How Michael Eisner Saved the Disney Company 

I think it's not Eisner himself, but Eisner _and Wells_ that should be truly accredited with saving Disney. They were literally a Walt & Roy combo who made Disney successful. Once Wells passed, Eisner went full authoritarian and that's when his legacy truly went down hill.

Eisner gets a lot of crap from fans, but I think that he actually cared about Disney being a *creative* company rather than an acquirer and custodian of preexisting IP. His blunders were from pursuing ambitious, out-there ideas, which if you're going to fail is the way to do it.

Eisner wanted to be the face of the company to be part of the magic like Walt. You look at Iger or Chapek and they hardly even want to talk business let alone Disney. Eisner was excited about everything.

Chapek will make the 96-2005 Eisner era look like the 55-66 Walt era

They say that every time Michael Eisner is mentioned, someone out there goes on a random Defunctland binge just to get another hit of hearing his name come up suddenly and out of nowhere.

For Generation X kids born after Walt Disney Michael Eisner was our Walt! He was on tv often talking about films and park attractions, he was always seen with Disney characters during promos, he saved Disney animation, and he was responsible for MANY of the most beloved attractions that are still in the parks today along with such things as Disney Cruises, DVC, Disney Paris, and multiple hotels.

Great insight as you point out, Disney would not be around without him. I see the change in 1994 first death of Frank Wells then Katzenberg leaving so without them, worst parts of his persona took over. Tellingly, he's open about all his mistakes today on stuff like Imagineering series and such so that helps his legacy a bit.

Eisner was actually smart and knew money came from the parks - unlike Bob Paycheck always focused on Disney+/media. One trip to WDW can pay for 10 years of Disney+ subscriptions.

A great bit on the Imagineering series is Eisner talking EuroDisney like having so many hotels and openly saying "That was dumb." And that he wishes he'd fought more for stuff but his heart issues in 1995 affected him. Again,that he's open on his mistakes is a good thing.

Eisner was GREAT until he lost it and got scared to spend money in his last years. Far, far, FAR superior to the Bobs. Especially for the parks.

Eisners main motivation to add more thrill rides to Disney was listening to his son and his friends talk about the parks and learning that they preferred Knott’s berry farm and magic mountain over Disneyland.

He was almost like the second Walt for a generation of kids

Wish they had someone Like him now Now its just an expensive county fair They desperately need Leadership with Balls

LIke him or hate him, the man wasn't perfect BUT...he did turn Disney around and he's one of the men directly responsible for the Hollywood Studios being created (AND the greatest attraction of all time The Great Movie Ride) and for the renaissance we enjoyed for ten straight years, and that's just TWO examples. By the way, nice Donald Duck pin you got there. ;)

I've seen Eisner in person twice . . . and in 2005. Once was at Disneyland and the second time it was at a local shopping center. Yes, Eisner made mistakes during the latter half of his tenure. But when I think what would have happened if he had never became CEO of Disney . . . perhaps his presence in the company was a good thing in the end.

Michael Eisner was a god compared to the utterly useless, greedy penny pinching Bob Chapek.

The new CEO of Disney makes me like Eisner more

I’ve never “hated” Eisner. Is his name involved in literally every Disney “whatever happened to” or “the failure/downfall of…” video? Yes. Did he make some absolutely godawful things happen at Disney? Yes. But at the same time I consider him to be the closest emulator to Walt himself we’ve had yet. Sure, they are nowhere near the same people, but I do feel like the answer to “What would Walt do” is always something akin to trying new and weird ideas, trusting the creative process (often but not always) over budget, and be willing to throw everything at the walls to see what sticks. I feel like Eisner did that, especially before Frank Wells died. Now, my opinion on Michael Eisner has certainly been biased by my love of Defunctland, but I do like that commencement speech he uses at the end of the finale where Michael talks about his own career- it’s like a pointillism painting. Yeah, he had some wonky dots put on the canvas, but at the end of it all the picture was beautiful. For every ExtraTerrorestrial, there was a Disney Renaissance or Splash Mountain.

I remember the first time I stepped into the Disney Store, I felt like I was back at the parks. It was just what I needed in those years that I couldn’t afford to go to either Cali or Orlando! I am thankful for things like that.

