Disney vs. Pixar: A Tale of Creative Leadership

T H E B E S T T E A MDISNEY&PIXAR
The pay off: box office comparisons
We compared domestic box office sales of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios movies between 1995 and
2005 for years each studio released a film. As Disney declines, Pixar rises. Finding Nemo, the film Eisner was
sure would fail, tops the list at $380,529,370.
DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE PIXAR DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE
1995 Pocahontas $141,579,773 Toy Story $191,796,233
1998 Mulan $120,620,254 A Bug’s Life $162,798,565
1999 Tarzan $171,091,819 Toy Story 2 $245,852,179
2001 Atlantis: The Lost Empire $84,056,472 Monster’s, Inc. $289,423,425
2003 Brother Bear $85,336,277 Finding Nemo $380,529,370
2004 Home on the Range $50,030,461 The Incredibles $261,441,092
Total $652,715,056 $1,531,840,864
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/

The Companies
In their first 10 years of making animated films, every movie Pixar made was a box-office
success. They pushed the boundaries of filmmaking both technically and creatively. While
Lasseter provides inspirational creative leadership and Catmull serves the role of resonant
leader, Pixar has done an exceptional job growing and promoting talent from within the
company as new directors step up to bring their own creative vision to life. Strong
leadership, in combination with trusting and empowering new directors, has lead to
amazing movies and a stellar box office success.
The years between 1995 and 2005 were creatively dry for Disney. While the company under
Eisner’s command sought to repeat the success of movies like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin,
the executive-heavy leadership of the company micromanaged the creative teams and created
a climate of fear that made it near impossible to foster new ideas that resonated at the box
office. While Disney tried to sustain the success of the prior decade, it was not built on a
stable foundation and box office numbers reflected this state of affairs.

The Players
DISNEY GOLD EISNER
KATZENBERG OVITZ IGER
LITVACK BASS BOLLENBACH
ROTH WELLS
CATMULL JOBS LASSETER
STANTON DOCTER UNKRICH
RANFT SMITH

Sustained Desired Change
How do you create a culture that fosters storytelling
and creativity while still building a successful company?
This is the challenge that both Disney and Pixar faced.

1984
1986
1988
1989
1991
1993
$26 million dollar deal with Disney to produce 3 computer animated feature
films
Development of Toy Story begins
Saul Steinberg attempts a hostile takeover of Disney
Roy Disney and Stanley Gold remove Ron Miller president
Eisner appointed CEO, Frank Wells President
Eisner appoints Katzenberg head of motion pictures and feature animations
John Lasseter fired
Steve Jobs purchases Graphics Group from Lucas film and forms Pixar along with
Catmull and Lasseter
Lasseter directs first 3D animation Luxo Jr
Luxo Jr nominated for an Oscar
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Eisner revives and hosts, The Wonderful World of Disney
The Little Mermaid
Pixar’s CAPS system renders the final scene
Beauty and the Beast (relied heavily on Pixar technology)
Disney enters the second Golden Age of animation
Looks for partners to increase animation output
Aladdin
Katzenberg cuts a deal with Pixar for 3 feature films
Disney retrains merchandising rights in Pixar deal
Black Friday – Pixar unveils the Katzenberg version of Woody
Disney shuts down production of Toy Story
Pixar rewrites the script
Disney shuts down production of Toy Story
Pixar selected as a potential Pixar partner. Jobs and Katzenberg enter into
negotiations.
Vision: Make a computer animated feature-length filmVision: 20% annual earnings growth
Jon Lasseter joins the computer division of Lucas Films run by Ed Catmull

• Frank Wells dies in a helicopter crash
• Eisner appoints himself COO and
President instead of promoting
Katzenberg, as promised
• Eisner has open heart surgery
• Eisner forces Katzenberg to resign
• Pixar achieves 20 year vision with
the release of Toy Story
• Pixar IPO. Largest IPO of 1995. Sets
Pixar up to re-negotiate with
Disney.
“Trust your own storytelling instincts.”
“I think I hate that little midget.”
1994 Tipping Points
The Lion King - $312,855,561 Domestic Box Office Toy Story - $191,796,233 Domestic Box Office
- Eisner
- Catmull

