Disney Headlines for February 10th, 2026
This past week, only one Disney Headline mattered. So, let’s talk about it.
MickeyBlog Congratulates Josh D’Amaro
Let’s start with the important formality here. Dear Josh D’Amaro: We were rooting for you!
I speak for MickeyBlog and all Disney theme park fans when I say this.
Photo: Jeff Vahle on LinkedIN
Having diligently researched D’Amaro for many years now, I’m still shocked that this happened.
Allegedly, nice guys finish last. Most assuredly, nice guys never finish first.
(Photo by Adam Kissick/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
So, how did we reach this moment wherein Josh D’Amaro is about to lead Disney?
As of last week, The Walt Disney Company’s Board of Directors unanimously chose D’Amaro as CEO.
(Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for 20th Century Studios)
While the announcement felt like a formality by that point, it’s still a win for all of us.
I’ve never once spoken with anyone at Disney who had an unkind word to say about Josh D’Amaro.
Photo: Disney
His co-workers revere him for his passion as well as his knowledge and wisdom.
We all know the deal in the corporate world. Generally, people like D’Amaro don’t get treated well.
Photo: Dr DIsney
They reach a certain level of the business and then artificially plateau.
Their bosses don’t want them advancing any higher because they’re a perceived threat.
In the case of D’Amaro, he has persevered and advanced in what is allegedly a cutthroat C-suite.
We all consider Disney a company built on kindness, yet Bob Chapek was most recently its CEO.
Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
That’s a strong demonstration that a certain style of management can succeed even at Disney.
In a weird way, we have Chapek to thank for this fortuitous turn of events.
Thanks, Guy We All Hate?
Photo: LA Times
Nearly six years ago, Chapek selected D’Amaro as the Chairman of Disney Experiences.
I suspect Chapek did so because he expected D’Amaro to make him look like a genius.
Photo: Walt Disney Company
Everyone knows that no matter where D’Amaro has gone, he has achieved stunning successes.
Chapek believed that he could weaponize D’Amaro’s popularity for all the impending theme park changes.
Photo: Charles Krupa/AP
Think something along the lines of, “We are now charging for FastPass, but hey, look! It’s Josh D’Amaro!”
Alas, the opposite occurred. People villainized Chapek and gave D’Amaro a pass.
Photo: Reddit
I often joke that D’Amaro framed Chapek for the crime of inventing Lightning Lane.
Once Disney fired Chapek, D’Amaro could have gotten rid of the paid FastPass service.
D’Amaro chose not to do that because it was so profitable. So, he’s the real villain here.
Since life is just a popularity contest, people continue to blame Chapek anyway. It’s hysterical.
Source: CNBC.com
From the perspective of fans, we’ve all accepted that hyperinflation is a real thing anyway.
So, we understand that the price of Disney vacations is going up, just like everything else in life.
(Photo by Mariah Wild/Disney Parks via Getty Images)
Thus, D’Amaro has gained a weird kind of clemency with everything he does.
Fans love and respect him so much that he rarely receives any sort of pushback for his decisions.
Disney
As I’ll discuss in a later article, I suspect that’s about to change, but we’re sticking to the Headlines for now.
And the Headline here is simple to many critics of this hire. Disney has picked another theme parks person.
Image Credit: Disney
Since Chapek failed completely, skeptics believe Disney should have chosen a storyteller.
Well, that’s the thing. Disney somehow did that, too.
The New Team
(Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
Dana Walden will stay at Disney despite her not winning the title she’d expected, CEO.
Since Iger returned in November 2022, Walden immediately looked like his logical successor.
EXECUTIVE PORTRAIT – Dana Walden, Co-Chairman, Disney Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company. (Disney/Maarten de Boer)
She’d even played a key role in persuading Iger to come back to Disney.
Alas, Disney Experiences turned so profitable that D’Amaro surpassed her as a more worthy candidate.
(Photo by Beck Starr/WireImage)
Realistically, Disney enjoyed an embarrassment of riches with its candidate pool, especially those two.
The company didn’t want to lose her, especially after it had suffered in Kevin Mayer’s absence.
Photo: Disney
Mayer famously left Disney after losing the CEO title to Chapek, which hurt the company dearly during the pandemic.
The loss of Walden would be, if anything, more painful to Disney, as she’s a storytelling savant.
Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Few people in the past 50 years of Hollywood have proven better at anticipating sticky content.
Walden’s shows are just immediately popular but have stayed that way for decades afterward.
(Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
Disney is lucky to have her, and that’s why the company promoted her to President.
Nobody had held that role since Iger himself in 2005. But that’s not all Disney did.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company –
The company also introduced the title of Chief Creative Officer just for Walden.
So, she gets a double promotion and accompanying salary package to reflect her new duties.
Photo: Variety
D’Amaro is unquestionably the leader at Disney now, but Walden is 1A.
She’s the next in line, should something tragic happen. And Disney fans know that’s possible.
Some of us are old enough to remember Frank Wells’ helicopter crash and how badly it hurt Disney.
Wells’ tragic death undid his boss and buddy, Michael Eisner, thereby setting Disney back 10+ years.
Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, right, celebrates with Disney characters Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, during a ceremony honoring Donald with the 2,257th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday, Aug. 9, 2004, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
That’s another point here which I’ll discuss in a later article. Disney knows this dynamic works.
The Buddy System
Photo:waltdisney.org
In 1923, Walt and Roy Disney founded their namesake company and gave it a simple structure.
Roy Disney handled the daily operations, while younger brother Walt took care of the creative side.
Disney
With Eisner and Wells, the same thing happened, as Wells addressed the minutiae.
Eisner was renowned for having boundless energy and infinite ideas.
Photo: Disney
Wells worked as the sounding board and the person who could tell Eisner no when needed.
We later learned how much Eisner relied on that system of checks and balances.
Photo: Disney
He simply wasn’t the same leader without Wells there to save him from himself.
Now, Josh D’Amaro, a proven businessperson, teams with Walden, a legendary creative.
Disney
Notably, both of them share the other’s skills, though. So, this is a new variant of Disney’s buddy system.
The duo appears largely interchangeable, which is what made the choice so difficult for Disney’s Board.
Thankfully, James Gorman and his team discovered this way of empowering both.
For obvious reasons, Wall Street investors have expressed delight at Disney’s new dynamic duo.
(Photo by Hou Yu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Hollywood execs, while frustrated that Walden isn’t CEO, like this structure, too.
They have a clear idea of who is in charge of all Disney storytelling, which helps with pitches.
Photo: Disney
Chapek had previously introduced a complete stranger, Kareem Daniel, to the mix.
Hey, how did the Chapek era Disney movies perform at the box office? Oh, right…
(Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
With Walden, Disney has promoted an established Hollywood veteran to handle everything.
On paper, this looks like a dream pairing, which explains why all the Headlines have been so positive.
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Feature Photo: Disney
