Disney Headlines for March 13th, 2024
One of the most important people at Disney just left their post.
Meanwhile, Disney’s Academy Awards performance doesn’t quite reflect its film year.
We’ve got unexpected Disney Headlines this week.
Bouza Exits Imagineering
Almost exactly one year ago, Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) managed the unthinkable.
Disney coaxed Bruce Vaughn back to the company, which was a bit like Michael Jordan ending his retirement and return to the Chicago Bulls.
I don’t even think I’m exaggerating much. Vaughn is one of the best Imagineers ever.
To lure Vaughn back, Disney offered him the title of Co-Lead of Imagineering and Chief Creative Officer.
The company needed to make this move to ensure that someone with an excellent track record led Disney’s upcoming expansion phase.
The thing about Vaughn’s triumphant return was that Disney had already hired somebody for the gig.
During the pandemic, Bob Chapek had poached Barbara Bouza from Gensler.
Chapek wanted to bring more financial accountability to Imagineering, a division he frankly seemed to dislike.
I dunno what happened between Chapek and the Imagineers when he was running Disney’s theme parks, but he never got over it.
Bouza came in off the streets and immediately became the person responsible for Walt Disney’s Imagineering legacy.
As you might imagine, that burned some bridges, which is unfortunate. By all accounts, Bouza has mastered her craft.
Still, her association with Chapek, someone who wanted all his own people in positions of power, proved problematic.
At the time, I summarized the entire situation as a possible instance of history repeating itself.
“I’d be remiss if I failed to point out that something similar led to Michael Eisner’s downfall.
“The former CEO also tried to modernize Imagineering, only to lose the respect and trust of many powerful Disney workers. It’s something to track.”
Sure enough, Chapek’s tenure ended less than a year later, leaving Bouza without the person who hired her.
This past week, Bouza announced her departure.
What Happened to Bouza
Let me be clear that we are NOT here to bury Barbara Bouza. She did nothing wrong here, and many workers can relate.
Bouza left a great job for what seemed like a life-changing promotion.
There was even a funny twist wherein Disney effectively traded Gensler Bouza for the legendary Bob Weis. That’s high praise.
Still, Bouza quickly found herself on unsure footing when Disney fired Chapek and brought back Iger.
Disney’s current CEO didn’t respect much of what happened in his absence.
Ergo, all of Chapek’s hires faced an uphill battle to earn/maintain respect from Iger’s team.
Remarkably, that wasn’t even the only strange aspect of Bouza’s tenure.
Once the new head of Imagineering arrived, she learned that Disney was forcing WDI workers to switch costs.
The timing of the Lake Nona project couldn’t have been worse in that Chapek immediately found himself in a fight with Florida’s governor.
First, Bouza had to reassure Imagineers about the necessity of the cross-country switch.
Then, the head of WDI had to say, “Err, never mind,” after Disney canceled the project.
The Imagineering department has overcome plenty of strangeness over the past four years.
Now, WDI finds itself in a growth phase, and Bouza’s exit announcement on Instagram expresses pride over this fact.
“(WDI’s) success has fueled the turbocharged growth of Disney Experiences through $60 billion in investment over the next 10 years that Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro speak of.
“So I want to take this moment to personally thank all Imagineers, past, present and future for making the impossible possible.”
That’s an exceptionally classy thing to say on the way out the door.
Bouza did everything right and comported herself in a way that would make Walt Disney proud, but her timing in joining Disney was unfortunately atrocious.
What Happens Next with WDI?
Bouza didn’t announce her next gig, but she hinted that she had something in the offing.
I presume she has been quietly negotiating with outside companies for a while now.
The harsh reality here is that Iger made up his mind when he rehired Vaughn.
At that moment, many Disney analysts – including me – indicated that Bouza may be living on borrowed time.
In any job, if your boss hires someone to be the co-head of a department you were previously running, that’s a de facto demotion.
Iger wants to expand all the Disney parks and just mentioned something new at Shanghai Disneyland.
When Vaughn returned as Chief Creative Officer, Iger basically told everyone who would head these expansions.
So, from Disney’s perspective, not much changes. I hate this for Bouza, though. This article embodies who she is as a person.
But Disney is about to build several new themed lands and dozens of attractions.
You can understand why Iger would want someone he trusts in that role.
At Disney, few people in Imagineering have ever claimed the resume of Bruce Vaughn.
In a way, this conclusion always felt inevitable, and it’s probably best for Imagineers to answer to only one boss.
Academy Awards Takeaways
Critics spent the body of 2023 attacking Disney for its theatrical releases.
For this reason, nobody should be surprised that Disney didn’t dominate the Academy Awards.
We witnessed some unusual events this year, such as a competitor winning Best Animated Feature.
Of course, the competitor is Hayao Miyazaki, the closest thing we have to a living Walt Disney.
So, The Boy and the Heron’s victory should make animation fans happy, and I know that my wife is on cloud nine about it.
Still, Disney’s Searchlight Pictures did nearly pull off the upset.
After everything Disney went through in 2023, its final release of the year, Poor Things, turned into a sleeper hit.
Much of the film’s success stemmed from its awards season performance, as Poor Things built quite the buzz.
For a time on Sunday evening, I allowed for the possibility that Poor Things might upset Oppenheimer for Best Picture.
Alas, Disney hasn’t had that kind of Hollywood fortune over the past year.
Instead, Poor Things “settled” for four Oscar victories, including Emma Stone for Best Actress.
That performance was good enough for Poor Things to claim the second-best awards season after Oppenheimer.
While Christopher Nolan’s film won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Poor Things finished second with four.
No other movie earned more than two Oscars, with 10-time nominee Killers of the Flower Moon getting shut out.
Also, one of Disney’s most recognizable stars, Robert Downey Jr., won Best Actor. So, if Iron Man’s winning, life is good.
But Marvel didn’t win any technical awards this year. That’s the Academy giving the MCU a code red for a forgettable 2023.
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