Disney CEO Bob Iger Steps Down, Capping His Career With Disney Plus' Epic Launch (cnet.com) 52
Disney CEO Bob Iger stepped down as CEO today, effective immediately. "Iger -- who spent his entire career at the company and will leave with Disney's titanic transition to streaming with Disney Plus as the legacy capping his tenure -- will remain chairman of the Walt Disney Company until the end of next year, and Disney's head of parks, Bob Chapek, is now CEO," reports CNET. From the report: "With the successful launch of Disney's direct-to-consumer businesses and the integration of 21st Century Fox well under way, I believe this is the optimal time to transition to a new CEO," Iger said in a statement. "I have the utmost confidence in Bob [Chapek] and look forward to working closely with him over the next 22 months."
During his 15-year tenure as Disney CEO, Iger secured the $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar from Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2006, as well as the $4 billion acquisition of Marvel in 2009 and the $4 billion purchase of Star Wars studio Lucasfilm in 2012. He oversaw the launch of streaming service Disney Plus at the end of last year, which signed up 28.6 million subscribers in less than three months. Disney also owns streaming services Hulu and ESPN Plus as part of its direct-to-consumer business. Iger was named Time's business person of the year for 2019.
During his 15-year tenure as Disney CEO, Iger secured the $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar from Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2006, as well as the $4 billion acquisition of Marvel in 2009 and the $4 billion purchase of Star Wars studio Lucasfilm in 2012. He oversaw the launch of streaming service Disney Plus at the end of last year, which signed up 28.6 million subscribers in less than three months. Disney also owns streaming services Hulu and ESPN Plus as part of its direct-to-consumer business. Iger was named Time's business person of the year for 2019.
Epic Launch? (Score:3)
Unless I just want to rewatch all the Star Wars and Avengers films, and watch the few Simpsons episodes worth reviewing, it's a pretty dull streaming service.
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Agreed....watched all I wanted to in one month...and then cancelled the service.
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Disney streaming is for children, they lack content across the board, so no kids then Disney streaming is like for a month once a year, in the end they will abandon it because they simply lack content. The most shallow streaming service driven by delusions of grandeur the same delusions that turned Starwars into Saturday cartoon matinee action fluff, a long way from Sunday night at the movies in terms of story quality.
Streaming services need to be independent of studios because otherwise they simply lack su
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Disney streaming is for children, they lack content across the board, so no kids then Disney streaming is like for a month once a year, in the end they will abandon it because they simply lack content. The most shallow streaming service driven by delusions of grandeur the same delusions that turned Starwars into Saturday cartoon matinee action fluff, a long way from Sunday night at the movies in terms of story quality.
Streaming services need to be independent of studios because otherwise they simply lack sufficient content and will be short rotated on streaming service swapping (Say a month every 18 months). People no longer care about the latest canned content, they will see it eventually and there is a whole lot to chose from.
Close. Disney+ is for parents of smallish children. They have the market on princesses and you had better spend your $$ per month so your kids can watch the movies over and over. Those DVDs will go into the vault and never come out.
I am surprised that no one has mentioned the copyright bribery/battles Iser has won. They are going to let a few years of none Disney characters go into public domain then lock it all down again by 2024.
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Actually, Mandalorian was pretty fucking cool.
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Re: Epic Launch? (Score:2)
I'm not sure you're the target audience. Disney is known for its cartoons, having the entire catalog available is a nice thing for parents.
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Not the entire catalog...
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> Disney is known for its cartoons, having the entire catalog
Cool, Song of the South (1946) is available on Disney+! Oh wait. /s
You keep using that word "entire". I don't think it means what you think it means.
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Unless I just want to rewatch all the Star Wars and Avengers films, and watch the few Simpsons episodes worth reviewing, it's a pretty dull streaming service.
I doubt they care about anyone old enough to frequent /. because they have Disney, Marvel, Pixar etc. churning out plenty content for ages 5-15 and unlike adults good luck trying to get those to switch back and forth between binge watching and going cold turkey. Throw in a few PG13 popcorn movies for the whole family and they got a very marketable product for all the times you can't put on anything violent/sexual like Game of Thrones or the Joker.
