Category: Disney

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Disney

Bob Replaces Bob (Again but in Reverse)

2020 CORPORATE, WALT DISNEY TELEVISION - (Corporate/Todd Wawrychuk) BOB CHAPEK - CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BOB IGER - EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

Bob Iger is back as CEO of Disney. Bob Chapek, who had only became CEO in February of 2020 gets his golden parachute to the tune of at least $20 million dollars.

From Alex Weprin at the Hollywood Reporter:

In a stunning turn of events, The Walt Disney Co. says that Bob Chapek will step down as CEO, with Bob Iger returning to lead the company. Disney’s board of directors announced the decision Sunday night.

Surprising that they did this late on a Sunday night but also probably a good move. It’s been no secret on Disney forums that there have been major problems with Chapek running the show. Having said that, I always thought Iger got out at the right time. In the stormy weather of today’s economic and political climate, I’m surprised he’s back but it sounds like he is too:

Iger even acknowledged in an email to Disney employees Sunday that he is returning “with an incredible sense of gratitude and humility — and, I must admit, a bit of amazement.”

Categories
Disney life travel

Our 2022 Disneyland Trip

On Tuesday, April 19th we left today and entered the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy. It’s the happiest place on Earth — Disneyland!

And we WERE happy, because getting there was no easy task. Before we left I knew that our two hour drive (by distance) was never going to take a mere couple of hours. Traffic backing up is normal going from Palm Springs to LA, but this day was a holiday — I figured it would be a particularly good day to travel, avoiding the typical commuter traffic. Not to mention, we were setting out at noon, a time one could assume to be easiest to make the journey. Well, unfortunately, it turns out we were embarking at the worst possible time. Tens of thousands of Coachella concert goers were returning to the city on the Monday after Easter. The freeway was like a parking lot. Our exasperated three year old daughter put it best as she exclaimed, “We’re moving like turtles!” Slowly and steadily (and 5 hours later) we arrived at our destination in Anaheim.

Continue reading “Our 2022 Disneyland Trip”
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animation Disney

Disney Art Featured at the Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art hopes to entice visitors with 150 Disney artifacts.

Watch a preview of the exhibition “Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts,” on view at The Met Fifth Avenue from December 10, 2021 through March 6, 2022.

Pink castles, talking sofas, and a prince transformed into a teapot: what sounds like fantasies from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ pioneering animations were in fact the figments of the colorful salons of Rococo Paris. The Met’s first-ever exhibition exploring the work of Walt Disney and the Walt Disney Animation Studios’ hand-drawn animation will examine Disney’s personal fascination with European art and the use of French motifs in his films and theme parks, drawing new parallels between the studios’ magical creations and their artistic models.

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Disney

Defunctland’s Deep Dive on Disney Queues

Just in time for our family trip to California this December, Defunctland does a deep dive on the complicated history of Disney’s FastPass. I still haven’t decided if we are going to hit the original Magic Kingdom while we are down there. The prices, the crowds, the lines, and most of all the fact that our kids are still probably too little for most of the attractions makes me doubt the prospects — it’s killing me.

(via)

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Disney documentary

Remain Seated Please

Remain Seated Please is a short documentary about a couple of Disney super-fans who illicitly explore every nook and cranny of the Walt Disney World ride Horizons. It’s more suspenseful and touching than I anticipated.

(via Waxy)

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Disney Music

Sounds of Disneyland

From Main Street USA to Galaxy’s Edge The Sounds of Disneyland has all the music from the Walt’s California based theme parks (Disneyland and California Adventure).

A lot of the music only works as a short diversion in nostalgia but I particularly like playing the song Rancho Del Zocalo (from Frontierland) as background music when I’ve cooked a Hello Fresh recipe for the family. There’s something about the mandolin and guitar duet that simulates the restaurant experience.

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Art Disney education

Imagineering in a Box

Working with the Kahn Academy, Disney Imagineering released a free course on theme park design called Imagineering in a Box.

Imagineering in a Box is designed to pull back the curtain to show students how artists, designers and engineers work together to create theme parks. We take a behind-the-scenes look that learners love and make it an active experience through student-driven projects. We do this by weaving together videos and exercises into lessons that culminate in a long form project. The goal is to make students aware of careers they never knew existed and deepen their understanding of the process, concepts and terminology of the creative workplace.

