Walt Disney Company – Page 13 – A Walk With The Mouse

Abigail Disney’s Production Company Is Shutting Down

Posted on October 6, 2022October 6, 2022 by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Uncategorized

Years ago, Abigail Disney — granddaughter of Roy O. Disney and great-niece of Walt — walked away from the company that had shot her family to fame and fortune. Ms. Disney got rid of most of her stock in the company, saying that she did not feel like the money was hers, as she did nothing to earn it. In the years since, Ms. Disney has kept a few shares of the company, but has been on less-than-friendly terms with the people running it and has frequently criticized The Walt Disney Company for its low Cast Member (employee) wages and sky-high executive salaries.

When it comes to salaries, Ms. Disney has taken aim at both current CEO Bob Chapek, as well as past CEO Bob Iger. Ms. Disney has indicated that, while she used to have a decent relationship with Iger, her relationship with both men is now non-existent.

Ms. Disney has always called upon the Walt Disney Company to increase the pay of its Cast Members. Especially after surveys revealed that a number of Cast Members had experienced homelessness and food insecurity while working for the House of Mouse. Ms. Disney has even gone so far as to make a documentary film — called The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales — detailing the company’s low employee pay and high executive salaries — including a $20 million per year bonus that Bob Chapek receives.

The documentary — which will soon be widely released — was produced by Ms. Disney’s production company, Fork Films. Unfortunately, we are now learning that Fork Films will be closing its doors. The decision was made a while ago, but is now being made public. News of the closure was first shared by Variety:

As part of the closure, fewer than 10 positions have been eliminated. Abigail, a filmmaker and philanthropist, is also the granddaughter of Roy Disney, the co-founder of The Walt Disney Company.
A spokesperson for Fork Films said the staff was notified of the closure in February, and have been working to wind down the company by Sept. 30, 2022. Disney’s most recent film, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” which she co-directed with Kathleen Hughes, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and was recently released digitally. The film examines the issue of economic inequality and ballooning CEO compensation packages. The movie made headlines as Disney drilled down on the employment and union practices at the theme parks run by The Walt Disney Company. In the film and dozens of subsequent interviews, Disney has consistently and unflinchingly taken the company to task, describing the corporation’s promises of “upward mobility” as “neoliberal claptrap.”
After much reflection, Abigail decided to close Fork Films,” the spokesperson said, adding, “several Fork Films’ staff members will continue working on ‘The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,’ its release and impact campaign in the coming months. She plans to continue making films.”

Although the production company is closing down, Ms. Disney said that she will keep making films and will keep calling out the company and corporate behavior that she feels is unjust.

Bob Chapek Responds to Criticism

Posted on September 21, 2022September 21, 2022 by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

In February 2020, popular Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger stepped down from his role as CEO and became the Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company. The Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products — Bob Chapek — took over the role of CEO and his tenure has been…rocky to say the least. Just one month after he became CEO, the COVID-19 pandemic forced all Disney theme parks, including Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, to shut down. All film and television production shut down as well, so Disney furloughed and laid-off thousands of Cast Members.

While dealing with a worldwide pandemic was the most difficult way to start as CEO that one could imagine, many feel Chapek has not done much since then to endear himself to Disney’s loyal fan base. Over the past couple of years, things seemed to have drastically changed in the eyes of Disney fans — the Parks are getting outrageously expensive, while the quality seems to be declining. A recent poll also shows that an overwhelming number of Guests feel that Disney “has lost its magic”.

Chapek has caught most of the fan’s ire for what is happening at Disney. In Disney circles, Chapek is seen as someone who is more focused on making money than making magic for Guests. This has led to petitions calling for Chapek to either resign or be fired.

Chapek recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter, and he was asked about being seen as “a guy who cuts costs and raises prices” and getting a lot of flack from those who call themselves “Disney superfans”. Chapek didn’t shy away from the question and said:

We love all our fans equally. We love the superfans, obviously. But we also like the fans that don’t have the same expression of their fandom. We want to make sure that our superfans who love to come with annual passes and use [the parks] as their personal playground — we love that. We celebrate that. But at the same time, we’ve got to make sure that there’s room in the park for the family from Denver that comes once every five years. We didn’t have a reservation system and we didn’t control the number of annual passes we distributed and frankly, the annual pass as a value was so great that people were literally coming all the time and the accessibility of the park was unlimited to them, and that family from Denver would get to the park and not be let in. That doesn’t seem like a real balanced proposition. I guess it’s possible that the superfans look at that as a disadvantaging of the way they consume the park, but we’ve got to make sure that not only are we heeding the needs of our superfans, but we’re heeding the needs of everyone who travels from across the country one time every five years. We have a real high-class problem: We have much more demand than there is supply. What we will not bend on is giving somebody a less than stellar experience in the parks because we jammed too many people in there. If we’re going to have that foundational rule, you have to start balancing who you let in. … Our ticket prices and constraints we put on how often people can come and when they come is a direct reflection of demand. When is it too much? Demand will tell us when it’s too much.