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Unless I just want to rewatch all the Star Wars and Avengers films, and watch the few Simpsons episodes worth reviewing, it's a pretty dull streaming service.
Considering everything you just mentioned doesn't interest me at all, and assuming those are the best things on the service, it does indeed seem pretty dull.
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Considering everything you just mentioned doesn't interest me at all
That's because you are neither a kid nor a parent of a kid.
Re: Epic Launch? (Score:2)
Thank you Bob (Score:4, Insightful)
You did a great job. 700% share growth with steady dividend growth.
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His legacy is nothing compared to shitting all over Star Wars. Fuck him.
Tightened grip (Score:3)
Lied to George Lucas and almost killed Star Wars (Score:4, Insightful)
Thanks Bob! You had the greatest IP in the world, plus George's outline for a trilogy, plus all the Expanded Universe stuff and you managed to piss it all away. Disney's Star Wars movies alienated the old fans without gaining new fans. Good job!
Can't wait to see you in the Presidential Campaign in 2024.
Almost? (Score:2)
They poisoned the well so much so that I have no interest in watching anymore, including The Mandalorian, and I have no interest in going to their parks. And it's not just me. My boys, 16 and 13, thought TLJ was meh and have had no interest in seeing ROS. SW is dead at least for another generation.
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Re:Almost? (Score:4, Informative)
Seems to me they said they have no interest in watching it, so they may not have watched it at all.
The Mandalorian is thoroughly okay. It's far better than the sequel trilogy, shitty novels and shitty cartoons, etc.
But that's like a 6 standing next to a couple of 2s.
I cut the chord, then cut streaming (Score:2)
I really don't watch steaming nor TV anymore. Used to have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu but got bored with the content. Anyway I saw bits of The Mandalorian at a relative's house over Xmas. It was OK but the pacing was much slower, just like a stereotypical Western. By itself it wasn't enough to convince me to invest the time into following the series.
It must be nostalgia but I miss the 2hr adrenaline rush of seeing ANH in a packed theater and then having to wait 3 long years for the next installment
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Re:Almost? (Score:4, Insightful)
You should try the Mandalorian. All SW's prequals are meh, and the sequals are just rubbish - but the Mandalorian is an exception in the sea of dull.
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The fall of Star Wars is not so much Iger's fault as it is being caused by the head of Lucasfilm: Kathleen Kennedy.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas, Kennedy was already aboard. And after her track record, having produced every one of Spielberg's hits from E.T. onwards, everyone believed that she was the right person for the job, so why shouldn't Iger have?
According to rumours, she almost did not get her contract renewed in 2018 after The Last Jedi and after Solo - A Star Wars Story had bombed.
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I agree, we seem to be watching the same youtubers :) However Iger was the boss - he holds the main responsibility for recovering the 4 billion investment in Lucasfilm and not alienating his customers. After "Solo", Kennedy should have been fired. Also - attacking the fans? How is that a good business strategy? Iger should have put a leash on Johnson and others, to shut their mouths. Lucas received lots of criticism from fans for the prequels, but he never lashed out back at them.
That story with Luc
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Disney's Star Wars movies alienated the old fans without gaining new fans.
That's why Ep 7-9 only made 3 fucking billion profit.
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Coronavirus (Score:3)
Imagine being in charge of Disney parks with an R(0)=15 virus running through society. Iger doesn't need that kind of hell.
Good. (Score:1)
Now can we reverse this #metoo bullshit, and put John Lassater back in charge of Pixar and Disney movies?
Maybe reverse the whining and SJW so obvious in post-Lassater films?
Please?
Else I'll just stop watching altogether.
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
People keep blaming the 'SJW appeal,' but I don't think that's the real problem. Rey is a poor character because she is just the 'designated hero' without going through any of the struggles and learning that defined Luke - nothing to do with her being female. It's not social justice that caused the writers to be so conservative with the franchise that they ended up effectively re-writing the same story as seen in the original trilogy. The problem I see is risk-aversion: There is so much money involved that Disney wouldn't try anything remotely new. They just looked for the things that defined Star Wars in the past and made a ton of money, and churned out more of the same.