The course is comprised of 32 videos designed to encourage viewers to think about a wide range of skills including story development and conceptual design, math, physics and engineering. Completing the first three lessons, I agree with the write-up… this course, “ignite[s] curiosity, inspire[s] creativity, and cultivate innovation in the minds of students and teachers alike”, all the while creating a fun and engaging opportunity to explore new concepts. They say it’s aimed at middle school or high school so I’m not sure I would present it to my grade five class, but I sure am tempted. I live for this kind of thing.

(via Waxy)

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Disney

Bob Chapek Named Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company

2020 CORPORATE, WALT DISNEY TELEVISION - (Corporate/Todd Wawrychuk) BOB CHAPEK - CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BOB IGER - EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

It’s the end of an era as Bob Iger steps down from his main role as CEO of The Walt Disney Company to move into his new role as Executive Chairman and focus on the company’s creative endeavours.

From the news release:

BURBANK, Calif., February 25, 2020—The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Board of Directors announced today that Bob Chapek has been named Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company, effective immediately. Mr. Chapek most recently served as Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.

Robert A. Iger assumes the role of Executive Chairman and will direct the Company’s creative endeavors, while leading the Board and providing the full benefit of his experience, leadership and guidance to ensure a smooth and successful transition through the end of his contract on Dec. 31, 2021.

“With the successful launch of Disney’s direct-to-consumer businesses and the integration of Twenty-First Century Fox well underway, I believe this is the optimal time to transition to a new CEO,” Mr. Iger said. “I have the utmost confidence in Bob and look forward to working closely with him over the next 22 months as he assumes this new role and delves deeper into Disney’s multifaceted global businesses and operations, while I continue to focus on the Company’s creative endeavors.”

Mr. Iger added: “Bob will be the seventh CEO in Disney’s nearly 100-year history, and he has proven himself exceptionally qualified to lead the Company into its next century. Throughout his career, Bob has led with integrity and conviction, always respecting Disney’s rich legacy while at the same time taking smart, innovative risks for the future. His success over the past 27 years reflects his visionary leadership and the strong business growth and stellar results he has consistently achieved in his roles at Parks, Consumer Products and the Studio. Under Bob’s leadership as CEO, our portfolio of great businesses and our amazing and talented people will continue to serve the Company and its shareholders well for years to come.”

[…]

[Chapek] also served as President of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, where he spearheaded the successful “vault strategy” for the Company’s iconic films and transformed the primary format of home entertainment from DVD to Blu-ray.

The vault strategy was huge for Disney. I always admired (though didn’t really fall for) their bold supply and demand trick where Disney implied that the classic movies were soon headed for the vault so you’d better act now but knowing that they pull that trick every time a new technology comes out (DVD then Blu-Ray) made me realize the “vault strategy” wasn’t so scary. Still, I’m sure it made them a lot of money.

(Previously)

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Disney

Sword in the Stone Removed by Disneyland Guest

If you’ve ever been to King Arthur’s Carousel in Disneyland you’ve probably imagined what it would be like to pull Excalibur, the “sword in the stone,” from its anvil.A failed attempt at pulling the sword from the stone.Image from my 2002 trip to Disneyland

Last week, using sheer brute force, a Disneyland guest successfully did just that, removing the iconic sword from its anvil “stone” in front of the King Arthur Carrousel. It was first thought that the sword was removed as part of a planned refurbishment but then a guest shed light on what really happened.

The sword is not removed for refurbishment. My friend Sam broke it last week on the 8th when we went to Disneyland. He literally ripped it out. The staff said that it was really old and that’s why he was able to do so. It was his first time at Disney and he’s a pretty buff dude, I told him if he pulled it out he’d win a prize and he just used brute force I guess lol. It was broken and jagged. The staff said they taped it off so no one would stick their fingers in and cut it on the broken piece left inside.

Unfortunately, the guest didn’t become king. The prop has since been updated with a shiny new sword and anvil.

Find photos of the ducked taped anvil and replacement sword at WDWNT.

(via BoingBoing)

Categories
Disney history

Not on Disney+

In contrast to the list of Disney+ content I posted recently, The Internet Archive has a pretty comprehensive collection of Disney movies/shorts that will not be hitting Disney+ any time soon. Take a peek at some of the racism, sexism, propaganda, and other controversial topics of media giant’s past after the jump:

Continue reading “Not on Disney+”