His answer may not be what fans of the theme parks want to hear. Chapek is basically saying that prices will drop when they notice a drop in theme park attendance — which will most likely be a sign that things are too expensive — but many can tell you that the Parks seem just as crowded as they were before the pandemic. Disney is also reporting record profits, but that has to be balanced out with the high prices that they are charging.

Even though Chapek might not be seen as very popular with the Disney fan base, he appears to be popular with Disney’s Board of Directors, which extended Chapek’s contract by 3 years this past June.

Investment Company Takes Stake in Disney

Posted on August 16, 2022August 16, 2022 by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Uncategorized

Via DisDining.com

On August 10, The Walt Disney Company held its Third Quarter Earnings Call. During that call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek revealed that the company had made $21.5 billion in revenue, surpassing Wall Street expectations. Chapek also shared that the company expected to do just as well, or better, next quarter. He also shared that theme park Guests were spending 40% more while at the Parks, 50% of theme park Guests are purchasing Disney Genie+, and that Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, was expected to be profitable by 2024. However, one person doesn’t think that that is enough.

Daniel Loeb is the founder and CEO of Third Point — a hedge fund that just recently purchased a stake in The Walt Disney Company. Loeb is also working to purchase Comcast’s portion of ownership in Hulu, which is about 33%. Disney owns the other 67%. Loeb is taking the stake that he now has in Disney as an activist investor and is running with it. He believes that Disney “significantly underearns relative to its potential,” and he wants to change that. That is not the only massive change that Loeb wants to work with Disney to make.

First up, Loeb wants Disney to take a closer look at ESPN and potentially make it a spinoff of The Walt Disney Company. In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter, Loeb had the following to say regarding ESPN, which also streams as ESPN+.

“ESPN is a great business that currently generates significant free cash flow, enabling the Company to pay down debt and increase strategic options down the line,” wrote Loeb. “In addition, we realize ESPN content is part of the bundle being offered to subscribers of other products, both in Disney’s Linear and DTC businesses. Despite these advantages, we believe that a strong case can be made that the ESPN business should be spun off to shareholders with an appropriate debt load that will alleviate leverage at the parent Company.”

In addition to ESPN becoming its own entity, Loeb believes that Disney should combine two of its biggest pieces, Disney+ and Hulu. Chapek announced during the earnings call that Disney+ would be seeing a price increase when an ad-supported version is released on December 8. However, should Disney+ and Hulu combine, Disney+ subscribers will have to pay A LOT more if they want to keep streaming their favorite Disney movies. Some Hulu Live subscriptions already include Disney+, so it is unknown if those would increase in price.

Loeb’s last request of Disney is likely to be the most controversial. Loeb thinks that Disney is “underearning” and said that the Company should find ways to cut costs. Loeb wants Disney to look at assets that are underperforming and look at its profit margins and cut costs accordingly. There are no more details on what that would mean, but Disney fans have been seeing a lot of cost-cutting happening recently, especially at the theme parks. Promised and announced projects have not happened yet, and food portions are getting smaller while the prices are getting higher.

After Loeb announced his company’s purchase of a stake in The Walt Disney Company, Disney shares jumped more than 2%.

Disney files suit against VISA and MasterCard in defense of its theme park Guests, customers

Posted on August 9, 2022August 9, 2022 by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

Late Friday evening, Disney filed suit against Visa and Mastercard over the credit cards’ interchange fees, and part of Disney’s stance is that the card companies have engaged in practices that result in higher costs for customers and loyal patrons.

The new suit is an offshoot of a lawsuit originally filed in court in 2005. The suit related to the interchange fees charged by credit card companies for every transaction made by a customer and then paid to the issuing bank. But many companies like Disney that rely on credit card purchases for much of their revenue say that the credit card companies have a hold on the market which gives them an unfair advantage resulting in the companies’ ability to price-fix those interchange fees.

Disney points out that this practice ultimately results in higher prices for its Guests and customers.

The current litigation also has its roots in a nearly $6 billion settlement reached in 2012. In that settlement, an agreement was made by Visa and MasterCard to lower the amount the companies charge for processing credit card transactions. The lower costs were to remain in effect for 8 months, per this agreement.

But some lawmakers say that those concessions weren’t good enough.

Some large retailers like Walmart and Amazon excused themselves from the settlement with the hope that they could set out on their own to get better terms. Amazon was able to do exactly that earlier this year.

As such, Disney could be attempting to get a better deal as well.

Disney’s stance is that both Visa and MasterCard used “corporate maneuvering” to “shroud their hold on the industry,” per The New York Times. When the credit card companies were privately owned, thousands of banks and financial institutions backed them–banks and financial institutions that received interchange fees.