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Mary Sue becomes a Jedi, and I haven't seen it yet.. probably never will. That's saying something, that a life-long Star Wars aficionado has forsaken the last chapter in that particular storyline.
Yet, I bought Ford v. Ferrari sight unseen because 1) I love the red cars from Maranello, and 2) it's @#@# great story, well-told, and mostly true. They did clean up Ford a bit, in reality they were way worse than in the film. No SJW bullshit, no preaching. They did show Ford (the company) to the the maniacal s
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That, I guess, in *some* eyes could be cosidered Social Justice (Shelby the little guy vs. Ford the monster)
Then Flash of Genius and Tucker are SWJ as well. I don't think all-white male leading casts tend to count as SJW (almost all male, aside from the wife of the protagonist). Sticking to major car movies of your lifetime, rather than all movies, or ancient ones.
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Rei is a poor character because she is the designated hero because of SJW appeal. The writing process for Rei goes like this:
"We need a new protagonist for the new Star Wars film."
"Well it has to be a girl, for feminism. The force is female now after all."
"Ok, so it's a girl. What about her personality?"
"Well we don't want to be sexist, so she's awesome. Great at everything. Everyone loves her"
"Ok, wonderful. We're really cooking with gas here. But should she have any flaws at all?"
"No, that would be repres
Re: Good. (Score:2)
+5 common sense. Bravo!
Flawless characters are the death of storytelling. What story is there without struggle, overcoming personal shortcomings, an actual arc.
Marvel managed to create arguably the most interesting arc for a character with the potentially least interesting arc of the all - a god (Thor).
Rei Star Wars, Legend of Korra, Star Trek Picard (Score:2)
Rei is a poor character because she doesn't change at all. She do get more power and influence as the saga drags on, but she is still the same character as she was in the first scene back in TFA.
And its a boring archtype. Because unlike something like Fist of the Northstar(Kenshiro starts out completely ripped), she doesn't come across as strong or stoic.
But its been in more shows than that. I.e Legend of Korra, where the titular Korra fails to change in any war from being brash, headstrong and not bright..
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Did we watch the same movie? Rey could do anything - except be perfect in the training obstacle course where it didn't matter. Disney literally created the perfect embodiment of the Mary Sue without depth or meaning. They also created a terrible female role model in the process. Some think she is a good young girl role model because she readily shows up every male in the star wars universe. In the real world that doesn't happen - even for the males.
As a parent how could I use Rey as a role model for girls?
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1. #metoo has been an enormous boon to society.
2. You are not anti-whining. Based on your comment, you are strongly pro-whining, as long as it's for your own benefit.
3. Don't let the door hit you.
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1. #metoo has been an enormous boon to society.
Didn't mean ALL of fucking #metoo EVERYWHERE, pedant. I mean, undo the damage that #metoo did to *DISNEY* and *PIXAR*.
Lassater was ousted on some pretty thin "touchy feely" behavior, allegedly. I say so fucking what, the man's a great storyteller. Go look at one of his student reels, it was done on fucking paper with one fucking sharpie. Find me a purple/pink/yellow-haired 42-gendered digital colorist from Elbonia that can do *that*.
2. You are not anti-whining. Based on your comment, you are strongly pro-whining, as long as it's for your own benefit.
Takes one to know one. How about some smelly old Roqcuefort for all
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*Lasseter
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What has metoo done that has improved society?
He's going to hide from flu (Score:2, Interesting)
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The best bet might be get it as soon as possible. The younger and healthier your are, the better chance to survival.
Hopefully, the end of divisive politics in movies (Score:2)
This showed in franchises like Star Wars vastly underperforming and a
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I think the money people know this. Star Wars toys are not selling. The new theme parks are a failure. Instead of cultural buzz, more and more cash cows, I mean franchises are alienating audiences. The money people know this, and it turns out there are only so many millions you can lose before people get irritated.
Lovely words, but they seem to be in direct and complete opposition to the facts.
Net income is up 4x over Iger's tenure, the share price has risen 5x (the S&P 500 rose less than 3x over the same period).
Bob Iger was fantastic for Disney, and the share price shows that "the money people" agreed.
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Fuck Disney (Score:2)