Disney Headlines for December 6th, 2023
In this week’s Disney Headlines, Bob Iger almost obliviously sticks his head into the culture wars. So, yeah, it’s one of those weeks.
Disney Alters Its Approach
Last week, Bob Iger hosted a Town Hall for cast members at The Walt Disney Company.
Then, the CEO appeared at The New York Times’ Deal Book Summit. And I would have lost a bet about which discussion would cause a stir.
Iger took complete control of the schedule at the Town Hall, avoiding recent slip-ups involving miscommunications with his employees.
Then, a more relaxed Iger appeared at the DealBook Summit and came out blazing.
First, Iger boldly confirmed that Disney will maintain ownership of its Linear Networks. That means Disney will keep the cable channels, ESPN, and ABC.
This bombshell should have stopped Hollywood in its tracks, but Iger had distracted everyone with a different reveal.
The CEO confirmed that he will leave Disney in 2026. And somehow, that’s not the story, either.
Depending on which sources you use to learn about the news, you either know exactly where I’m going with this, or you have no idea.
That’s because some people care more than others about this story.
Iger tacitly admitted previous missteps by Disney when he made the following acknowledgment:
“Creators lost sight of what… their No. 1 objective needed to be… We have to entertain first. It’s not about messages.”
You can unpack Iger’s words however you see fit, as I think they’re relatively open to interpretation.
No matter how you decode Iger’s message, it’s impossible to read those words as anything other than a confession that Disney has lost its way.
Assigning Blame
Who is ultimately responsible for those missteps? The answer is Bob Iger, but it’s not for the reason you might expect.
In February 2020, Disney suddenly promoted Bob Chapek to CEO. Iger remained at the company for another 22 months.
What was Iger’s stated job duty? He oversaw the creative/storytelling side of Disney, the part Chapek had never done.
Yes, a pandemic had started by this point. The unique challenges of filming while honoring COVID-19 protocols proved overwhelming for all studios.
This year’s box office has consisted of one trainwreck after another. As the industry leader, Disney has suffered the worst, though.
This year’s failures tie back to Disney’s creative decisions in 2020 and 2021. Films take a couple of years to reach theaters.
So, all the movies that haven’t performed up to Disney’s standards came from productions during Iger’s watch. This is on him.
Now, Iger has stepped up and admitted that Disney lost its way on the entertainment end.
Having watched and reviewed virtually all Disney films this year, I can confirm this is true.
Disney has released more films I’d describe as singles and doubles than homers. And it’s struck out a couple of times, too.
All those issues are on Iger.
What Caused the Problems?
Notably, Disney’s CEO blamed some of the struggles on two different reasons, one of which it can’t change.
As Iger noted, he didn’t “want to apologize for making sequels.” He added that some of Disney’s sequels “have done extraordinarily well.”
Still, Iger had previously admitted that Disney went to the well once too often on some of its characters.
Specifically, Iger didn’t like what happened with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania…because how could he be?
Thor: Love & Thunder falls into that bucket as well. It was an unnecessary sequel that had the wrong tone to boot.
Iger had mentioned that Disney/Marvel would eschew sequels for such characters and prioritize new MCU superheroes.
Well, word has emerged that Thor 5 is in the works, which underscores how indecisive Disney is on this subject.
Also, Iger took the unusual step of blaming the failures of The Marvels on a “lack of set supervision (on the set) due to Covid.”
Those comments have triggered backlash, with some perceiving them as Disney throwing Nia DaCosta, the director of The Marvels, under the bus.
I didn’t interpret his comments that way so much as fretting that the relatively inexperienced director didn’t gain enough advice from veterans.
Before The Marvels, DaCosta’s largest project had been the $25 million production of Candyman. The MCU film cost $220 million after tax incentives.
All businesses could use some help when scaling up that much. However, some longtime Hollywood casuals have had fun with the comments.
Here’s Neil Gaiman saying what many are thinking:
I just love him so much. pic.twitter.com/9iBZCI5gSE
— 🌻Gene_D27 ginadewriter.bsky.social (@Gene_D27) December 2, 2023
Creatives rarely think, “Gee, I wish more suits were meddling with this project.”
So, that’s Iger the executive thinking like a CEO.
What Did Iger Really Say This Week?
I would best describe Iger’s comments this week, all the ways that generated Headlines, as “Oops, our bad.”
Iger did what all good CEOs know what to do. He made a generic apology where he spoke a lot but said little.
Disney’s leader indicated that the company had made too many sequels. He did this the week after promising that Frozen 4 is in the offing.
As a reminder, Frozen 3 is multiple years away from theatrical release. Iger doubled down on sequels while saying Disney did too many.
You have to laugh at the shameless mixed message. Similarly, Iger’s comment that Disney films need to entertain first flies in the face of his career.
Iger is Mr. Messaging as a CEO. He and his loyal advocate, Zenia Mucha, worked hard to build Disney into a brand where everyone knew the message.
Even though Mucha is with TikTok now, Iger turns 73 in February. He’s not suddenly gonna change his nature as a message-first executive.
Iger has entered full-fledged politician mode as he tries to stave off activist investor Nelson Peltz and boost Disney’s stock price.
In fact, that’s the other big Headline this week. Disney has restored its stock dividend for the first time in nearly four years.
That’s Iger’s way of trying to buy back loyalty from investors who may have soured on Disney.
So, the real Headline this week is that Iger is scrambling to say and do whatever it takes to get Disney back on track.
Feature Image: (Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Disney)
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Feature Photo:(Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Disney)