Walt Disney World announces hotel guest early admission, updated operating hours

But when the credit card companies’ payment processors went public in 2006 and 2008, it gave the appearance to consumers and retailers that there was a separation between the card companies and the banks. But some analysts suggest that such an “appearance” was intentional as a means of avoiding regulatory allegations.

Yes, I'm a Disney Adult. Let me explain | TPR

“If it’s a single company, they hoped they would not be viewed as a cartel of banks,” Harry First, an NYU law professor, explained. “A single company can set its own price and do what it wants.”

In its suit against Visa and MasterCard, Disney alleges that the card companies’ way of doing things did not change when the corporate structure changed. According to The New York Times:

Disney says that the beneficial fees that Visa and Mastercard offered the banks remain and that the two companies dominate the industry, driving up costs. “The debit card market is dominated by Visa and Mastercard,” court documents read. “Combined, Visa and MasterCard comprised about 75 percent of all debit purchase volume in 2004 and comprise over 80 percent today.” Fees continue to be a focus of legislative action, as well.

114,395 Courthouse Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock

A spokesman for MasterCard says the company expects to settle outside of court.

“We do not anticipate litigating this and expect a resolution could be announced in the near term,” he said.

CEO Bob Chapek Claims Disney Is Not The Place For Politics

Posted on August 3, 2022August 3, 2022 by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Uncategorized

Via InsideTheMagic.net

The last year or so has been quite a turbulent one for The Walt Disney Company. Controversy has seemed to gravitate toward all aspects of the company for the entirety of 2022, starting with the very critical reactions to how the company handles its response to Florida’s highly-contested Parental Rights Bill.

Disney decided to remain quiet on the bill, at first, that is. To many, this response, or lack thereof, was not satisfying at all, lacking any true agency. On the flip side, many thought Disney should stay out of the issue completely, but considering the company made political contributions to several sponsors of the legislation, Disney had already taken a stance.

Eventually, Disney and Chapek himself spoke out against the bill, even pledging millions of dollars to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which was eventually declined. Disney found itself traveling further into a PR nightmare when walkouts were held company-wide in protest of Florida’s controversial bill.

Things between Florida and The Walt Disney Company so much that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to dissolve Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special ruling that essentially allows Disney to act as its own form of government.

DeSantis and other Republican figures rallied against the company in an attempt to push back against Disney stepping out politically. While Disney has certainly sided one way or another in the past, there was not quite a time when Disney found itself in the middle of a political discussion, especially one so fierce. Currently, the state of Disney’s Reedy Creek is up in the air.

Remember, all of these events happened in the last few months, permanently cementing 2022 as one of the most tumultuous years in Disney Company history. However, Disney may be backtracking on how political it decides to get in the future.

It was recently reported by Hollywood screenwriter Kamran Pasha that Bob Chapek, who serves as The Walt Disney Company’s CEO, spoke with Kareem Daniel (Chairperson of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution) at El Capitan Theatre in front of an audience on Thursday.

During the meeting, a lot was discussed, including Park and leadership strategies and the current state of Disney. Most notably, Chapek gave his own take on politics within The Walt Disney Company and Parks. Surprisingly, Bob Chapek declared for the first time publicly that The Walt Disney Company would attempt to exit politics and ideology going forward.

Specifically, Chapek said:

“When people come to a Disney park they don’t walk in with their political views on their sleeves. People don’t come to Disney to get political points of view, either from the left or the right. Disney is a source of positivity in the world, no matter your sex, race, or politics. That’s a core focus for me.

We aren’t exactly sure what this means, but it is in sharp contrast with how the company has acted in the last few months. It is important to note that Disney is engaged in an initiative that further promotes diversity and representation in all of its Parks and films, something that some fans may feel is political in nature anyway. However, to most, the prospect of improved inclusivity and diversity is an incredibly welcome one that we can’t wait to see more of in Disney Parks, movies, music, and television.

Perhaps one of the biggest moves in Disney history is also part of this initiative, with Disney completely retheming its iconic Splash Mountain attraction at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

An official poster announcing Tiana's Bayou Adventure, opening late 2024.

While Splash Mountain is a very iconic and beloved attraction and has become one of the most recognizable rides in the world, the basis for the ride does come from a film that Disney has done its best to hide. Disney’s Song of the South (1946) is a film that many have deemed racist for its depictions of the Reconstruction-era American South.

The film has been effectively erased from Disney’s ever-expanding catalog of animated films, though with enough digging, you are sure to find it online. While slightly sad, we at Inside the Magic couldn’t be more excited for the new ride, now called “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure,” which will be opening in 2024.

We can apparently expect a lot more information about this retheme at Disney’s upcoming D23 Expo, which takes place in September.