the Disney board were reluctant to entertain merger talks citing that Disney needed to remain independent in response to Disney's reluctance Comcast launched a public campaign to pressure the company into negotiations the media giant ran advertisements in major newspapers and on television arguing that the merger would benefit both companies and create a new Powerhouse in the media industry Eisner in the board of directors argued that Comcast bid undervalued the company and that Disney was better off pursuing its own strategic initiatives rather than being subsumed by another company despite Disney's struggling financial performance a takeover threat and the campaign against him Eisner refused to step down he believed that he still had more to contribute to the company and that he was the best person to lead Disney through the challenges it was facing in particular he saw the rise of digital media and the changing landscape of the entertainment industry as areas where he could provide valuable leadership and expertise he was also deeply invested in the creative aspects of the company and saw himself as a champion of Disney's Legacy and brand despite members of the Disney Family feeling the exact opposite of course we chose to fight and as you know the results of the vote were unprecedented in the animal s of American history the process was in uphill sight we had our own very significant financial commitment dedication and hard work of Shamrock's employees an enormous number of volunteers advice of our lawyers press relations team and proxy solicitors our high-stakes gamble would have quickly fizzled there truly was a high emotional content to the vote a deep feeling especially among individual shareholders that the Disney ideal however they defined that had been somehow betrayed there's very little doubt that change is necessary we've heard that over 70 percent of the participants in the company's 401k plan voted against their leader these figures confirm my long-held concern that the morale among the companies 125 000 employees many of whom touch our guests every day sits at an all-time low ultimately the board's concerns and public campaigns against Eisner led to a Revolt by shareholders who demanded that he stepped down as CEO after initially resisting these calls he announced that he would be leaving the company when his contract expired in less than a year the announcement was seen as a major victory for the save Disney Group which had been calling for eisner's resignation for over a year Eisner was later replaced by Robert Iger as Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company since I have come to this organization uh a week ago I have learned more and more about it I realized that more than half of the company is in this state and which I think is fantastic last night we were standing right here with the lights on in the magic castle and the Main Street and uh it was an enormously fantastic feeling I did not come to this organization uh to watch it be dismantled that I came here to try and continue what Walt Disney and his associates sit in motion 50 years ago and that is very simply this it is essential to maintain the old to respect the old to uh replenish the old to enhance the old to modernize the old and to make that move forward at the same time it's essential to do what I'm sure Walt Disney himself would have done which is to experiment with every new and Innovative kind of entertainment possible whether it be a new attraction here a new theatrical motion picture a new television program a new kind of entertainment anything that we can think of that is uh innovative and probably more importantly than anything else excellent I had a High School teacher who drove me crazy actually uh but he must have made in my four years in high school he must have made 50 speeches underlining the word excellence and that has stayed with me much more than the history of Western Civilization or English grammar uh the the striving for excellence whether you're doing a uh uh a 90-minute uh animated movie or you're uh keeping a street clean or you're building a new venue doing it well is more important than anything else I mean I've always thought from the day I started in 1960 five that it's like a it's like a like a manager of a baseball team and manage the baseball team never come a Bad season and they get fired and it's not a shameful thing it's always waiting to be fired in really it didn't really ever happen although I think at Paramount they were happy to see me go and I decided that when I left Disney about a year ago the only way to do it for me although I'm very friendly with all of them and I'm you know I still have a big rooting interested in the company is to really leave I didn't want to stay well I don't want I'm on no boards I don't want to sit there and see five-year plans that don't mean anything and here I just don't want to do that I've done that enough so I'm a no board simply the Disney board I'm a lot of non-profit boards I want to know no corporate American boards and instead I'm trying to do which probably will not be successful but I'm trying it to do in the New Media what I was able to do in television even in radio term degree and movies and theme parks trying to figure out where the big play is and I think the big players have content I think the big players and content on in IP Internet Protocol and I think in 10 years what internet will probably go away and it's just that's the way things will be distributed so I want to be there early despite the controversies that soured the end of his tenure eisner's impact on Disney and pop culture cannot be denied he helped to turn the company into a media and entertainment juggernaut and his era saw the launch of a number of iconic properties that continue to be popular with audiences today for these reasons Eisner will likely be remembered as a transformative leader in the history of Disney his leadership at the company may be remembered as a period of tremendous growth and innovation but also one of controversy and conflict nevertheless Michael Eisner is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential Executives in the history of the entertainment industry and the man who along with Frank Wells gave Disney a second shot at life saving Walt's company and Legacy from being stripped and sold off multiple times by transforming it into one of the biggest entertainment empires in the world as we know it today this is the Eisner [Music] [Music] thank you all of us here at Disney hope you enjoyed the tour and that it gave you new insight into the magic of motion picture and television production we hope you come back and see us real soon what is now going on in the studio guess who uh Donald Duck nope uh goofy then you're Roger wrap oh sure come on come on okay I give up who comes with this happy place welcome