T H E B E S T T E A MPIXAR
With Toy Story, Pixar achieves its vision. Now what?
“For twenty years, my life had been defined by the goal of making the
first computer graphics movie. Now that that goal had been reached, I
had what I can only describe as a hollow, lost feeling. As a manager, I
felt a troubling lack of purpose. Now what?”
But Catmull found a new vision for himself and the company:
“Figuring out how to build a sustainable creative culture— one
that didn’t just pay lip service to the importance of things like
honesty, excellence, communication, originality, and self-
assessment but really committed to them, no matter how
uncomfortable that became— wasn’t a singular assignment. It was
a day-in-day-out, full-time job. And one that I wanted to do.”
With the launch of Toy Story, the original vision Pixar set out to achieve
had been attained – creating a computer animated feature-length film.
But this left Catmull lost:

T H E B E S T T E A MDISNEY
Meanwhile, Eisner consolidates power
Eisner has achieved 20% year over year growth with the second Golden Age of
animation, partnering with Pixar, raiding the Disney vault, and opening retail stores.
The death of Wells and the ousting of Katzenberg gives Eisner the opportunity to
consolidate his power. His vision is (and likely has been since Eisner started hosting
the Wonderful World of Disney) to become the Disney heir.
“After some more conversation, and just before we leave for dinner, Eisner gets a
pen and a piece of paper. ‘Disney is a French name, not Irish,’ he reminds me.
‘Now look at this.’ He writes ‘D’Isner,’ ‘Deez-nay,’ as the French would
pronounce it, ‘is Eisner without the D.’”

“My hope was to make a culture so vigorous
that it would survive when Pixar’s founding
members were long gone, enabling the
company to continue producing original films
that made money and contributed positively
to the world.”
“Getting the right people and the right
chemistry is more important than getting the
right idea.”
“We have no obligation to make art. We have
no obligation to make history. We have no
obligation to make a statement. But to make
money, it is often important to make history, to
make art, or to make some significant
statement…. In order to make money, we
must always make entertaining movies, and if
we make entertaining movies, at times we will
reliably make history, art, a statement, or all
three.”
“Not even the greatest screenwriter or actor
or director can be counted on to save a film
that lacks a strong underlying concept.”
- Michael Eisner
- Ed Catmull
Values: Eisner vs. Catmull

Shared Vision & Team Identity - Executives
The executive team shared Eisner’s vision… for themselves. While they may have vied
for Eisner’s favor (and eventually his title), the executives did appear to share his
management style. Even Toy Story briefly became a microcosm of Eisner’s approach to
management.
“At each presentation by Pixar, Katzenberg would tear much of it up, barking out his
detailed comments and notes. And a cadre of clipboard-carrying flunkies was on hand
to make sure every suggestion and whim uttered by Katzenberg received follow-up
treatment.”
“After many rounds of notes from Katzenberg and other Disney execs, Woody had
been stripped of almost all charm. In one scene he throws the other toys off the
bed and orders Slinky to come help. When Slinky hesitates, Woody barks, “Who
said your job was to think, spring-wiener?”

Shared Vision & Team Identity – The Board
The board, on the other hand, was built to serve Eisner’s vision.
In one court ruling, a judge had strong criticism for both Eisner and the board.
“By virtue of his Machiavellian (and imperial) nature as C.E.O., and his control over
Ovitz's hiring in particular, Eisner to a large extent is responsible for the failings in
process that infected and handicapped the board's decision-making abilities. Eisner
stacked his (and I intentionally write 'his' as opposed to 'the company's') board of
directors with friends and other acquaintances who, though not necessarily
beholden to him in a legal sense, were certainly more willing to accede to his
wishes and support him.”

Disney’s Ought Self
At Disney, when producers and leadership pitched new movies, they would
cover the walls with images of classic Disney characters to inspire their movie
pitch. The expectation was to continue with the mold that worked so well in
the past. There is a reason Disney characters look the same!

