Techtite.com Editorial : My Two Bits, V2

I'm reminded of a scene from "Three's Company," back in the 1970's. Jack, Chrissy, and Janet had just bought a used car from Mr. Roper for $212.60. They soon find out the car has a lot of problems, which will cost a lot of money. Chimes in Chrissy Snow , in typical 1970's dizzy-blonde humor: "Well, if we sold the car we could get $200!" The joke is that Chrissy was ready to sell the car, to get the money to repair the car. If you don't get the joke, don't worry; the executives in charge of Disney Studios probably don't get it, either.

Consider how easily Disney's top brass let their most revered member of their Board of Directors leave, this holiday season. No later than Thanksgiving weekend, Roy E. Disney --basically, the last true Walt Disney relative to be working for "Disney" in any major capacity-- quit his position, due to the warped direction the company has taken lately. In a very real sense, Disney is pulling a "Chrissy Snow"; they let the last true Walt Disney relative leave the company, as they look for ways to make the company more "Disney" again. Chrissy would be very proud.

Not to be outdone: by the following Monday, Stanley Gold had quit the board of directors as well, proving that not only the last true Disney is upset with "Disney". Unfortunately for Roy and Stanley, all of this means little to the stockholders, when looking at dollars and cents (even if not dollars and sense). The first Monday of the month --the same day Stanley left the company-- the stock closed at $23.17; a gain of 8 cents. This would appear that nobody is reacting much to two major members of the Disney board of directors leaving...or at least, not yet.

Indeed; Disney may not feel the ripple effect of the last Disney to leave "Disney," for quite a while. Every young girl needs her Sleeping Beauty doll to go with her Sleeping Beauty DVD; every young boy loves his Peter Pan DVD. These were 1950's Disney films that sell to this very day, and there's no reason to believe that they will stop selling after Roy and Stanley have long been gone. There will always be a new fan of the Disney classics --every last one of them-- year after year, and generation after generation.

However, there is sign of problems. Consider how the Disney company has treated its most loyal fans recently; a snubbing of Mickey Mouse's nose as bad as if Paramount Studios went to a Star Trek convention and yelled, "You nerds!" Last year's Disneyana Convention was a catastrophe so bad, no Disneyana is to be held until further notice (as the official site itself apologizes for, here). Not to single out Disneyana: The 999 Happy Haunts Ball, 2003 was a similar disaster, where all that was needed was to replicate the exact same Halloween party they had in just the prior year. They couldn't even handle that one right. There have been successful conventions lately, yes, but the damage is still there. These two convention catastrophes upset some of Disney's most diehard fans. Is this the sort of mismanagement that led to Roy's desire to leave Disney...? Two guesses.

Mistakes can be seen in Disney films as well. Lilo & Stitch and Treasure Planet both cost Disney more money to make than Beauty & The Beast and The Lion King, yet clearly took less effort (or arguably, any love in their craft). Treasure had good animation though its story was crap; Lilo had an amusing story, but its animation was crap. Instead of taking the best storywriters and animators and merging them, Disney Studios is considering the dismissal of its core "2D" animation staff, entirely. Again, one must ask: Is Chrissy Snow in charge of Disney? Only she would seem to be stupid enough to cure the disease by killing the patient. Do we want more films like Beauty & the Beast...? DUH! They just have to be of good quality. That's all.

...and what about the newest Disney products? Right next to my work desk is one of my most prized Disney collectibles from the 1970's; a totally cool Haunted Mansion "secret panel chest" (i.e., Chinese Puzzle Box), made entirely of solid wood, which opens a certain way to reveal a small drawer inside. It's been years since Disney has made a durable, enjoyable collectible like this. No; these days everything is pins, pins, pins. This is further proof that Disney is in full, "If we can sell a 50 cent item to an idiot for $10, it's fine by us" mode. These pins couldn't possibly cost more than 50 cents to make, and yet Disney makes about 1,000 of each one, calls them a "collectible" and some schmuck buys them. Why bother taking the time to make another cool Haunted Mansion box, when so many imbeciles are ready to buy your el cheapo pins, at ridiculous prices? This is one of the few, shrewd marketing ploys by Disney these days which I would not accredit to "Chrissy." No; in this case, Chrissy would best represent the consumer.

The theme parks are no better handled. Journey Into Imagination was made into el cheapo crap. Other acceptable rides for all ages, like Horizons, were demolished completely (!), just to make way for a ride like Mission: Space, whose core "thrill factor" is that it makes you want to puke. In a similar vein, Tower of Terror didn't make people want to puke enough, so they made the ride "drop" you three or more times each visit, to make sure you really wanted to puke. Is this what Disney Theme Parks have been reduced to lately: making someone leave the park saying "This theme park makes me want to puke!" only to retort, "That's the idea...thanks for coming!"

If "Disney" wants people to feel even slightly good that the last true Disney member has left the board, they need to give us some reassurances. Sure, they could care less as long as stockholders are happy, but consider: I go to Disney World all the time. I was planning at least two trips with various family members, for next year alone. Now that Roy and Stanley both left the company, I don't think I'm alone in thinking; maybe we should all wait until further notice, to see how this pans out. This isn't the darkest cloud that ever fell over Disney Studios. However, if changes aren't made, that dark cloud is just on the horizon, and therein lies the biggest problem.

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Is Chrissy Snow in Charge of Disney...?