Here Are Disney’s Allies and Enemies in 2024
We recently discussed the corporate Villains of the Year and why they hate Disney.
Now, we’re going to expand on that a bit with an evaluation of the significant players in the 2024 players of As Walt Disney World Turns.
Here are Disney’s enemies and allies in 2024.
Enemies: Anyone Involved with Nelson Peltz


Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake
Here’s a link to the Villains of the Year piece if you missed it.
The TL;DR of this entire story is that Nelson Peltz sensed weakness during the final year of Bob Chapek’s tenure as CEO.
Peltz sidled up to Chapek in hopes of pushing his way onto the Board of Directors.


Photo: CNBC
All along, Peltz angled to influence Disney’s overall decision-making.
He sought to be the power behind the throne, so to speak.


Photo: Twitter
Disney’s Board of Directors saw through this play and turned to Bob Iger to save the day.
Iger identified several budget-conscious practices that would satisfy Peltz enough to drop his bid for a spot on Disney’s board.


Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Peltz reportedly made a short-term profit of $150 million via his meddling, albeit at the price of making Iger and Disney fans furious.
Iger later utilized those same cost-cutting measures as justification to fire Isaac Perlmutter from Marvel.


Photo:Cosmicbooknews.com
In doing so, Iger made an enemy of Perlmutter, who happens to own the most Disney stock of any single person.
Now, Perlmutter and Peltz are back and meddling with Disney affairs again.


Ike Permutter. Photo: AP
Notably, they’ve brought Jay Rasulo out of the mothballs and pretended like he’s mortified by Disney leadership.
Anyone in their circle is decidedly anti-Disney, and they have two simple goals.


(Photo by Dickson Lee/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)
They want more influence over Disney and they’d like to push Iger out as CEO.
Allies: ValueAct and Blackwells
Lots of other people also own stock in Disney, and they’re pretty happy with the company’s direction.
These different groups of activist investors recognize that Peltz and Perlmutter’s interests don’t align with their stated goal of improving the stock price.
Disney has chosen to work with the two most notable financial backers, ValueAct and Blackwells.
Blackwells will introduce three potential Disney board members during the annual shareholder meeting.
These executives have experience with digital projects, with one having worked for NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery and another having created the popular TaskRabbit app.


Photo:nbcuniversal
A different executive from the group co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival, so all three of these individuals have experience with entertainment and digital sales.
That statement is in stark contrast to Peltz, a billionaire who made his fortune in the frozen foods industry.


Romain Maurice/Getty Images for Carbone Beach | Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Peltz and Perlmutter have little digital experience and, at the combined age of 162, are unlikely to learn.
Also, another fun fact. One of the reasons that Jay Rasulo lost the bake-off for Disney CEO previously is because he was deemed too much of a throwback candidate in 2015.


(Photo by Matthew Simmons/Getty Images)
As a polite reminder, we’re in 2024. I doubt any of these three digital neophytes will up their game in time to help Disney in the short term.
Enemies: Wall Street
As a wise woman I know once said, “Wall Street never knows what it wants.”


Photo: History.com
For instance, in 2019, Wall Street begged Disney to commit to its upcoming digital streaming service.
Everyone viewed Disney+ as a justifiable loss leader that would eventually evolve into a cash cow.


(AP Photo/Matt Dunham, file)
So, Disney greenlighted every possible project, thereby losing a lot of money on streaming.
Then, one fateful day in 2022, Wall Street decided that all streaming services were spending too much and earning too little.


Image: The Wall Street Journal
Obviously, that was definitely the fault of Disney, not Wall Street.
Similarly, in 2023, Wall Street largely championed every decision Bob Iger made as he dramatically improved Disney’s free cash flow.
Despite the business world’s collective contentment with Iger’s moves, the stock has hovered at the same price for the body of two years.
Wall Street is mercurial, forgetful, and unreliable. As a publicly traded corporation, Disney must pay attention to its ridiculous demands anyway.