Social Identity Groups
The Disney brand has always been enough to attract creative, passionate people.
The Golden Age of animation lit fire to the imaginations of generations of kids
(including John Lasseter), who flocked to California College of the Arts for a
chance at joining Disney upon graduation.
But it also drove many of those creative, passionate people away. With top-heavy
management afraid of stepping away from the status quo or exploring new ideas
the younger animators brought to the table, the creative atmosphere became
stagnant.
Similar situations were unfolding at ABC and Touchstone as well. Creative
executives exploring new narratives and storytelling were met with resistance
and dismissal. ABC was fourth in the ratings for a few years running, and the only
thing that eventually pulled it up was Lost. A show Eisner hated and tried to have
stopped.

Multilevels – Eisner consolidates power
Eisner promised Katzenberg that when Frank Wells
moved on or stepped away from his position,
Katzenberg would succeed him. After Frank Wells’
death, Eisner took over Wells’ roles and duties as a
signal to Katzenberg that he would not be
President. Eisner proceeds to push Katzenberg out
of Disney without fulfilling contractual payment
obligations. Katzenberg goes on to create
DreamWorks SKG.
THE BOARD

Eisner hired Ovitz, a long time friend, and immediately
regretted it (even before Ovitz started), calling it ”the
worst mistake I’ve ever made”. He stripped the role of
power and kept legal, finance, and operations reporting
in to himself. He talked about Ovitz behind his back
constantly and claimed he couldn’t be trusted. After 14
months as president, Eisner forces Ovitz out.
THE BOARD

Eisner promised the role of president to Roth, Bollenbach,
Litvack, and Iger but never intended to give it to them. Like with
Ovitz, he talked about each man behind his back and felt no one
could be his partner or successor. Eventually Bollenbach and Roth
both left, fed up with Eisner’s games. Litvack stayed, with his
dreams crushed. Iger was eventually promoted to president but
Eisner constantly bad-mouthed him to anyone in earshot.
THE BOARD

Eisner stuffs the board with people who are loyal to him, including
Sid Bass. The Bass family held the largest amount of shares in the
company, next to Eisner. Combined, they had full control. When
Bass had to sell most his shares in the bursting of the tech bubble,
Eisner was left without a controlling stake.
“Eisner's Disney has also been an exemplar of poor corporate
governance. The board of directors includes Eisner friends like
actor Sidney Poitier, architect Robert A.M. Stern, who has designed
many Disney properties, and former Sen. George Mitchell, who
consults for Disney. The board's poor judgment can best be seen
in the obscene compensation packages it has awarded him. In
the spring of 2001, Forbes concluded that in the previous five
years, Eisner made $737 million. This was in a period when the
company's profits fell and in which the company's stock
performed poorly. Charts in Disney's 2002 proxy statement show
that between Sept. 30, 1996, and Sept. 30, 2001, Disney trailed
the S&P 500 and two peer groups: the S&P entertainment index,
and the S&P leisure and entertainment index.”
THE BOARD

Multilevels – Eisner and the Public
The Public
Despite the turmoil inside Disney, Eisner consistently lied
to the public (on talk shows, in interviews, etc.) claiming he
supported his executives and that there were no rifts.
“Not surprisingly, the press felt Eisner had been something
less than truthful on the many occasions, including the
Larry King show, when he had publicly denied there were
any problems between him and Ovitz. The Los Angeles
Times’s Claudia Eller was especially miffed. ‘Is it any
wonder people are so cynical about what comes out of
the mouths of Hollywood’s most powerful movers and
shakers when they have no compunction about
intentionally misleading the news media and their
shareholders?’”

Senior Executives who left or were forced out
Steve Burke, president of Comcast;
Paul Pressler, chairman and chief executive of the Gap;
Steve Bollenbach, chairman and chief executive of Hilton Hotels;
Gary Wilson, chairman of Northwest Airlines;
Peter Rummell, chairman and chief executive of St. Joseph;
Judson Green, president and chief executive of NAVTEQ;
Meg Whitman, chairman and chief executive of eBay;
Richard Nanula, chief financial officer of Amgen;
Susan Lyne, chief executive of Martha Stewart Omnimedia;
Joe Roth, chairman of Revolution Studios;
Steve Bornstein, chief executive of the NFL Network;
Bill Mechanic, chairman of Twentieth Century Fox;
Lloyd Braun, head of media and entertainment at Yahoo!;
Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman and chief executive of DreamWorks Animation;

