After my recent visit to Universal Studios Hollywood, I wrote a controversial piece on how I would personally fix USH's signature attraction, the Tram Tour. A park insider has explained to MiceAge that many of my suggestions were actually PLANNED, yet were cut from the budget. Apparently Universal, which works out of Orlando now, has little interest in USH and throws money at it like Disney does at its parks. So a whole bunch of ideas, which sounded great, were shelved in favor of cheapness. Yeah, that has worked so well for Disney lately!
NEW STUFF AT THE DISNEYLAND RESORT? OH... NEVERMIND
Same article
Apparently the Stitch theme for Space Mountain isn't set in stone after all. There are two other themes in contention: retro and futuristic. Personally, futuristic sounds like the only one that will make this coaster, which is STILL GETTING THE SAME OLD TRACK LAYOUT, halfway tolerable. So I expect that one will be tossed out right quickly.
The other "new" attraction is apparently the reopening of Superstar Limo over at California Adventure. Surprisingly enough, they appear to be reopening it WITHOUT CHANGES. Even diehard Disney fans were happily calling this Superstar Lame-o, so how smart is this? Al Lutz, of MiceAge, believes the ride actually lowers your intelligence. So why not open it? After riding it, maybe the lower IQs will respond more favorably to DCA!
TWO DOWN, ONE (OR MORE?) TO GO!
Same article
As I reported before in the Flume, Byron Pollitt, a former Paul Pressler flunky, has left Disney to flunky up some more to his precious boss. Sighs of relief have been heard all over the Disneyland Resort as Pollitt was well-known as Pressler's hatchet man. Apparently there was never anything Pollitt saw that he couldn't at least try to get rid of. Cynthia Harriss, another of Pressler's "outsiders" who never became an insider, is not only expected to resign before the year is up, but pools as to the month are starting up at the Resort. After that it is believed that Jay Rasulo, Pressler's replacement, will start spending money on the parks like he did in Paris. So put me down for February!
TEST TRACK REVISITED
MousePlanet - Jan 28
Apparently USH's Shrek 4-D and Mummy coaster have the Disneyland sites full of jealousy since MP has an extensive story on that park also. In fact, the only other major note is about Mission: Space at Epcot. Rumors have it soft opening in August at the absolute earliest. Which means Epcot's "savior" will almost certainly not see any big crowds until December 2003. And the summer crowds that were expected to halt Epcot's hellacious slide probably won't come now. Good job, guys!
"OUR STOCK PLUMMETED HOW MUCH? WELL, IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE, SO HAVE SOME MONEY!"
NY Times - Jan 29
NY Times - Jan 28
Disney stock fell 21 percent last year, yet it was decided that Michael Eisner deserved a $5 MILLION bonus! Why, you ask? Mainly because Eisner promised MAJOR improvements this year, and everyone bought his excuses for last year's problems. Again! The man is a non-stop excuse machine, and no one seems to tire of hearing them!
There is a little good news from Disney, though. Four of the board's "cronies" will not be up for re-election this year, meaning nine of the remaining thirteen board members will be "independent." Allegedly. Still, the four going were the four most often derided for their obvious non-Disney ties to Eisner, so this can only be a good thing. It also makes Roy Disney and Stanley Gold a little more powerful.
EAT YOUR HEART OUT, JERRY SEINFELD!
Yahoo News - Jan 28
In a letter to stockholders, Michael Eisner is proving that he should immediately resign from Disney and follow his true calling: Sitcom Writer! The wit and wisdom of Michael Eisner:
"I believe that we are once again at a point where there is a disconnect between Disney's underlying strength and potential and the market's perception of its strength and potential." (Yeah, it's the "market's" fault!)
"Whereas the hallmark of the last five years has been investment, the next five years will be primarily about reaping the fruits of that investment." (Investment? What exactly has Disney "invested" in the past five years that isn't cheap and pathetic?)
"I am pleased to institute these board governance reforms because after all, I am a Disney shareholder too." (So why exactly are you running the stock into the ground?)
"'Treasure Planet' never punched through in the crowded marketplace to get noticed. Either we mis-marketed it, the idea wasn't appealing, or the stars were not aligned. But one thing it did teach us: the entertainment business is fickle. Failure is educational. It keeps one humble." (Humble? Hahahahahaha! Educational? Then learn from your mistakes, Education Boy! Honestly, it seems the ONLY thing he has learned is that the entertainment business is fickle. You don't say! I hear sugar is sweet too, but I won't believe it until I eat it for the thousandth time! Crikey!)
Add to that the fact that he thinks the stock is "undervalued" and that he expects 25 to 35% growth in 2003, and you have the makings of a comic genius! Take it on the road before you're too old, Mikey!