Thank you! Eisner is totally underrated. He almost single-handedly saved the company, and when Frank Wells was alive they were the dynamic duo.

EISNER COME BACK!!! THE 80'S AND 90'S BABIES MISS YOU!! :( :( :( :(

Miss him and that era of Disney. I can’t stand what Disney has become today. I’m afraid it’s the end for Disney.

If Iger has made Mermaid-Tarzan, every charachter woulda looked the same and every charachter woulda talked like they were from SoCal

It's nice to see a video from a perspective other than "Michael Eisner is evil incarnate and is responsible for nothing except every mistake Disney ever made." It's getting old. I knew he wouldn't have lasted that long at the company if he didn't bring anything positive to it. I never knew he was involved in bringing Beauty and the Beast to Broadway. That was the first time I saw a musical on stage. It wasn't the original cast, but that doesn't matter. I was 4 years old and my parents were nervous about bringing me because they didn't think I'd be able to stay quiet and sit still. Apparently I was so enthralled I barely moved the entire time. When they told me the show wasn't finished yet during intermission I started crying because I thought I was missing it.

After Eisner, Disney headed downhill, and has since become a shell of itself.

As much bad as he did, he did a lot of really good things for disney

I'd take Eisner back or anyone like him any day over the Crooked Bobs. I'd even rather have Donald Trump running Disney. Make Disney great again.

He wasn't afraid to be creative, and while it yielded lots of screw ups, it also made Disney more profitable than ever before at the time.

Thanks for this. The RU-vid generation leans heavily against Eisner, and seems to delight in his downfall. As a kid of the 70's and 80's I can tell you that Disney was becoming a Joke, and he brought back it's Cinema to a strong brand that endures today.

Great video! As a Disney fan, we love Eisner! It’s true, he saved Disney. We remember the transformation he initiated! WE WANT EISNER BACK!!!

He really cared about the guest:') I wish I could say the same with this new CEO😡

Rip the Disney Stores. The stores were also a way for advertisement for their other product and services, it was pretty ingenious.

The problem with having the parks and the movie-wing of the company connected is that the company always raises prices at the parks to make up for their failures at the Box Office. Disney would be less political and more attuned to what consumers want if they didn't have the theme parks to bail them out. Disney animation is nothing to write home about these days.

First half of his tenure was great. Second half was a mess. You named it with the three parks but also how bad he had let the relationship with Pixar deteriorate.

Eisner's successes are sometimes misplaced-- VHS tapes were Ron Miller's baby, but Eisner did run with it. Roy Disney stopped Eisner from shutting down animation and Katzenberg ushered the Disney Renaissance. Frank Wells was often the glue behind Eisner's chaos. I will say Eisner’s legacy is surpassing G-rating content, raising brand merch, and changing Disney from an American to a Global presence. And most of all, setting legitimate business practices where Disney was previously running loosely.

He fixed it and then broke it.

This was done so well. I wish i could meet him and thank him for all the memories that he made for my childhood.

It wasn't Eisner, it was Wells. After Wells traffic death, there was no one to curb Eisner's ego, paranoia, and foundering.

Noooooo he’s a hero BoB paycheck is the true jerk

Hard to believe Disney almost got shut down due to the Black Cauldron not doing well at the box office but Disney dodged a bullet then Disney renaissance started and the rest is history

Seems like “cheapskate” is trying to one up Eisner on the most hated CEO

Can you do one about how Bob Chapek is ruining Disney?

Even with all the good Eisner did, we cannot forget the crimes he committed during his tenure at Disney either, such as starting the embargo on Song of the South, fighting with Steven Spielberg over the rights to Roger Rabbit, giving Jim Henson a hard time during the negotiations for the failed Disney/Henson merger, forcing the Animation studios to make those terrible non-canonical direct-to-Video sequels to their animated classics, stacking the board of directors with Eisner loyalists, putting the wrong people in charge of certain divisions, coming close to chasing away Pixar, cutbacks at the theme parks, attempting to push Roy E. Disney out of the company which lead to the whole Save Disney campaign, etc.

