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Eisner wasn't Walt Disney either, but at least he got it. He understood what the Disney ethos is. He respected the Disney brand and the values and culture behind it. He knew what it was that made Disney the special company it was, why people loved it, why families trusted it, and how all that translated into profits.
Iger, on the other hand, doesn't get it at all. Never did. He's the epitome of the well-known definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Iger talks about Disney "core values" and he doesn't know what he's talking about. He speaks of inclusivity, acceptance, and tolerance. All empty words of the political left that can mean anything you choose them to mean. What exactly is "inclusive?" It's one of those vacuous words that sounds good, but has no real substance.
Last weekend was a major box office disaster for "Strange World," the latest Disney push toward "inclusivity." The picture is yet another attempt to insert a progressive "woke" agenda in children's entertainment. The movie which features a gay teen romance involving the main character and a heavy environmental message, came in well below projections, grossing $11.9 million over the three-day weekend and $18.6 million over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday.
The Hollywood press labeled "Strange World" not just a dud but an "historic bomb" given the movie has a reported $180 million budget. VarietyĂŠprojectedĂŠthat the film could lose as much as $100 million. I guess the picture wasn't very inclusive to traditional family audiences.
You might think that with theme park profits down even though prices continue to go up and movie attendance tanking that Iger might re-evaluate this whole woke thing. But no, he doubles down. During a recent closed-door meeting, Iger called inclusion, tolerance and acceptance part of the company's "core values."
Then he spoke of creativity. He said that is his number one priority. (Again, a word that can mean anything.) "A number of you who worked with me know I'm obsessed with that," Iger said of Disney's creative muscle. "But I'm obsessed with that for a reason. It is what drives the company." He said that it's not about how much Disney creates, but rather how "great the things are that we do create." But I doubt that he knows what creativity means. It's like Iger has heard the word "create" so much since he joined the company that he simply repeats it by rote. It sounds good so he says it.
"This company has been telling stories for 100 years, and those stories have had a meaningful, positive impact on the world, and one of the reasons they have had a meaningful, positive impact is because one of the core values of our storytelling is inclusion and acceptance and tolerance, and we can't lose that," Iger said.
But even if Iger hasn't a clue, it appears many Disney fans do. The outrage on the internet to the Disney Company's "woke" stances has been enormous. A few sample responses: "There is a difference between a lack of inclusion, and exclusion. As a Mexican American, I don't feel excluded when my ethnicity is not included in a movie. I don't want Mexicans to be in a movie just because society says we have to be inclusive. I don't go to the movies to see how many of my people are being represented. Give me a good story."
"Grown men in a girls bathroom is NOT inclusion. JFC, what is wrong with these people?" "Keep inclusively adding them to your movies and watch them continue to bomb. How can business function when its goal is pushing a message rather than making money?"
"Iger is going to find out that profits aren't inclusive if he keeps up with the woke crap. Pandering to the minority is not the way to build market share."
"Then you should let poor people in your parks for free then, wouldn't want you to not include them because they can't afford admission."
"What does inclusion have to do with teaching children in third grade or under about sexuality? This has nothing to do with inclusion."
"Since "inclusion is part of Disney's values", maybe they'd like to rethink their position on allowing Parents to be "Included" in decisions being made on a child's behalf."
Until the time comes when Bob Iger finally wakes up to the fact that traditional American family values (in addition to great storytelling and charming characters) is what people expect from the Walt Disney Company, nothing will change. He needs to understand that the whole progressive woke thing runs diametrically opposite to what has made Disney so special to so many.
The charm and magic of the Disney world is precisely that it is NOT the real world. When you stick the real world in you destroy the fantasy and the magic is gone.
Americans don't want political correctness from Disney. They want entertainment that is free of any politics and cultural wokeness. Will Iger ever get it? Don't think so.
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