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney29jan29.story
>>"It wasn't a great year for him," said executive compensation expert Graef Crystal, who helped Disney craft Eisner's original pay package. "My own taste would have been to give him zero."<<
Now, he came up with a 5 year plan that is supposed to turn Disney around, if the plan works, that is when he should get the bonus!!!
Not in a year that Operating Income droped 33% and Disney's credit rating was lowered!
As a matter of fact, there is a new resort going up ON DISNEY PROPERTY that will not be associated at all with Disney. It's going to be operated by Fairfield Resorts and called "The Bonnet Creek Resort" or some such name. It is located between BoardWalk and Pleasure Island, and is right off of the 417/536 interchange. Basically, when Disney opened the roads up for public use and maintenence to save money(you can get speeding tickets on Disney property now, as Orange County Sheriffs patrol WDW roadways), they made it possible for a small track of land to be bought that was on Disney property, and had to allow public access via the surrounding roadways to that property. When the roads were completely owned and maintained by Disney, they could restrict access to the lot in question. So saving them money bit them on the nose. What a surprise.
Now let's see...what are the investments that we've seen in FL in the last 5 years....Wardrobe department closed...Theme Park night crews scaled down/eliminated completely...restaurants in the Theme parks closed...cheap versions of fair rides put up at Animal Kingdom...huge numbers of cast members laid off...property quietly sold to management groups to create a "profitable year"...cast member health benefits slashed...ticket prices raised multiple times...Disney Stores closed...retail for series of unsucessful movies crashed and burned...Disney Institute closed...New Value Resort (Plop Century) postponed again and again...oh, yeah - let's give him a $5M bonus this year! He's really turned things around, and we won't have to invest ANY money to bring the people back now!
What is the board smoking, and where can I get some? Sounds like a drug that makes you oblivious to everything but what lines the CEO feeds you.
Where the heck was that board last time *I* had a job review?
I really hope Disney improves, especially film-wise. Their animated pictures were so beautiful in the early 90's but when Katzenberg was let go it all went down the tubes....*WHY?*
I still don't understand how it could happen. Also, I can't believe how they're scrapping 2d at Dis, I think that's a disgrace! I mean if 2d is dead then why make such a brou-ha-ha (right word?) over the Lion King coming out on DVD? After all, it's all archaic 2d, outdated and useless, right?
One more thing: It is absolutely sickening beyond belief what you see when you open a book about Disney history now. Jeffrey Katzenberg is not mentioned AT ALL-it's like he never existed in the first place. He was chairman of the motion picture studio for ten years but his name never comes up once. All credit for the animation renaissance is given to Roy Disney and Peter Schneider. Uh huh. I guess Eisner really does hate him that much, and R.D.'s still sulking about how his "legacy" (whatever) was supposadly stolen by Katzenberg...this company is just so messed up.
The home video industry is killing theatrical animated film, not disinterest, or lack of good stories. Why pay $30-$40 to take a family of 4 to the theater when you can pay $20 for a classic animated film, or one that just came out 6 months earlier? Parents are getting lazy, and the home theater is the easiest way to entertain kids these days!
The release of the catalog on VHS was a large part of what kicked off the early success of the Eisner era, but the money made from VHS and DVD sales comes at the expense of being able to release these movies theatrically every 7 years with guarenteed sucess and virtually no investment.
I remember that initially they said that Snow White would never be released on home video, but then sure enough, once the company hit a financial snag one year there it was at your friendly Walmart.
Many of these movies made even more money at theaters when re-released than on their initial release. Without Home video it would be time for the neoclassics Little Mermaid, B&tB, Alladin and Lion King to be making their 3rd run at the box office. Lion King would probably still be the animated box office champ under the old system instead of Nemo.
Robert O, you are a little bit wrong up there. I have seen reports stating just the stuff Russell and I have said. People are ignoring stuff like "Rugrats" and "Treasure Planet" and "Sinbad" in the theaters because buying a DVD costs them much less. People are admitting to this.
The rest of what you said is close to the mark, though. It isn't good stories that will bring people into the theaters, though, it is excitement. People were excited about seeing "Finding Nemo" and didn't want to wait four months for it to come out on DVD. There may be interest for "Brother Bear" but is there excitement? I haven't seen it. I haven't seen it for "Looney Tunes." I have seen it for "Cat in the Hat." At least one of these movies is going to give. If not two.
Back to "Kill Bill"... why don't the commercials have that little spiel at the end where they say "Rated R for extreme violence, severed limbs, decapitation, etc" like other commercials often have? Not that it would necessarily help with some of these nimrods.
My suggestion is to create two R categories. The regular R where under 17 is not admitted without guardian, then something like R-13 where under 17 is still not admitted without parent, but NO ONE under 13 is admitted PERIOD. This is probably the only way to get rid of the babysitting aspect.