Despite imperfections, I appreciate how he tried to emulate Walt's public presence & prioritize creativity. We need that energy again

Hey now I did not hate Michael Eisner Bill Nye was an annual passholder I hated Bob Iger and Bob Chapek

Its just like with his succesor, Bob iger, a god beginnen but a bad ending

Rest in peace Howard Ashman. Taken from us way too soon. Together with Alan Menken he put Disney back on the map for generations to come

I always think of Eisner in almost a BC / AD sense: With Wells = Great Eisner and , sadly, Without Wells = Not-so-great Eisner But today, man, I wish we had Eisner rather than Chapek running Disney

Well love him or hate the guy did a pretty good managing Disney unlike the current people.

Eisner was ABSOLUTELY the best thing that happened to Disney after Walt died. They needed a charismatic leader to shake things up and Eisner was certainly that. We have Eisner to credit for making Disney marketable to adults without children, a HUGE demographic now. We have him to thank (for better or worse) for the Disney Store. For Broadway's revitalization. For the Disney Cruise Line. For getting Star Wars into the parks. He brought decent food & fine dining to the parks & resorts because he wanted world class chefs working for Disney, and hated the idea that 'theme park food' was traditionally only hamburgers & hot dogs. Eisner's love of architecture and his personal relationship with famous architects gave us Wilderness Lodge, Swan & Dolphin, the Grand Floridian. We owe him for the Studios and Animal Kingdom -- and AKL too! But alas, he lost his mind when Frank Wells died. Then Eisner's demons fully consumed him when Eurodisney 'failed'. I personally believe he became mentally ill, depressed. Without the guardrails Frank Wells provided, Eisner jumped the tracks. He forced the extremely talented Katzenberg out (accompanied by racist slurs) and created an enemy and competitor in Dreamworks. Paul Pressler & Cynthia Harris gained control of the parks during this time and ruined them for a decade, simply because Eisner was too busy fighting off all the enemies (real or imagined) he himself created. Eisner DEFINITELY saved Disney, but he almost destroyed it too. It's okay to have mixed feelings about the man.

Even though he was prone to excess he reinvigorated the company. The development of the hotels was genius but EuroDisney was risky any way the designed it. Having Beach and Yacht Club Hotels right at the entrance to Epcot was extremely enjoyable.

I Liked Michael Eisner Not a Fan Of Bob Iger.

It's funny how many people praise Eisner when it's so obvious that he couldn't hack it without Wells.

As someone who worked from 01-05 at WDW. ... it's hard not to hate him. Was he creative? Yes, was he a penny pincher as bad as chapek, not as bad, but yeah. Did he save disney from a hostel takeover? Yes. Did he lose his way when wells died? Yes. Did his hubris towards the end turn off cast members? Yes. Even when, at that time, the parks were keeping the disney stock afloat due to the losses after buying ABC and him focusing on live action, crappy direct to video sequels while cast members were treated like idiots and slaves. He was bad but again not as bad as Walt's son-in-law, nor is he as bad as chapek now. So yes I can say he did overall good and in order of ceos he is the third worse one overall when you include chapek. But it's sad you have to include chapek for his ranking to get better. Basically,the worse parts of Eisner are all condensed into chapek. But that's because chapek doesn't have a creative bone in his body.

I know some folks have their Michael Eisner hang-ups... but as head of Disney he was such a better leader than the current head Bob Chapek (Sorry but you can't help but compare)

The book "Disney War" really goes into depth about Michael Eisner's tenure at Disney. It's a great read!

I was born in the "Eisner era" of Disney, after "Aladdin" but before The Lion King", he's alright compared to Iger and Chapek IMO.

Brilliant video! The Eisner era had such a great beginning but a tragic ending.