PEA/NEA Ratios – What PEA?
Shortly after Eisner’s arrival at Disney, the laid back culture begins to
change. “A culture of “survival of the fittest” soon developed. Two
people would be assigned the same tasks, and whoever prevailed kept
his job, at least temporarily.”
Head-fake PEA: “In his new position, Rochlis began a series of meetings
with studio executives, among them James Fleming. “You’re director of
finance,” Rochlis said in a friendly tone, as Fleming nodded. “But what
would you really like to do?” Fleming lit up at the question, since he had
long harbored ambitions for a more creative job. “I’d love to move into
marketing,” he said.
“You’re fired,” Rochlis said abruptly. “What do you mean?” Fleming asked.
“I only want people who love the job they’re in,” Rochlis replied. “You
clearly don’t want to be in finance.”

PEA/NEA Ratios – What PEA?
A coach hired to run an executive offsite comes to NEA conclusions: “The
results of my research indicate that you guys are not a good team.
You’re not a team at all. You’re not even a group. You guys are so bad
you’re not even a group.”
“What Michael likes is to put six pit bulls together and see which five die.”
Someone compared the mood at ABC (acquired by Disney in 1994) as
“occupied France under the Nazis.”

The Lawsuits – NEA all the way down
• Katzenberg sues Disney for breach of contract. Court finds in favor of
Katzenberg in the amount of $280 million dollars.
• Shareholders sue Disney’s board for Ovitz’s $140 million payout after
serving as president for only 14 months.
• Rochlis sues Disney for being made into a fall guy. While the court did
not find in his favor, the trial sheds more light on the toxicity of Disney
under Eisner.
• The trials make use of extensive written communication to examine
the cases, airing tons of dirty laundry in public.

Shared Vision & Team Identity
“In the very early days of Pixar, John, Andrew, Pete, Lee, and Joe made a
promise to one another. No matter what happened, they would always
tell each other the truth. They did this because they recognized how
important and rare candid feedback is and how, without it, our films
would suffer. “

Pixar’s Ideal Self
“Our job is to protect the new.”
“I am saying that when someone hatches an original idea, it may be
ungainly and poorly defined, but it is also the opposite of established and
entrenched— and that is precisely what is most exciting about it. If, while
in this vulnerable state, it is exposed to naysayers who fail to see its
potential or lack the patience to let it evolve, it could be destroyed. Part
of our job is to protect the new from people who don’t understand that in
order for greatness to emerge, there must be phases of not-so-greatness.
Think of a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly— it only survives
because it is encased in a cocoon. It survives, in other words, because it
is protected from that which would damage it.”

Social Identity Groups
“I can go to Disney and be a
director, or I can stay here and
make history.”
- John Lasseter

Multilevels – The Founders & Board
• Edwin Catmull – Co-founder & President
• Alvy Ray Smith – Co-founder & Executive Vice President (left in 1994,
mostly because of Jobs)
• Steve Jobs – Chairman of the Board
It is much more difficult to get information about the Pixar board. The tension
between Jobs and Smith was well known and extended beyond the board. Unlike
Disney, however, Pixar did not face multiple lawsuits in which corporate
communication was used as evidence. The board did come up with a system for
protecting each other from Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field:
“Steve’s got it: the power of the tongue and the web of words that catches
people up. We were aware of this when we had board meetings, so we
developed signals—nose scratching or ear tugs—for when someone had been
caught up in Steve’s distortion field and he needed to be tugged back to reality.”

Multilevels – Steve Jobs
Jobs was shrewd when it came to business, and negotiated partnerships and
deals for Pixar.
“As befitted two men of equal passion, the negotiations between Katzenberg
and Jobs took months. Lasseter was riveted as he watched the two wiry and
tightly wound principals parry and thrust. “Just to see Steve and Jeffrey go at
it, I was in awe,” he recalled. “It was like a fencing match. They were both
masters.””
But inside the company, Catmull upheld the value of candor and
protected the teams from Jobs.