Photo Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew, File
Allies: Hollywood
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
During the pandemic, theater owners were knocking down Disney movie posters in protest of the company’s emphasis on streaming.


Photo: wikipedia
In 2023, everyone expected Disney to make a triumphant comeback with what looked like a solid slate of films.
That most assuredly didn’t happen, which has created an ancillary effect.


Photo: Lucasfilm
The movie industry as a whole struggled mightily last year, with theater owners missing Disney’s historically reliable contributions.
Even though Bob Iger made some regrettable comments during the Hollywood strikes, the performers are ready to forgive him because they got the deal they wanted in the end.


Photo: Pixar
So, actors and writers are no longer unhappy with their salaries, while theater owners are clinging to the hope that Disney will save them with Deadpool 3, Inside Out 2, and 2025’s Avatar 3.
This particular alliance is one of necessity rather than an indication of current relationship strength, but it’s useful to Disney nonetheless.


Photo: Collider.com
Enemies: Ron DeSantis and Cronies
In a perfect world, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District wouldn’t exist.
As things stand, the new operators of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District have lost more than 10 percent of their employees.


Photo: Yahoo Sports!
Also, they’ve somehow managed to infuriate their only legitimate allies, the Reedy Creek firefighters. AND they’ve just called everyone who works there a tax cheat.
This entity isn’t even a year old yet, but it’s already in strong contention for the title of worst government organization in Florida, a highly competitive race.


Photo: Click Orlando
As for Governor Ron DeSantis, there’s little new I can add to this conversation other than a statement of the obvious.
His plan to leverage an anti-Mickey Mouse crusade onto the national political scene has gone poorly.


Photo: CNN
DeSantis finished a distant second in Iowa, which is also where he’s spent most of his time and political funds campaigning.
Then, Florida’s Governor ended his Presidential campaign. Now, he’s term-limited and probably nursing a grudge against Disney.
Ally: American Justice System
On Wednesday, January 10th, an appeals court ruled that Governor Ron DeSantis had violated a Florida state attorney’s rights by suspending him.


Photo:News 13
You may wonder what this has to do with Disney.
The appeals court argued that Andrew Warren was eligible for full reinstatement due to this violation of his first amendment right to free speech.


Photo: District of Utah
You may recall that this is precisely the argument that Disney is using about why the court system should give it full governance over Reedy Creek.
Effectively, a higher court just told judges in Florida they could cut and paste this decision and use it anywhere applicable in dealing with DeSantis, who has developed a reputation for losing in federal court.
Barring something unforeseen, the American justice system should eventually rule in Disney’s favor.
The question is when. This ruling may have accelerated the timeline.


Photo: Miriam-Webster
Enemies: Disney Haters
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s an entire cottage industry built around hating the Disney brand.
At one point in 2023, some anti-Disney zealot wrote a clickbait headline article about how much money Disney films were losing.


Image: Marvel
I don’t know who taught them math, but it was so wrong that I could feel myself gnashing my teeth.
The few data points in the argument were illogical and misrepresented.
People just do this now, and then others blindly regurgitate their articles without questioning the truth.
Not coincidentally, several Disney chaos grenades go off each quarter as the company constantly plays defense against these baseless attacks.


Photo: Fox News
Allies: Disney Fans
My friends, Disney isn’t perfect by any stretch.
If you read my articles, you’ll know I have complaints and am perfectly willing to express them.


Photo: StillMoving.net for Disney
What we’re currently witnessing has gotten way out of control, though.
Thankfully, you have total control over it.


Photo: D23
You can push back whenever you see something nonsensical.
You can express skepticism whenever someone at the CFTOD says something that doesn’t pass the laugh test.


(The Walt Disney Company)
Finally, you should continue supporting Disney the way you have and just drown out the noise.
I’ve been on the internet since before most people knew it existed, and I can tell you from experience that nothing undercuts an attention seeker more than cutting their microphone.


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