Eisner didn't treat us liek *etarded babies. He saw that Boomers and GenX COULD enjoy a SOPHISTICATED Disney product. Hence, Pleasure Island, MGM, EuroDiz, Spectro, Norway, Illuminations 1988, leaving the Disney Channel as is until it went to basic cable, The Disney Treasures line, the Platinum DVD editions, DAK, using Ashamn, Menken, and Scwartz for the animated films

Even when Eisner at his flawed, his later years at Disney wasn't as terrible as it is now under Iger. He deserves to be remember as one of the people who helped kicked start Disney's Renaissance

Awesome! I love your videos, your presentation style and your voice and accent. 😁👍👍from 🇮🇪

He couldn't possibly be _ALL THAT_ bad if he goes for the _UBER_ classic whipped creme pie in the face gag!!! Wot!!! Don't forget about the sequel to H.I.S.t.K.: Honey I BLEW UP the kid. (Where the youngest kid in the family gets turned into LITERALLY a GIANT!!!!! Also, just a ripoff of the 1958 movie: Attack of the 50 Foot Woman) At one time I asked at a Disney Store in a mall (A long time ago) about employment, and they told me that I had to be shave my face and could not have any facial hair if I even wanted to apply there. Hence all Disneys' MEN are NOT allowed to have facial hair Rule.

A friend of mine, who sometimes worked with/for Michael Eisner, told me that he is a nice enough guy, but the problem apparently was his wive, who saw every single cast member as her personal employee and if she didn't get what she wanted, all hell would break loose.

Have you read Disney War? Fascinating insight. Always love your work guys 🙌🏼

Has Michael Eisner ever been back to Disneyland/DCA since his 2005 resignation? I’d like to know his reaction to resort today with the additions of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, Cars land, Buena Vista Street, Pixar pier, Avengers campus, and soon-to-be Mickey and Minnie’s runaway railway.

followed by how bob paycheck ruined disney.

Eisner and Wells was the Walt and Roy of the 90s, because they balanced each other out with Eisner being the imaginative force behind the Disney Renaissance and Wells kept Eisner in check much like how Walt brought the imagination to life while Roy focused on the finances. This is the issue with modern Disney, where we don't have a strong team where one leader focuses on imagination while the other focuses on the business aspect, and instead we have the head of Disney taking on both roles (and in turn hurting Disney in the long run).

Can't believe his middle name is actually da man

Sorry, but I cannot agree with most of the sentiments expressed here. While it's true that Eisner and Wells were the saviors of Disney when they were first brought onboard, they wrecked a lot of very good things about Walt Disney World in particular in the 1990s. It's like, the longer they stayed, the worse the damage got that they inflicted. The building of very cheap looking hotels (exception, Grand Floridian), putting rides in the MK where they didn't belong, getting rid of attractions that were beloved, totally wrecking in every way what was the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village (where I worked in the 1970s) -- and this mentality that continues today about putting thrill rides all over EPCOT whether they belong there or not -- has really damaged WDW for me. The 1980s began to look promising for Disney when Eisner/Wells took over, but by 1990 they were out to make their mark - and not for the better.

Eisner had some mis-steps. That’s for sure,but his successes FAR outweigh them. I wish he was never replaced by bitch iger. Eisner would have let George Lucas do whatever he wanted with Star Wars instead of pander to toxic Lucas bashers who harassed a 9 year old jake lyodd. That was fucked up.

Looking back Eisner's era of DIsney was *my* Disney. I knew he oversaw the Renaissance films but I didn't realise everything else I associated with the Disney of my childhood was innovated under his watch like the Diney Afternoon or MGM or the Disney store

No matter how much you hate him or compare him to buyer Iger, he will always be the best CEO of Disney. Leaving a Legacy in Disney that didn't need to rely on others. End of story.

Disney needs Michael Eisner back and to get rid of Iger and his wokester supporters on the board and in management.

*Roy E Disney* saved the Waly Disney company --- *TWICE* , not Michael Eisner. Dig a little deeper on the research.

"Uncle Walt" would have been 120 yrs. old this Sunday Dec. 5th. I AGREE! Michael was great for Disney, but was there to long. Not sure how it would have been If Katzenberg had moved to that position, but we see how HE bounced back! It was truly indeed a Walt/ Roy relationship. The mistakes made @ Epcot, Euro, & Cali Adv. resulted in 2 over budget + one under (but, more like a 6 Flags) Though, Eisner was NOT part of that Epcot Billion dollar fiasco. I love Epcot (but, many insiders talked of wasteful spending that lead to cost overruns)

Eisner had imagination and creativity, something sorely lacking in the company today I feel. The company is ran by accountants and it shows: safe, repetitive, insanely profitable.