Multilevels – Steve Jobs
“That is part of the reason why Steve Jobs didn’t come to Braintrust meetings
at Pixar— a mutually agreed prohibition, based on my belief that his bigger-
than-life presence would make it harder to be candid.”
“This group works well together,” I told him of the Braintrust. “But if you go to
its meetings it will change what they are.” He agreed, and believing that John
and the story people knew more about narrative than he did, he left it to them.
At Apple, he had the reputation for being deeply involved in the most minute
detail of every product, but at Pixar, he didn’t believe that his instincts were
better than the people here, so he stayed out. That’s how much candor
matters at Pixar: It overrides hierarchy.”

Multilevels – Ed Catmull, resonant leadership
“I believe our adherence to a set of principles and practices for managing
creative talent and risk is responsible. Pixar is a community in the true sense of
the word. We think that lasting relationships matter, and we share some basic
beliefs: Talent is rare. Management’s job is not to prevent risk but to build the
capability to recover when failures occur. It must be safe to tell the truth. We
must constantly challenge all of our assumptions and search for the flaws
that could destroy our culture.”

Multilevels – The Early Team
“There is some dispute about when, exactly, the Braintrust came into being.
That’s because it developed organically, growing out of the rare working
relationship among the five men who led and edited the production of Toy
Story— John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, and Joe
Ranft. From Pixar’s earliest days, this quintet gave us a solid example of what
a highly functional working group should be. They were funny, focused,
smart, and relentlessly candid with each other. Most crucially, they never
allowed themselves to be thwarted by the kinds of structural or personal
issues that can render meaningful communication in a group setting
impossible.”

Multilevels – John Lasseter, creative visionary
“A good part of my leadership skills is crafted from learning from experiences
early in my career that were not positive experiences. For me, it was learning
what not to do when you are put in that position. Back when I first started
working at Disney — this was 1979 — only a handful of the greats were still
animating, and they became our mentors. The ones who were creatively in
charge, the producers and directors, were so scared of all this young talent
coming in, they kept us under their thumb. We just wanted to make
filmmaking better.”
“While everyone has an equal voice in a Braintrust meeting, John sets the
tone, calling out the sequences he liked best, identifying some themes and
ideas he thinks need to be improved. That’s all it takes to launch the back-
and-forth. Everybody jumps in with observations about the film’s strengths
and weaknesses.”

Multilevels – Andrew Stanton, director
“Left to their own devices, most people don’t want to fail. But Andrew Stanton
isn’t most people. As I’ve mentioned, he’s known around Pixar for repeating
the phrases “fail early and fail fast” and “be wrong as fast as you can.” Even
though people in our offices have heard Andrew say this repeatedly, many still
miss the point. They think it means accept failure with dignity and move on.
The better, more subtle interpretation is that failure is a manifestation of
learning and exploration. If you aren’t experiencing failure, then you are
making a far worse mistake: You are being driven by the desire to avoid it.
And, for leaders especially, this strategy— trying to avoid failure by out-thinking
it— dooms you to fail.”

Multilevels – Pete Docter, director
“Pete is a big guy— 6 foot 4 ½— but despite his size, he projects an
undaunted gentleness. This was in evidence in the conference room now,
as he listened to us parse what was amiss in this pivotal scene. His face
was open, not pained. He’d been through this many times before, and he
believed in its power to help him get where he was trying to go.”

Multilevels – The Braintrust
“Over the years, as the Braintrust has evolved, the dynamics within the group
have evolved along with it, and this has required continual attention on our
part. While I attend and participate in almost all Braintrust meetings and
enjoy discussing the storytelling, I see my primary role (and that of my
colleague Jim Morris, who is Pixar’s general manager) as making sure that the
compact upon which the meetings are based is protected and upheld. This
part of our job is never done because, as it turns out, you can’t address or
eliminate the blocks to candor once and for all.”

Multilevels – The Braintrust
The Braintrust is one of the most important traditions
at Pixar, and consists of a rotating, flexible group of
people.
“The Braintrust, which meets every few months or so
to assess each movie we’re making, is our primary
delivery system for straight talk. Its premise is simple:
Put smart, passionate people in a room together,
charge them with identifying and solving problems, and
encourage them to be candid with one another. People
who would feel obligated to be honest somehow feel
freer when asked for their candor; they have a choice
about whether to give it, and thus, when they do give
it, it tends to be genuine.”
“The Braintrust… does not prescribe how to fix the
problems they diagnose. They test weak points, they
make suggestions, but it is up to the director to settle
on a path forward.”
Braintrust Rules
1. Nobody can override the director. This removes
the power structure from the room
2. Peer to peer. The conversation has to be
"filmmaker talking to filmmaker," not “boss
talking to filmmaker or boss talking to
employee."
3. All team members share in one another's
success.
4. Give and take honest notes.

PEA/NEA Ratios – The Toy Story 2 Tipping Point
Lasseter was completely wrapped up in A Bug’s Life when Toy Story 2 went into
production. When he was finally able to give Toy Story 2 his full attention he
watched the demo reels. The only word he used was “disaster”. He decided to re-
board the entire movie.
“We had less than a year before Toy Story 2 was due in theaters. Getting it there
in time would drive our workforce to the breaking point, and there would
surely be a price to pay for that. But I also believed that the alternative—
acceptance of mediocrity— would have consequences that were far more
destructive.”

PEA/NEA Ratios – The Toy Story 2 Tipping Point
“One morning in June, an overtired artist drove to work with his infant child strapped
into the backseat, intending to deliver the baby to day care on the way. Some time
later, after he’d been at work for a few hours, his wife (also a Pixar employee)
happened to ask him how drop-off had gone— which is when he realized that he’d
left their child in the car in the broiling Pixar parking lot. They rushed out to find the
baby unconscious and poured cold water over him immediately. Thankfully, the child
was okay, but the trauma of this moment— the what-could-have-been— was
imprinted deeply on my brain. Asking this much of our people, even when they
wanted to give it, was not acceptable. I had expected the road to be rough, but I
had to admit that we were coming apart. By the time the film was complete, a full
third of the staff would have some kind of repetitive stress injury.”

Moving into PEA
For the first 13 years, Pixar regularly met around West One, a long board room
table that sat 15 on a side. Because it was so long, the directors and producers
of the movie in question had to sit in the middle in order to hear anything. Place
cards were used to set seats, introducing a dinner table formality to the affair.
“Unwittingly, we were allowing this table— and the resulting place card ritual—
to send a different message. The closer you were seated to the middle of the
table, it implied, the more important— the more central— you must be. And the
farther away, the less likely you were to speak up— your distance from the heart
of the conversation made participating feel intrusive. Over the course of a
decade, we held countless meetings around this table in this way—
completely unaware of how doing so undermined our own core principles.
Why were we blind to this? Because the seating arrangements and place cards
were designed for the convenience of the leaders, including me.”

Moving into PEA
“It wasn’t until we happened to have a meeting in a smaller room with a square
table that John and I realized what was wrong. Sitting around that table, the
interplay was better, the exchange of ideas more free-flowing, the eye contact
automatic. Every person there, no matter their job title, felt free to speak up. This
was not only what we wanted, it was a fundamental Pixar belief: Unhindered
communication was key, no matter what your position.”

Moving into PEA
“…it is the focus on people— their work habits, their talents, their values— that is
absolutely central to any creative venture.”
“Frank talk, spirited debate, laughter, and love. If I could distill a Braintrust meeting down
to its most essential ingredients, those four things would surely be among them.”
“Getting the team right is the necessary precursor to getting the ideas right. It is easy to
say you want talented people, and you do, but the way those people interact with one
another is the real key. Even the smartest people can form an ineffective team if they
are mismatched. That means it is better to focus on how a team is performing, not on
the talents of the individuals within it. A good team is made up of people who
complement each other. There is an important principle here that may seem obvious,
yet— in my experience— is not obvious at all. Getting the right people and the right
chemistry is more important than getting the right idea.”