The truth is out there! Thanks Luke this video has been a long time coming

You know, there's a dark ride with a song by Alan Menken that would be a good ReviewTyme episode

Wow that Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Summer Air at the end really hit me.

And now it's all being destroyed, such a shame

It's ironic, Eisner's downfall was Walt's greatest triumph. The theme parks. Who knows, perhaps if Walt had lived to see Epcot/Magic Kingdom to fruition, maybe we wouldn't consider him the same legendary figure we do now. (No I'm not saying Eisner should have quit before he got completely consumed by the theme parks, I'm just theorizing as to the whatifs of the original Epcot concept, as that seemed just as financially insane as Euro Disney!)

He was better currently ceo bob chapek .

Bob Igor has made Eisner's legacy look much better.

*Defunctland has entered the chat*

Great video. I really appreciate your suspension of the Eisner post-Frank-Wells, and focused on the Michael Eisner that thrived when the glue in his team was still strong.

You are literally reading passages from James Stewart’s Disney Wars and not giving credit. What a bum.

Sadly Disney now is being systematically destroyed by the corporations and the clown CEO in charge as we speak.

When I was a kid, I used to think Michael Eisner and Super Dave Osborne were the same person. It was the deep voice. ..😎🤔

Loved Summer Air from Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 at the end of the video!!

Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, Michael Eisner was the last great CEO of Disney. I truly applaud Eisner for encouraging this company to do something they don't do as much nowadays, which is innovate and create new stories and IP's, rather than rely on already existing IP's from the past. Given from what I've learned in regards to Eisner's tenure as CEO of Disney, I am truly impressed that not only he innovated in Disney's movie portion of their company, with things like the creation of Touchstone Pictures and The Disney Renaissance, he also innovated with new additions to the Disney theme parks, the creation of The Disney Afternoon, and even helped with Disney merchandising sales with the creation of the Disney store and created the Disney Vault which allowed numerous Disney classics to be available on home/physical media. For all of Eisner's faults and mistakes he made while he was still CEO, I will always applaud him for being a huge advocate for creativity and innovation for Walt Disney Studios.

While Eisner may have gotten a bit carried away later on in his tenure, but without him(along with Frank Wells(may he R.I.P.) and Jeffery Katzenburg) the Disney we know and love wouldn't be around today. I mean yeah, Iger and Kennedy are basically ruining Disney today, but back then, Eisner and his team made Disney shine the brightest since Walk himself was alive. So glad I grew up during the Eisner era!

Better than Bob "Buy it all" Iger or Bob "Raise prices" Chapek for sure.

It seems a lot of you (including the bloke that made) need to read Disneywar. It goes over the highs and lows of Eisner’s tenure more objectively than here.

In 2001Eisner and Bob Iger had a problem with ABC TV. AND Disney. How did they fix that problem by a TV show. Yes it was a failed TV show called push Nevada.

Walt/ Roy Disney era and the Michael Eisner/Frank Wells era essentially produced everything our generation is nostalgic about when it comes to Disney. Michael Eisner once said he was the “last of the creative types” to run a studio or entertainment company and I don’t think he was wrong. Pre-Wells’ death/Euro Disney, Eisner had a lot of great ideas and/or fostered creativity among imagineers, cast members and other employees.

I suggest to watch " waking sleeping beauty " it's an eye opening expose on what went behind the scenes during the animation Renaissance, which actually started with oliver and company and the rescuers down under and not little mermaid...while mermaid was a better success, if it wasnt for oliver being a mild success and new animation techniques developed during rescuers production we wouldn't have the other films.

Walt Disney & Michael Eisner >> Bob"Monopoly & Reboot/Remake" Iger & Bob Paychek.

With Eisner it’s all whom you ask I’m in my early 40 and I remember him doing the wonderful world of Disney on abc he was my generation Walt

Eisner ego was so big his main office at the movie studio was rebuild with the giant statues of the dwarfs holding up the building...the whole top section was his office

Michael Eisner: See you at Disneyland! Bring money