Eisner and Jobs Face Off
“By late summer, Stanley Gold and Roy were growing increasingly concerned
about Disney’s overall financial performance. All key financial measures at the
company, including return on equity, return on assets, and return on invested
capital, had been steadily declining since 1995—each of these measures by
more than 50 percent. The notion of Disney as a “growth” company was
becoming increasingly hard to defend. Despite annual five-year strategic plans
that confidently predicted a return to 20 percent annual earnings growth,
Disney’s earnings for fiscal year 2002 were likely to be no better than they’d
been in 1994 or 1995.”
Disney and Pixar spend 10 months renegotiating their deal. Eventually Jobs walks
away, refusing to deal with Eisner. But Pixar was a significant contributor to
Disney’s bottom line.
“Pixar’s contribution to the studio’s operating income ranged from 97 percent in
2000 to 47 percent in 2001, with 2002 projected to be 39 percent.”

The Save Disney Campaign
Eisner tries to force Roy Disney to resign and Stanley Gold to take a
non-voting board role.
Disney resigns, followed by Gold. Resignation letters condemning
Eisner’s tenure as CEO and expressing their concern for the
company.
Disney and Gold launch the “Save Disney” campaign, going on a
road show to convince minority stakeholders to vote against
Eisner’s continued tenure.

Eisner’s biggest problem in 2004 was that he did not fully fathom how messed up
his animation division was.
Iger had just come back from opening the new Disneyland in Hong Kong, with
Eisner at his side in his last big act as CEO. The ceremonies included the usual
Disney parade down Main Street. Iger realized that the only characters in the
parade that had been created in the past decade were Pixar’s. “A lightbulb went
off,” he recalled. “I’m standing next to Michael, but I kept it completely to myself,
because it was such an indictment of his stewardship of animation during that
period. After ten years of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, there
were then ten years of nothing.”
Iger and Disney’s real self

2004
2005
2006
Comcast attempts a hostile takeover of Disney
Steve Jobs refuses to negotiate with Disney as long as Eisner is CEO
At the annual stakeholder meeting, 43% of proxy voters say NO to Eisner
Chairman and CEO roles are split. Mitchell becomes chairman
Michael Eisner quietly steps down as CEO
Iger promoted to CEO
Jobs resumes talks with Disney
Disney acquires Pixar in a $7.4 billion dollar deal
Vision: Create a vigorous and creative company cultureVision: Become Disney
The Incredibles
Cars
+

“The problem at Disney Animation was never lack of talent, it was that years of
stifling working conditions had made people lose their creative compasses.”
In 2009, Disney Animation released Tangled to artistic and commercial success.
Catmull and Lasseter use it as a healing moment.
“We had learned long ago that while everyone appreciates cash bonuses, they
value something else almost as much: being looked in the eye by someone they
respect and told, “Thank you.” At Pixar, we’d devised a way to give our employees
money and gratitude. When a movie makes enough money to trigger bonuses,
John and I join with the directors and producers and personally distribute checks
to every person who worked on the film. This jibes with our belief that each film
belongs to everyone at the studio.
Disney + Pixar

In the wake of Tangled’s success, I asked Ann Le Cam, our vice president of
human resources, to help us do something along the same lines at Disney. She
printed up personalized letters for each crew member explaining the reason for
the bonus and on a weekday morning in the spring of 2010 we asked everyone
who’d worked on Tangled to gather in one of the large stages at Disney. As they
milled about, they didn’t know what was coming—we’d suggested to them that
it was a general meeting. But when they saw the envelopes in our hands, they
knew something was up. It was Ann’s idea to give each crew member a hot-off-
the-presses DVD of the movie as well—a small gesture that made our gratitude
feel even more genuine. To this day, some Tangled veterans still display
framed copies of the letter they received that day on their office walls.”
Disney + Pixar

References

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Hope, and Compassion, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
Boyatzis, R.E. (2008). Leadership Development from a Complexity Perspective,
Consulting Psychology Journal. Vol. 60(4). 298-313.
Boyatzis, R.E., Smith, M., & Beveridge, A. (2012), Coaching with Compassion: Inspiring Health, Well-Being, and Development in
Organizations, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. Vol. 49(2): 153-178.
Boyatzis, R.E. & Akrivou, K. (2006). The Ideal Self as a Driver of Change, Journal of Management Development. Vol. 25(7): 624-
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Goleman, D. & Boyatzis, R.E. (2008). Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership, Harvard Business Review. September 2008
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